Advice on How to Propose Marriage
1. Know the answer
You would be surprised to know the amount of men who don't even bother discussing marriage with their girlfriends. They go rushing out to buy them an engagement ring only to find themselves discouraged, hurt, and "broke".
2. Window-shopping
This is extremely important unless she really wants you to surprise her. Remember that you want her to wear this ring for the rest of her life. How can you expect her to wear something for the rest of her life without at least knowing what style she likes?
3. Insure the Rock!
Before you go planning an extravagant marriage proposal, one of the first things that you should do is cover the ring with an insurance policy. The ring can be added for an additional cost under your homeowner's or tenants insurance policy.
4. Ask permission
There is an old Roman custom know as "joining of the hands", where the groom would give the bride's father a coin that symbolized the purchase of the bride. The bride would then pass from her father's hand to the grooms. Although this rarely exists today, it's common respect to ask the bride's father for approval before whisking his daughter away.
5. Trust wisely and sparingly
One of the most difficult things to do is keep a secret as big as this. In order to keep your marriage proposal a surprise, try not to tell anyone! It's obvious that her father will know, after asking for his permission, however he nor anyone else needs to know all the details of your proposal (i.e.) date, time, location. Generally, if you ask those who are close to you to keep the secret, you can usually count on them, but if someone accidentally slips and tells her then your surprise will be ruined! So be cautious!
6. Drop to one knee
Who said chivalry was dead? Proposing down on one has been a tradition for many years and continues to thrive today. It has its roots in the days of knights and chivalry when it was the custom for a knight to bend down on one knee to show servitude to his lover.
7. Be creative
The majority of men plan on proposing only once in their lives, so make this a very special moment. Chose a memorable place, song, or occasion that you shared together, such as where you first met or kissed. Plan every little detail, set a romantic tone or be silly and surprising, but more importantly, have fun and keep it simple because the proposal story will be told over and over again.
8. Have a back-up plan.
I can't stress enough how important this is because you never know for sure how things will turn out. Having a good back-up plan will help you redeem yourself just in case your original plan back fires.
9. Spreading the news
It's a good idea to incorporate this when planning your marriage proposal because the very first thing that she'll want to do is call everyone she knows to share the good news. So make sure to pack your cell phone or propose somewhere within walking distance to a payphone.
10. Celebrate!
After you propose, it's a good idea to celebrate the moment. This can be done with a bottle of champagne, over a romantic dinner, red roses, or anything that she might thoroughly enjoy.
John Anthony Pagliaro Jr., is author of "The Story Behind the Rock." The world's most creative directory of romantic and surprising engagement ideas. More marriage advice, resources and where to purchase the book can be found at www.thestorybehindtherock.com. John can be reached at john@thestorybehindtherock.com
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