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 fiance and I were vacationing in Sweden and Germany from right after Christmas until a week after New Years. On December 31 we were in a little town in Southern Sweden named Skanor. Every year on New Years absolutely everyone in the town sets of fireworks at midnight. So right before midnight, him and I took some champagne out to a little hill that was in a field behind a school to watch the fireworks. As the fireworks started going off all around us, he pulled out the ring, told me that this one of the most amazing things he’s ever seen, and that I made him feel that amazing every day, then asked me to marry him. I cried the whole time and said yes, of course.

- Erin V., Calgary, Alberta

I met my future wife way back in 1990. We dated for a year, then moved in together. The years went by and everyone kept asking, when are you going to get married? Every holiday, my girlfriend waited and hoped, but never got a ring.

We had started traveling south in 1993 and in 1997 went to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. I had decided before the trip that I would surprise my girlfriend and propose to her. My mom works in a jewelry store and with her help, I got the ring. She was the only one who knew what would take place.

Upon arriving at our hotel we were unpacking. The ring box fell out of my suitcase and onto the floor. Luckily my girlfriend didn’t see it.

Later in the week, we were lucky enough to find an invitation slid under our hotel room door to attend a very special dinner at the upscale restaurant at the resort. It was like it was meant to be. It would be the perfect setting to propose.

The night came and we attended dinner. During dinner I pulled out the ring and asked her to marry me. Of course she immediately said yes.

Two years later, we returned to the very same resort and were married. We are now thinking about going again in 2010 when we will celebrate our 10th anniversary.

- Michael Z., Bridgewater, Nova Scotia

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

Andy told me to keep Easter weekend free as he was planning “something.” The weekend began when he picked me up from work and drove to the airport. I had no idea where we were going but knew it would be for four days. We got as far as the airline counter and he turned and said we are going to Hawaii! I couldn’t believe it. He had packed my bag with all the right items, planned three nights at the Hilton in an oceanfront room, booked a snorkeling trip and knowing I am a bit of foodie had made reservations at three of Honolulu’s best restaurants. On the last day, he rented a car to drive us around Oahu. He had booked our last night at a beach bungalow on the North shore. With a glass of good wine in hand and on a secluded beach at sunset, he asked me to marry him. He had carried the ring around the whole trip waiting for the perfect moment and this scene was Hollywood worthy. As the planner in our family, I still can’t believe what an amazing job he did to surprise me and it bring tears to my eyes to think how lucky I am to marry someone who is so generous, loving and kind. I wish every girl gets to experience what I did just once in their life. I am lucky to know I will have it for the rest of mine.

- Amber R., Vancouver, British Columbia

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

Seth was studying abroad in London and I went to visit him for my spring break. He flew me to Como, Italy for a weekend trip. Como, Italy is where my dad’s side of the family is originally from and I have never been. The proposal came on day two of our trip. We went on a train ride up the side of a near by mountain. The top of the mountain overlooked lake Como. I was taking pictures and turned around and Seth was down on one knee. He timed it exactly right that the church bells went off right after I said yes. The sweet thing is that he had bought the ring 4 months ahead of time and had asked for permission from my mom before he left for the semester. I guess all of his friends in the states and overseas knew and no one had told me a thing..

- Sabrina P., Merriam, Kansas

My fiance Jeff is a DIE HARD Atlanta Braves fan and I have been a baseball fan since I was little.

We decided to plan a trip to Atlanta over Labor Day weekend 2007.  Little did I know Jeff had already been emailing the Atlanta Braves staff to arrange an on-field proposal!!!!
We arrived at Turner field early Friday morning to take a tour, there were about 8 other people in the group as well.  The tour guide was already aware the Jeff was planning to propose when we got to the field portion of the tour.  To my COMPLETE and TOTAL SHOCK he got down on one knee on the warning track to propose to me.  I’ve never been happier!!!

We are planning an April 2009 baseball-themed wedding.

- Summer E., Sartell, Minnesota

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