My wife knew it was coming…we had talked about it. She even picked out the ring. She did not, however, know when I was getting it. Luckily I made her believe it would be a month or two longer than I actually did get it.
There is this place we liked to go to- out in the woods a little bit, by a river. There is this really pretty waterfall, and about 1/8th of a mile downstream from the waterfall there was this log that acted as a bridge to get from one side to the other. We went there one night with my two little brothers, had a little campfire down by the waterfall. Later I asked my girlfriend ( now my wife ) to go on a little walk with me. We walked up to the log-bridge and strolled onto the middle of it and sat down. We held hands- and chatted for a bit, then I stood up. I was kind of walking around, balancing on it, and started to “act serious” saying things like, maybe it is time to bring our relationship to the next level, etc. She looked up at me, and knew something was up. She warned me, “you are going to fall off!” “No I wont” I replied with confidence. I then pulled the ring box out of my pocket, here eyes opened up wide. I started to kneel down on one knee, then “accidentally” threw myself off the log, acting as if I had lost my balance.
I let go of the ring box and let it be carried away in the fast moving river and stood soaking wet acting like I was looking around for it. “Over there! I see it! go get it!” She shouted at me from up on the log- then ran to the shore to take off her shoes and jump in to search. I told her not to get in, and suggested we should go back up the path a little bit to pick up the flashlight we had left. She finally agreed, although I could tell she just wanted to be chasing that ring box down the river. When we got up to the flashlight, she grabbed it, and started rushing back to where the log laid over the river. I stayed behind, and pulled out the “real” ring box, and got down on one knee without her realizing. I called her name, and she turned around… ” We are going to loose the ring! Lets go! What are you…… oh…. ” she saw me on one knee and walked back over. I asked her the magic question, ” Will you marry me…” “YES!” she shouted, then we hugged. It appeared she had forgotten the whole thing, when all of the sudden, she started hitting me. “YOU GOOF! You made me think I was never going to get that ring!”

We have been married for a year and a half now, and she still loves to tell the story. We always share a good laugh when it comes up.

- Marcus H., Orem, Utah

My husband and I met at age 15 when we were both vacationing with our families at Patagonia Lake, AZ. When our eyes met for the first time, it was literally love at first sight. We found out we actually lived in the same city and started dating. We were 20 years old on our 5 year dating anniversary and he took me on a trip to the same lake where we met. I did not suspect a proposal, but it was very special being back there with him again. After a nice dinner in the nearby town, we went for a moonlit walk at the lake. We sat on the bridge where we first saw each other and looked up at the stars. It was very magical because there were so many shooting stars that night and we just laid on the bridge looking up at the stars. Finally, he told me to make a wish on a shooting star and after I did, he sat up and pulled out a ring! I didn’t have to think twice about my answer, of course I said YES!!! It was so perfect and it meant so much being at the same place where we first met.

- Jennifer L., Tucson, Arizona

For my marriage proposal I took my girlfriend on a Cruise with my family and I. While on Grand Cayman, we went to 7 mile beach, went paddle boating and all the fun stuff. Then her and I wondered off from the crowds of people. My little brother tagged along taking pictures and such. While we were sitting on the beach just enjoying the view and each other, my little brother wondered off to “make a sandcastle” (We set some of it up previously so I could have him go write in the sand for me) After a few minutes he came back and we went to look at his sand castle. Well of course it wasn’t a sand castle, it said “WILL YOU MARRY ME” in the sand. Of course she said yes and we were all lovey dovey and stuff. But that’s not what makes the story so interesting. Of course we were in swimsuits, so I had limited places to put the ring. My shorts luckily had a nice zipper pocket with an elastic tie in it. I tied the ring to the tie and well when I went to untie it, it was stuck. After an intense struggle to untie the ring, I was finally able to put it on her finger, at least it fit.

- Wesley K., Payson, Utah

I proposed to my wife at the beach where we shared our first kiss together. The spot is truly one of kind on the Northern Coast of California. I took her wine tasting and then I rented a house for the weekend. She had no idea that I was going to propose. I had made all the arrangements by contacting her boss ahead of time and making all the arrangements. It was a truly memorable weekend.

- Derek, Roseville, California

Me and my now fiancée had been going out for just over 2 years when I proposed to her. We went out to the Stephen F. Austin Experimental Forest Nature Trail. This is a place where we often took our dog for a walk and was a nice place to relax where it was just me and her. Well I had planned on proposing on a hilltop overlooking a creek bottom, where the dogwoods were blooming with their showy white flowers all through the woods. However, as we were walking we had to cut the walk short because our dog started limping. I had no idea of what I was going to do, my plan was ruined. I had rose petals and the ring in my coat pocket and was trying to figure out how I was going to get them out without her seeing me. Luckily, she loaded the dog into the truck. As she was doing that I walked over to a fountain that had a bird blind next to it near the parking area but semi-secluded by trees and shrubs. I laid out a trail of rose petals down the trail to the fountain and left a small pool of petals by the fountain. I walked back up and sat on the bench by the bird blind. As she walked up she looked at me and was like what happened here, in reference to the flowers, and I said “I don’t know lets go check it out”. Kelsey never associates me with anything romantic so she had no clue of what I was about to do. So we walked up to the fountain and when we got to the pool of flowers I said “this must be where it happened” and Kelsey said “where what happened”, I said “this happened” got down on one knee in the pool of rose petals and pulled out the ring box. Kelsey immediately burst into tears and said yes.

