Finding someone you’d like to spend the rest of your life with is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. It’s not a usual occurrence to meet someone who matches everything you like and makes you joyful all the time. If you’re thinking about tying the knot at this stage of your relationship, this is the article for you.
Proposing to your partner could be one of the most nerve-wracking events in your life. It’s a decision that’d completely change both of your lives forever. After getting down on one knee and hearing your partner’s ‘yes,’ the next thing to do is focus on the wedding, your married life, and building a family.
But before that, of course, you want to ensure your proposal would be the best one yet.
In this digital age, people are interested in each other’s lives that a smashing wedding proposal is something they would always look for in long relationships. With social media always on the lookout for the next viral thing, many eyes will be on the two of you. To guide you, here are the do’s and don’ts for a successful marriage proposal.
The Do’s
When planning to propose, you want to ensure everything goes well as it’s a moment you and your partner will share forever. With that, listed below are the do’s you should carry out during your marriage proposal:
1. Look For An Engagement Ring
A classic proposal would require you to get down on your knee and present your partner with an engagement ring. Ideally, look for a ring you’re certain your partner would love. However, if you’re not too sure about their preference, you might want to check out round or princess cut engagement rings as they’re usually a crowd favorite. They’re almost a foolproof design that’d help bring more smiles to your partner’s face.
Recently, the trend also veers toward oval engagement rings, so this might be an option you can consider. It would be a giveaway to ask your future wife what she’d like, so an idea would be to involve her best friend who would be more than willing to help.
Apart from looking for the perfect cut for the diamond, you should also prioritize its size. While some people might prefer a small stone, others may find more happiness with a bigger one. To be on the safe side, you could look for a 1 carat diamond ring to give. This size is just about right as it’s neither too big nor too small—perfect for every hand.
2. Ask Their Parents For Their Hand
To show respect to your partner’s family, try to first speak to their parents privately about your plan of proposing. While it’d be nice to surprise everyone with a ring in your partner’s hand, it’s preferable if you could ask for the parents’ permission to allow you to be their child’s future spouse. This would indicate that you’re honoring and valuing their approval and opinion.
If you think your partner’s parents are not good at keeping secrets, consider asking them about the day you plan to propose. Ideally, they shouldn’t meet on the day of the proposal, so there’d be less chances of them spilling the beans. If you could ask them not to share the news with anyone else, that would be helpful.
That is why it’s vital to have a great relationship with your future in-laws as soon as you feel that this will be the girl you would like to marry. It should be a relationship you nurture the moment you meet them so there wouldn’t be much of a challenge asking for their daughter’s hand in marriage.
3. Choose A Good Ring Box
While presenting the ring alone is still doable, nothing feels better if your partner gets to see a ring box and watch you open it right in front of them. It’d bring more intense emotions and bliss to your partner. It’s a classic move everyone loves.
But aside from the drama it adds, a ring box would also make it easier for you to monitor the ring. Since it’s bulkier than a bare ring, it’s easier to check if it’s still inside your pocket.
When choosing a ring box, the ideal thing to do is to go for the classic one with a velvet finish. A red, black, navy, or gray finish would be excellent for the situation.
4. Pick The Perfect Location
One of the most important things to focus on when making a proposal is choosing the right location. If you have any sentimental place you and your partner share, you might want to consider that first. It could be the place where you first met, had your first date, or had your first kiss.
If you want to ensure your partner would love the location, you can bring them to the place they’ve been meaning to go to their whole life. That would make the proposal even more passionate and momentous.
Alternatively, you can look for any romantic place that’s private and serene—one you and your partner will never forget. This would help the romance flow and allow your partner to enjoy the location a lot more.
However, what’s really important is that the place should hold meaning for both of you because this will be a great love story you will tell many times over to your kids and grandkids in the future.
5. Consider Their Publicity Preference
It’s important to have an idea of how your partner is when it comes to publicity. While some people do well with being the center of attention, others may prefer to be behind the crowd and watch from afar. For your proposal to be a success, you must first identify your partner’s preference. Based on that, you could plan on how to proceed with your surprise.
