Relationships
11 People Share Their Most Romantic Proposal Stories, & My Heart Is So Happy

I love a good proposal story. Whether it's one of the most most romantic proposal stories or the most awkward engagement fail, I want to hear it. That's because, deep down, I'm a bit of romantic and there is just something so sweet and hopeful about that moment when you and your partner literally make an agreement to spend the rest of your lives together. Come on, I don't care how cynical you are, that's just sweet.

The other thing i just love about proposal stories is how they are the perfect excuse to totally lean into the romance and go really over-the-top with a grand gesture. Honestly, I can't help but get a little sentimental reading about how much thought, effort, and love went into creating these special moments. That's why I love it when people on Reddit open up about the unique and beautiful ways they got engaged. I'm not going to lie, a few of these stories made me more than a little weepy (watch out, you're going to want to grab a tissue before you get to the one the about the dogs!). Seriously, these are some of the sweetest engagement stories ever.

Love bloomed during these proposals.
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We're from the UK and went to Amsterdam for our birthdays. We were at the Keukenhof tulip field, people watching and taking pictures of all the gorgeous tulips in bloom. We came to a point where we both needed to sit down and have a drink so we were just chatting. Started getting a little bit soppy with each other, saying "I love you", "I love you more".. next thing I know he pulls a ring box out of his camera bag and says "I love you this much" we both sat on that bench hugging and crying for a good 15 minutes!! It was such an amazing day and just perfect in every way!

u/crunchiexo

He proposed in a field of my favorite flowers (sunflowers). This sunflower is even more special because the man that planted the sunflower fields did it as a declaration of love for his wife that passed away from cancer. My mom also had passed away from cancer so this field just meant so so so much to me. He also planned a photo shoot with our dog so there's photos of the moment he proposed. I can't wait to marry this guy!

Packerbacker007

They put a festive twist on their engagement.
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He organized our family and friends to surprise me for an Easter Egg Hunt, then after the hunt, he gave me a huge egg that had my ring inside. He got down on one knee, told me how much he loves me and asked me to marry him. I was completely surprised and thought there was just really awesome candy inside my big egg.

u/Rainbowhunters

They took a walk down memory lane and into the future.
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It was Fall, the day before my birthday, and he set up a "surprise birthday day" for me. We started off by driving to one of those little idyllic towns, that people go to when the leaves change colors, to walk around outside. We shopped around, got hot cider, and drove around a state park to just relax and take in the scenery.
Next, he took me to the zoo where we had our second date. We wandered around, went to see the dolphin show, and then had a caricature done (something we had discussed during our second date that we wished we had done). She drew him proposing, turned it around, and he got down on his knee. Neither of us actually remembers what he said, in the moment, but I immediately burst into tears and told him he was stupid (followed by yes/I love you/sob sob sob). Such is our relationship. We followed that by going to a restaurant downtown we had gone on our first date, and were seated at the same table we had been seated at, then. That was such a great day. :)

u/MayBlush

Backstory: we met in our first year of university, in an English class we both took. We were both late to class one day and got stuck sitting beside each other.
Fast forward almost 7 years later. We had plans to go to dinner and a movie, but instead he takes a different turn off, and pulls into the university where we met. He takes me to the classroom where we had our class together, which he had decorated with pretty lights. And asked me to marry him there! It was super sweet and very meaningful. I loved it.

u/pf226

They went for the grand gesture.
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For my 30th birthday he told me we were going to the aquarium (I love the zoo and the aquarium, we go to both several times a year), and then a quiet romantic dinner, just the two of us. We get to the aquarium and as we're walking to the door he says, "surprise, your birthday gift is we're doing the penguin encounter (basically you pay more and get to go in the penguin enclosure, talk to the trainers/caretakers and after get to 1-on-1 play with a penguin) at 3:30." I was super excited because we've never done that, it's a little pricey. So we wander the aquarium, feed the rays and go meet the penguins!
We go into the penguin enclosure and spend like 30 min and then the trainer tells us we're going to do our 1-on-1, so we go to a seperate space and she's telling us all about how it's mating season so the penguin (Kevin) keeps trying to take things back to his mate to build their nest... and he's trying to take shoelaces and scarves and being downright adorable. She goes on about their training and tells us about how they trained the penguins to bring them things... so she takes Kevin out of the room a moment and he comes back in wearing a bowtie. The bowtie says, "Marry me?" He's got down on one knee, I was so wrapped up in looking at the penguin I didn't even notice him on one knee.

u/Kathulhu1433

We were in Iceland, exploring waterfalls along the Ring Road. We found one waterfall tucked in the cliff face, and he proposed to me there. A friendly tourist snapped a pic of us and approached us afterward.

