The Marriage Proposal

What’s the perfect romantic marriage proposal?

Should he get down on one knee in a restaurant, the traditional way? Or propose on Christmas day, on a tropical beach or at the top of the London Eye?*

*I know there are more exotic places for it, but I’m keeping to the whole English Wedding theme here!

In my day job as a wedding calligrapher I’ve written four proposals, all poems.

The first was for a guy who lived in England while his girlfriend was overseas – kind of a long distance love letter / poem ending with “Will you marry me?” The second marriage proposal I was commissioned to write was for Christmas Day. It was to be the final present for my customer’s girlfriend on Christmas morning. He’d written a poem called “The Gift” as his proposal. The third proposal scroll I wrote was part of a plan to propose at a romantic picnic.

And the fourth – which I’ve written this week – is for a New Year’s Eve proposal. It’s a boxed scroll, with a poem written by my client for his girlfriend. He’s planned the whole evening with a romantic dinner and dancing at a luxury hotel afterwards – I love it.

From my days frequenting wedding forums like Hitched and Wedding Chaos I know there are peak times of year for proposals: Valentine’s Day of course, followed by New Year’s Eve and Christmas Day. As well as popular times for proposals, there are places: on holiday is a classic – choosing a memorable location is easier if the Grand Canyon is on your itinerary!

I’d love to hear your experiences. Is there pressure to propose in a unique way? Does the setting matter most, or the choice of words?

If guys who propose go to great lengths, should girls who propose go to the same extremes?

Share your proposal stories by commenting on this post. Original, unusual, funny, exciting or sweet, charming and romantic… I’d love to hear your story!

By Claire