If you choose to surprise your partner in front of strangers, family, and friends and your partner doesn’t do well with attention, they’d surely feel uncomfortable and might not react the way they intend to. So to avoid any awkwardness, the first thing to do is identify your partner’s preference.
The Don’ts
While there are plenty of things you need to focus on, there are various aspects you’d also want to avoid doing. In this way, you could ensure to have the perfect marriage proposal you and your partner will cherish for a lifetime. On this note, here are the things you shouldn’t do when proposing:
1. Don’t Share Your Plan With Everyone
Proposing to your partner might be one of the most exciting surprises you’re going to plan in your entire life. Hence, you might feel too giddy and would like to immediately share the good news with everyone you know.
While it’s great to let the romance flow wherever you go, sharing your proposal plan with everyone may increase the chances of your partner knowing about the proposal, thus ruining the element of surprise. Ideally, you should limit the people who know about the proposal and try not to share it with those who can’t surely keep a secret. While you may be too eager to share your plan, it’s a sacrifice you need to make if you want to ensure a successful marriage proposal.
2. Don’t Forget To Hire A Photographer
While it’s not mandatory to hire a private photographer, doing so would add a nice touch to your marriage proposal. With a private photographer, you can capture the moment and immortalize it for the both of you to share for life. This way, you can have photos of the exact moment, catching your facial expressions of happiness and love.
When hiring a photographer, try to look for one with vast experience in capturing surprise proposals. In this way, you can guarantee they’d be able to deliver well. That one moment would pass quickly, and your photographer should be able to capture everything down to the last second.
There are photographers whose expertise centers on weddings and proposals. Ensure you check their reviews and look at their portfolios so you can get your money’s worth.
3. Don’t Copy Someone Else’s Proposal
Looking at online videos of how one proposes might inspire you to do the same. While these proposals have a romantic and intense element of surprise, they might not look too special when you copy them. Aside from this, there might be chances your partner had seen the video, too. Though they might have enjoyed the video themselves, they’d surely appreciate a unique proposal with a personal touch.
It’s okay to inspire yourself with proposals you see on the internet. However, try to kick it up a notch by allowing it to be unique and personal. You can hire a live classical band that can play your partner’s favorite romantic song, set up a firework display, or even throw up some confetti as if you just won the jackpot.
Make your proposal unique and one for the books. Start with assessing what you both love to do, what your future wife is passionate about or even the happiest moments you shared together, and take a cue from there. You may also ask select friends who might know something about your loved one‘s dream proposal. Because it’s common knowledge that girls’ talk always includes this.
4. Don’t Lose The Ring
If you plan on having an adventurous proposal, try to safeguard the ring at all times. A marriage proposal would seldom be complete without a ring in your partner’s hand, so make sure you don’t lose the ring and always have it with you.
If you’re planning to do some activities that’d require heavy movements, try to put the ring inside a bag and look for a locker where you could keep your things securely. This would help ensure your ring is safe, and you’d have something to show your partner at that special moment.
5. Don’t Be Too Obvious About Checking The Ring
While it’s normal to monitor you still have your ring inside your pocket, you shouldn’t check it out more often than you should. If you must inspect if the ring is still with you, try to reach within your pocket discretely or do it while your partner’s looking away, in a different room, or far away from you.
If you make it too obvious that you’re constantly checking your pocket, your partner might suspect what you’re planning to do. If you fear losing your ring, you could place it in your bag, front pocket, or jacket pocket, which would make it easier for you to check on it discretely.
Conclusion
The do’s and don’ts list for a wedding proposal would go on and on. As you want to guarantee everything goes smoothly as you planned it, prepare for the day at least a month before. This would allow you to look for an engagement ring, book a venue, hire a photographer, and more. The earlier you can secure the date, the better. Most importantly, avoid sharing the news with everyone since surely you’d still want your partner to feel the element of surprise.
As you get down on one knee and ask for your partner’s hand in marriage, enjoy the moment and picture everything in your mind. It’d be a scenario you both wouldn’t forget for the rest of your lives.
By Amanda Farmer
Bio: Amanda Farmer is a jewelry designer. She has been in the industry for more than ten years. She makes it a point to share her expertise through online writing. Amanda enjoys gardening and cooking, as well as yoga and art crafts during her free time. She is married with two daughters.