Coming up with just the right way to ask that question = a whole lot of pressure. So much pressure, in fact, that a recent survey found a quarter of men confide in strangers when planning to propose, and one in seven are “not confident at all” that their partner will say yes.
But guess what? Not all of us want a singing flash mob, a skywriting plane or a YouTube-worthy extravaganza when we get engaged. Low-key and laid-back proposals can be totally romantic, just as these GLAMOUR readers will tell you…
“He left me a Post-it”
“Jack proposed to me on a Post-it note. We often leave each other notes on the hall table in the morning – ‘Can you get milk?’, ‘I’ll be home late tonight’, etc. – but that day it was, ‘Will you marry me? Think about it…’ He knew that I hate being put on the spot; I’m the kind of person who needs time to think things through, especially with something as big as getting married. When he came in that night, I had my Post-it answer waiting: ‘Yes!'” – Kerry, 35
“I had an epic hangover”
“I’d had my head in the toilet all morning after a massive night out. It was an epic hangover and I was looking pretty rough. So you can imagine my surprise when I found my boyfriend waiting in the bedroom with a diamond ring. ‘How can you want to marry me right now?’ I asked, incredulous. ‘I literally have sick in my hair.’ ‘Well, if I can love you now, I’ll always love you’ was his answer.” – Sophie, 32
“We were watching Saturday Kitchen“
“My boyfriend brought me a cup of tea in bed in the morning and we snuggled up to watch Saturday Kitchen. He turned to me and said, ‘I want to do this every Saturday with you – for the rest of my life. Will you marry me?’ It was totally spontaneous, and there was no ring, but it was perfect.” – Louise, 33
“He ordered two pints and shoved the box in my hand”
“My fiancé had planned a romantic picnic to propose, but I’d unknowingly ruined it by announcing I was going shopping. He insisted on meeting me afterwards and made us wander around town as he tried to find a romantic spot. But it started pouring, so we ran into a dodgy student pub. Exasperated, he ordered two pints and shoved the box into my hand: ‘Here you go!’ I burst out laughing – so that’s why he’d been acting so odd. We had the picnic the next day to celebrate.” – Lauren, 27
“We didn’t want to waste any more time”
“We’d just got back from a friend’s lavish wedding. We’d spoken about getting married before, but knew we’d have to save loads. That night, over a takeaway curry, I blurted out, ‘I don’t want to wait. We love each other just as much as they do, so let’s get married this year and forget about the big wedding’. Turns out, he had a ring in his pocket – he’d been wanting to do the same thing. We got married three months later in a register office and I’m so glad we didn’t waste any more time.” – Sarah, 33
“He asked randomly on a flight”
“Getting engaged on a flight might sound like most people’s worst nightmare, but it was strangely romantic. We were on our way back from a perfect holiday in the Canaries and feeling blue about heading home. I said something like, ‘Urgh, there’s nothing to look forward to now’, to which he replied, ‘Well, why don’t we get married when we get back?’ We looked at each other then I said, ‘Yeah, OK, let’s do it!’ We toasted our decision with a beer off the trolley.” – Alex, 30
“He got a keyring engraved”
“Adam and I had been together for 10 years, we’d just bought a house and spent all our money, so I’d told him not to buy me a ring if he proposed. One day, we were out for a walk and he gave me a box, saying he’d got me something for the house: it was a silver keyring with ‘Will you marry me?’ engraved on it. It was quite lovely, actually.” – Becki, 28
Need help budgeting for your engagement ring? Check out these 6 tips. Who has the biggest rock in Celebdom? Find out here!
