Brides Who've Been There: 9 Laugh and Cry-Worthy Proposal Stories

I'm taking a blogging break to soak up our sweet Lily Grace (and, let's be honest, to keep my head above water through this beautiful newborn chaos), so I asked some of my married friends to contribute in my absence.  Today I'm concluding my series on other brides' take on wedding planning, bridal beauty and style, and newlywed life.  

I love proposal stories and asked them to share!

My mother had passed away a few months prior, and there was so much work that needed to be done on my house--I lived with my mom to help take care of her, and any home repairs just went by the wayside with all her appointments, surgeries, and hospitalizations.   I applied for a Catholic youth group  to help with repairs.  The mission group that worked on my house was wonderful, and we became very close.  They invited my (then) boyfriend and I to join them for dinner each evening.  On one of these evenings, my boyfriend got up and said how encouraging the whole group was, and then he got down on one knee.  There's nothing like having 100 teenagers to share your joy!  A couple of them even were able to come to the wedding!  My engagement ring is my mother's diamond in a new setting. - Jenn

My husband is very romantic and always loves to surprise me.  One day, he blindfolded me and drove me around town so I would lose my sense of direction.  He eventually stopped the car and told me to wait inside for a minute.  Then he came and got me and pulled off my blindfold.  We were at a park, and in front of me was a picnic on a blanket.  There was a vase of roses, two candles, and my favorite Chinese food.  I was so thrilled.  As we sat down, my then-boyfriend asked if I noticed anything unusual.  I said no.  He then drew my attention to a ring slid down on the candle stem.  I was so overjoyed.  I pulled it off and we hugged.  The funny thing was that while we were hugging, my husband whispered into my ear, "Will you marry me?"  The day was kind of chilly, so I had a hood on and I didn't hear him whisper through the hood.  When we pulled back from the hug, he had this look of panic on his face.  I asked him what was wrong and he said, "You didn't answer me."  Then I realized what had happened, gave him a big smile and said, "You never had to ask.  I've known it was you from day one."  We've been married for 14 years now and he is still the one.  My ring is very simple, but I love it.  It was bought by a poor college boy who couldn't wait to ask me, and for that reason alone it is priceless to me.  It is also a reminder of how far we've come.  We were 22 when we married and didn't have much, but we have grown a beautiful life together.  The ring symbolizes our simple beginning, and I cherish that beginning.  - Amy

My husband proposed to me in the same park where he first told me he loved me. It's a pretty famous park in our city, and there was a lot going on there that day. A high school was having their senior prom. There were a lot of people from concerts at near by concert halls and theaters. But the thing that makes the proposal most memorable was that right after he finished getting down on one knee, and right after I said yes, we were accosted by a homeless person asking us for money! - Anna

My husband's proposal was very simple. After an evening event in downtown Annapolis, Maryland (where I was living at the time), we walked down to the City Dock. He proposed by the water. Sailboats were anchored nearby and lights shone on the surface of the water. It was quiet. There was no kneeling and the words were few, but the sentiment was real. Afterward we walked around in quiet excitement, and nine months later we married a few blocks up the street. The area remains one of our favorite places to visit and reminisce. - Julie

In a nutshell, my husband Anthony finagled me into running through the rain to meet him at the chapel on our college campus (Franciscan University) the night before we both headed home for Christmas break, telling me that Adoration was going on there and he thought it'd be a great time to get in a little prayer before we left.  So, I did.  But upon walking through the big double doors, I didn't see Jesus anywhere, only stems of roses and candles lining the aisle towards the front of the chapel.  He led me up that aisle and told me all these wonderful things that went in one ear and out the other because I was so shocked, and then he got down on one knee, asked me to be his forever, and opened wide my tear ducts. - Sheena

The short version of the story (the long version can be found here) is that my husband proposed at the Shrine of St. Thérèse in Royal Oak, Michigan. He wanted to propose in the Adoration chapel, so naturally I wanted to look at every single nook and cranny of the church before we finally made our way to the chapel. I love that he proposed there because we both have a huge devotion to St. Thérèse, so much so that our first daughter's middle name is after this great saint! My ring has five diamonds.  The middle three symbolize the Father, the Son, and Holy Spirit, and the outer two symbolize my husband and I, and we are only united through the Trinity. The inside of the ring has a design of vines and branches to remind me of John 15, one of my favorite Bible passages. The full story on the ring can be found here. - Amanda

Dec. 2, 2006: I came home from an 8 hour shift at the bridal store where I worked to my then-boyfriend Matt mom preparing dinner with my mom. I was floored when the table was covered with red rose petals and red and white Hersey Kisses (my mom had been in charge of disposing the green ones from the Christmas bag). I spied a ring box, but said nothing as I went upstairs and changed into a cute dress. After eating homemade lasagna, Matt drove me to the little grass park overlooking Corona Del Mar Beach, where a few months prior we'd stood in the same spot around 4 a.m. and decided to get married (good things CAN happen after 2 a.m!). We looked at his family albums, and he brought the third and final one down from his parents house. At the end I closed it and he told me to open it again. Whoops! I had missed the last page where he had put a picture of us and a note. I thought it was so sweet but I still missed the main event, so he shone the flashlight on the ring that he had taped to the back inside cover and my jaw dropped. He got on one knee and said something neither of us remember, but we are both pretty sure that's when he proposed! My ring has a diamond in the middle with a sapphire on either side. We both love blue and had decided to marry on Sept. 8th, Our Lady's birthday.  He told me the diamond was to represent Mary above the moon and the stars. - Andi

I was sitting on my computer in my apartment my senior year of college, doing some homework. My husband was also there doing homework, but he randomly stopped and sat in the chair directly behind me. And then he pulled out a paper and started singing (which isn’t completely out of the ordinary-- he’d done that before). However, this time the last line was “Will you marry me?” and I just stared at him asking him if he was serious... a few times. Poor Jim had to ask again because I couldn’t believe that just happened!  I’ve always really liked three stone wedding rings because they represent the past, present, and the future, and that is the type of ring Jim chose. - Emily

My husband spent months planning his proposal. Two months into our dating relationship, he began giving me a little gift at every one-month anniversary.  All of those gifts worked together to spell out the proposal on our 7-month anniversary. He proposed at the place where we'd had our first date (a museum), with several more gifts that had special meaning from our relationship. He'd actually been bugging me about the ring for months, asking what I wanted. My answer was only that I wanted a simple, pretty, gold ring and that the engagement ring and wedding ring should be a set. - Bonnie

How about you?  I would LOVE to hear your proposal story in the comments!