The proposal. The dream. The man works his ass off for months to buy a stunning (but super expensive) ring, and then proceeds to present the ring to the woman (on one knee) in an extremely public setting in the hopes that she will at least say she wants to mate with him for life, right?
Well, I’m here to say fuck all that. Look, if you’re waiting for your dream proposal in front of the castle at Disney or at the Eiffel Tower (Be it the real one or the one in Vegas,) Then that’s excellent, and I hope it works out for you, but some of the rest of us aren’t into the traditional. Some of us almost reject the idea of marriage entirely (almost.) Some of us just want our engagements to be, well, different.
I proposed to my now fiancé in June. With Pandora Rings. In a hotel room. Not on one knee. And you know what? It was incredible.
(We're super cute, it's whatever.)
So to those ladies out there who feel like they’re ready to take a leap of faith, here’s some advice and insight from someone who’s been there.
1. Know that he’ll say yes.
A lot of guys (and the occasional girl) make the mistake of dropping to one knee before they’ve had any sort of real conversation about the future. Often enough, it’s a little too spur-of-the-moment which does nothing but leave this poor girl wondering if she should just say “yes,” so as to not embarrass this poor guy at this five-star restaurant in front of all these people. Save yourself some major embarrassment and have the marriage/“I want to be with you forever,” conversation before you propose.
The idea to go for it came about when I was starting my Disney College Program (different story for a different day,) and my then-boyfriend came to visit me. He was leaving to study abroad in Tasmania, and on the first night we were being super gross and lovey-dovey, and he confessed that he’d thought about proposing in front of the castle, but he didn’t know how I’d react, and he didn’t have time to plan accordingly.
2. Don’t stress too hard.
It’s 100 percent okay to be nervous, but not all things are going to go perfectly according to plan. Don’t stress about a ring if you’re not in the greatest place financially. Don’t worry about whether or not you’re going to get on one knee. Don’t worry about whether or not you do it in public. Don’t worry about what you’re going to say. If the two of you are really in love, none of it will matter. It’ll be perfect no matter what.
On our day to go to the parks, we started at Hollywood Studios. We made it 30 minutes before he started throwing up and looking like he was going to pass out any second, so we had to go back to the hotel. He felt absolutely horrible about not being able to spend the day in the parks, and that’s when the lightbulb went off. I knew exactly what I was going to do. I’m not letting you leave until I put a ring on it. I told him I had to run to my apartment, “to get some things,” but really I was going to the store I was working at in Disney Springs. I bought the One Love and the Forever Love from the Pandora stand (with an employee discount, mind you,) and went back to the hotel. I was ready. Or at least I thought I was until the opportunity to pounce arose. I don’t even remember what I said. Something about the day not being perfect, and how our days won’t be perfect, but I wanted to spend even the imperfect days with him. It wasn’t quite as eloquent as that, though. It came out as a jumble of word-vomit. Still worked, though.
3. Enjoy the moment.
Pay attention to the look of surprise on his face. Really, really pay attention to the reaction. See the excitement and love in his eyes. Know that this is the best moment of your lives together so far, and just completely surround yourself in the overall greatness of the moment. Cherish that shit.
When I finally got the question out and showed him the ring, his expression went from confused to ecstatic in about 2 seconds. I could not have asked for a cuter reaction. It was 10000% worth it, and it has gone down in history as one of the best nights (correction: THE best night) of both of our lives.
(Our super legit, super classy Photo Booth engagement photoshoot.)
So do it to it, girls. If I can do it, literally anyone can.