- Timothy S., Nacogdoches, Texas

Beth and I drove up to Lake Tahoe for the weekend. (She thought we were heading up for her birthday, which was also that week.) I had the ring in my backpack in the trunk of the car, and when we arrived at the city of Lake Tahoe we stopped at a department store to pick up some supplies. I needed to switch the ring from the bag to my pocket so I told her that I just wanted to switch from flip-flops to shoes and that I’d be in the store in a second. She responded that she’d “wait with me” and I kept telling her that I’d only be a minute and that I’d be right behind her. She kept insisting to wait with me so finally I gave up, changed into shoes and went into the store with her. After a few moments in the store I had to pretend I needed to check whether I brought shaving cream (or whether I would need to buy more) and so I ran out to the car and finally moved the ring from my bag to my pocket.

After the store we went over the beach of the lake. It was windy and sand was swirling all around in the air but I insisted that we go for a short walk. I kept getting more and more nervous (especially as we would get near other people) and finally I just anxiously pulled out the ring and muttered, “So, you know I really love you right?”

Beth began to tear up, and I became even more nervous, especially as I noticed someone watching us, so I eventually blurted out, “Do you want to move further down the beach?” to which she shouted (half-laughing), “No!”

“So, I really love you,” I repeated.

“And??” she prompted.

“And, here’s your ring,” I stammered

“And??!!”

“Oh yeah! Will you marry me!”

She gave me a huge hug and kiss, her tears falling from her cheeks to my shoulders. Things hadn’t gone exactly as I had planned, but it was still the second best day (after our wedding day) of my life.

- M.J., Santa Monica, California

My mother-in-law-to-be was taking me out to dinner. (Nothing abnormal about that since my fiance to be was out of town for three days…or so I thought). We were driving down some back roads and I looked out the window towards a large piece of acreage and there was a piano just sitting there with no one around. We turned the corner and there he was with a bouquet of flowers. His mom dropped me off and drove away. Eric took me into the field and played and sang the song that he wrote. Then he got down on one knee and proposed. When I said yes, the photographer and videographer came out of hiding. Eric had borrowed a dress and heels for me and I got dressed in the “limo van” then whisked me off to the Teahouse Restaurant in Stanley Park. This was all so surreal… the best part was hearing the story before I got there. Eric and his friends parked and unloaded the van on “0″ avenue which happens to be the border between Canada and the States and a favorite place of some drug smugglers. Well, as soon as he started unloading the piano 2 cop cars from the Canadian side and 3 cop cars from the US side surrounded them. They just laughed and called it in to tell the station all about it when they searched Eric and only found a diamond ring in his sock.

- Melody D., Langley, British Columbia

This past January, the two of us (Megan and Jared) were discussing going to Florida over Spring Break with her family. One day she told me that she had a dream that I proposed to her on the beach while we were in Florida. About two weeks later, we decided to go with her family. I had been thinking a good time to propose but wanted it to be perfect and this opened the door for me. I asked her dad the day they left for Florida. I told Meg that I wanted just the two of us to go out one night while we were there. That Friday night, April 4, 2008, we rode the trolley to a restaurant called the Daiquiri Deck to eat. Then We rode back to the beach to watch the sunset. We watched it and then went for a walk on the beach. I told her how much she meant to me and that there was no other place I would rather be at that moment. I then got down on one knee, in the sand, and asked her to marry me. She froze, cried and then said yes. She said she was not expecting it to happen in Florida but was glad that it happened. She loved the ring and every aspect of the evening. I couldn’t of asked for a better night. The story has already been repeated several times by both of us to friends begging for the details.

- Jared C., Spencerville, Indiana

I met my husband, Dustin, during an exchange year I did, where I spent a year at Washington State, from Wales.  I am a marine biologist, and on my last weekend in the states, before I went back to the UK, he had a going away surprise for me.  Little did I know that he had picked out a ring, and diamond and had it all planned!

He took me whale watching out in the Puget Sound from Anacortes, and I thought that the highlight of my day would be seeing all three of the resident pods of orcas converging - there must have been over 25 whales, the weather was awesome, and I think I even said “I don’t think this day could get any better” which is when he pulled a box out of his pocket and proposed!  I was so excited and surprised, I said yes and called my parents - totally forgetting it was 3am their time!  They were happy, albeit sleepy!  It was a magical day, surpassed only by our wedding day.  He did well!

- Chez C., Richland, Washington

Julie and I had been going out for 3 years. We had always planned on living in the same place after graduation and it just so happened that we both landed jobs in Fresno, CA. I always knew, ever since we started dating, that Julie and I would be together forever. After graduation in May we went to look for apartments in California during the first week of June. While there we decided to do some site seeing. On our last day in California we decided to climb a mountain in Sequoia National Park. I knew that this would be the perfect time to propose. I had brought the ring with me the day we climbed the mountain. When we reached the top, after a 3 mile hike, I set up the camera on time delay. Julie, who is afraid of heights didn’t think she’d be able to make it to the top, but with some persuasion from me she finally did. The camera went off right as she made it to the top and I got down on one knee and pulled out the ring and asked her that very important question, “will you marry me?”. She definitely forgot she was afraid of heights and started jumping up and down on top of the mountain. It was perfect and we have the picture to prove it!

- Charlie H., Clovis, California