u/52717

My fiancée has a terrible habit of asking why I love her. I decided to answer her for good (it didn’t work, she still asks). I printed out around a hundred pictures from our past and hung them from the ceiling of her room with twine, each with a relevant reason as to why I loved her. I surprised her when she got home from work and as she was totally overwhelmed with the display, I got on one knee. After the crying and calling family and friends I whisked her away for a weekend beach vacation so the two of us could be together and just soak it all in.

u/cj0928

They conspired with friends and family to create the perfect moment.
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I had class over the weekend and so he apparently spent the day decorating our friend's backyard. We went out for his birthday dinner and then back to the friend's house. My friend pulled me to her bathroom to try on some old clothing and then took me out after about 5-10 mins. I thought it was weird that it was super quiet walking through the house. Opened the door to the backyard, there he was under a lit altar with the words "Marry Me?" hanging behind him and our friends on both sides leading up to him. I, of course, waddled up there and whimpered "yes" before he pushed me away as he laughed. "I gotta ask you first" Then he dropped to one knee and asked. It was perfect

annzi

I had no idea that FH was considering proposing when he did. I had a very specific scenario in my head of what that day would look like, and when we got in the car and didn't end up driving towards that place, I was convinced I was just in for another fun weekend celebrating our two year anniversary with my man.
We get to downtown PDX and pull up to the Sentinel Hotel, a hotel that we've been at a couple times before (it's also right next to some bangin' restaurants and food carts). He made me go into the bathroom for a moment while he arranged a 'surprise' for me to open. When I came into the room, there were 8 envelopes on the bed.
1st card: Happy Anniversary! It's been two whole years. I love you so much; I'm so glad we're both here. You've given me poems for a birthday surprise, now I'll give you poems so we'll BOTH have some rhymes.
I went on a journey through alternating poems and surprises. Dinner reservations for that night, breakfast reservations for tomorrow, hot chocolate from our favorite candy company (check out QUIN, it's amazing), then I got to the last card...
"You've completed your journey, I know it was hard. And you've seen all your gifts, except this one card. But this card is special, it's not like the rest. It comes with a choice -- a choice of what's next. From the first day I met you, to our life and our home... To our dog and our shows, I've loved you, I've known. If you keep this next gift, then please keep me too. To keep this next gift, you must say, 'I do.'" By the time I was finished reading and turned around, he was down on one knee with a ring. SO MANY TEARS.
Later, we head into dinner reservations and FH just starts walking to the back of the restaurant, doesn't even stop to chat with the hostess or anything. I think, "That's weird." But, maybe he's arranged flowers on the table or something so he knew which was ours. Mid-restaurant I start to hear cheering, then spy my best friend, her husband, my other best friend, his boyfriend, my Mother, His Mom, Dad, and Sister... I walked into a surprise engagement party. SO. PERFECT. Loved every moment of that day!

u/mintwithgolddots

OK, time to grab the tissues.
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Background: I was always very close to my Grandma, who had to go into a nursing home in 2013 after a series of strokes. She died two years later. The strokes left her unable to speak, but she was a big animal lover and was always able to express her joy when a group of dogs visited the nursing home. They were specially trained dogs who visit care homes and schools for children with special needs performing little shows and just generally hanging out. Basically, they provided my Grandma with some comfort and some positive memories of that time for me. They were also with my Grandma the last time I saw her before she died.
The proposal… One Saturday a few months ago we moved into our new house, then a couple of days later we took a trip to our old place to do a clean and grab the last of our stuff before handing back our keys. SO was keen to ‘have relaxed day exploring’ our new area but I insisted on going back to the flat to get the cleaning out of the way. Roll on a few hours and SO is keen to return back to house. I was up for more hoovering and letting him go ahead. He eventually persuaded me to leave, insisting that he would finish off everything in the flat later in the week. After arriving at the house SO says he has a surprise for me in the lounge. I open the door and there are the six dogs who used to visit my Grandma, all kitted out in mini tuxes/bow ties (apart from the one girl, who had a tutu and a fake rose in her mouth). One of the dogs stood on his hind legs pushing a trolley. SO gets down on one knee and pulls a ring from the trolley. As a happy coincidence SO proposed on what would have been my Granddad’s birthday, which I’m sure would have pleased my Grandma greatly. We’re now getting married on their anniversary.

u/LDN1989

Now that is how you get engaged! So, if you are planning on popping the question soon, it’s time to take note of how it's done — and then put special twist on it to make the experience uniquely you. All that's left is to say "yes!" to romance.