‘I could see tantalising glimpses of the message through the gravy’
I thought I had organised everything really well. I booked a table at our favourite restaurant and made a plate with my proposal written on it, with the aim that the message would reveal itself during the meal. The restaurant had kindly bought into the whole idea so I delivered the plate to the restaurant a week before and it was all going according to plan. We finished our starters, and my heart was in my mouth as the main course arrived on my familiar plate. Part-way into the meal, I could see tantalising glimpses of the message through the gravy as Sandra scooped up her vegetables. Then she made excuses and ran to the toilet. The waiting staff gave me knowing looks, obviously assuming that she had read the message and hated the idea of marrying me. When Sandra returned, she apologised and said it must be too soon after her recent operation for such rich food, and pushed her plate away. She clearly thought I was weird and unsympathetic for trying to persuade her to have a few more bites of those vegetables – “They look delicious; go on, you must still have room”, I insisted. I repeated the whole charade six months later, and I’m delighted to say that she ate her food, saw the message and said yes. We have now been very happily married for 10 years. Craig Rore, Isle of Man
‘Gale-force winds crushed my alfresco proposal plans’
We live next to a stunning surf reserve in New South Wales – what better place to ask the woman I love to marry me? I planned to fill the beach with candle-lit jars, and invite my unsuspecting partner to join me. The evening approached and I said to my partner: “I’ve booked a nice restaurant for us, but first let’s have a drink at the beach.” I trundled down there with a large climbing backpack full of jars, candles, prosecco, food and, of course, the ring – but the Pacific Ocean had other ideas. A vast black front rolled in bringing gale-force winds and crushing my alfresco proposal plans. Disappointingly, alternative arrangements were made to sit on a blanket in our living room where we ate crisps and sombrely drank wine. Instead, we decided to have a beach wedding at the equally stunning Heron Island in the Great Barrier Reef. It rained. Keep it indoors, proposers! Carolus Rex, science teacher, NSW
‘I had to ask her to open the sweetener sachet anyway’
My now-wife, Lori, was working shifts and I would sometimes bring her dinner on her breaks. One evening, I decided to propose. She liked iced tea with sweetener, so I put the ring inside a sweetener packet. I went to the drive thru and got her food and iced tea – but I didn’t check that the order was correct. It turns out they gave her orange soda and not iced tea, so no need to use the sweetener. I was disappointed and had to ask her to open the sweetener packet anyway. She looked very confused but opened the sachet – and the rest is history. We’re still married, 27 years later. Kurt Frazier, manager
‘Apparently I had asked if I could marry her horse’
I met a girl who spoke no English, but it was love at first sight. I decided to propose after a wonderful week. We went on a boat, then climbed up a mountain. I kissed her, knelt in front of her, and asked her to marry me in Portuguese. She smiled but did not reply and looked bemused – then said, “I haven’t got a horse?” Apparently I had asked if I could marry her horse. I did it properly a year later. John Copsey, Ipswich
‘The ring would have been blown away in a second’
I had planned to propose to my now-husband by Dean Village in Edinburgh, since it’s where we said “I love you” to each other the first time. But from the moment we got to Edinburgh the weather started getting bad, so I thought a big walk to Dean Village would be too suspicious. Plan B was proposing in front of Edinburgh Castle – except the wind got so strong we couldn’t even hear each other talk. It would have been way too chaotic and the ring would have been blown away in a second. To plan C, then: I would do it during dinner. Except the only restaurant we found was a (very lovely) Chinese restaurant where a huge group was having a birthday celebration – not ideal. To plan D – I’d do it back at the B&B, where nothing could go wrong. We got back, he turned on the TV, and Countdown was on. In just an hour it would be the next day, my birthday, and he would have to say yes, which felt like too much pressure. So I proposed to my boyfriend in front of Countdown in a not-so-great B&B room. Thankfully, he said yes. Tessa, coffee shop worker, Liverpool
My husband Craig has always been the king of the surprise date, and his proposal to me on Christmas Eve 2007 was a string of surprises, planned to the second. It started going wonky almost immediately. We ambled up to Sadler’s Wells theatre in London with about 20 minutes to spare before that afternoon’s performance of The Snowman. Which, it turned out, was actually at the Peacock Theatre in Holborn, more than a mile away. We just managed to leap on a bus and get to the right theatre with about a minute’s grace but we needn’t have panicked – due to a ticket agent double-booking about 100 tickets, most people hadn’t even been seated yet. After an hour of the orchestra playing carols while dozens of irate parents and distraught children milled about in the aisles, Craig was becoming increasingly twitchy. The performance started about an hour late, and the moment the curtain calls began, Craig hustled me out of the theatre and told me we’d have to run to the next event: ice skating at Somerset House. The moment I set foot on the ice, I realised this was a terrible mistake: I couldn’t breathe, I couldn’t focus, and I couldn’t stop shaking. I was having my first ever panic attack. I managed to claw my way round the edge of the rink, sobbing and swearing, and staggered off to down a hot chocolate and get my breath back. My head was thumping, but at least we were back on track for the final part of the evening: dinner on the South Bank. The meal was amazing, and I was happy to linger over coffee, but Craig was curiously insistent that we had to take a walk before heading for the station.
Outside, he pulled me towards the bench where we’d spent most of our first date, knelt down, and produced a ring. I was overwhelmed and so happy, I burst into tears. Once he’d realised it was a yes, he stood up, kissed me, and said, “Right, we’ve got 25 minutes to get to Euston. You’re going to have to run again.” I wouldn’t change a thing about that day, but I am always amused by the fact that I spent so much of it either crying or running. Becky Kennedy, primary school learning support assistant, Watford
‘I inadvertently proposed at the supermarket checkout’
My long-term partner and I wanted to buy a retirement home on the Côte d’Azur. We had an offer accepted on an apartment in Nice and I sent a copy of the contract to a UK lawyer. I received her report one morning and was reading it as we did our weekend supermarket shop. The lawyer was anxious to stress that, because of French inheritance law, it was advisable that couples buying property together should be married. We were in the process of going through checkout as I read this aloud and said, in an offhand way: “Looks like we’ll have to get married then.” There was a stunned silence from both my now-wife and the cashier, who both stared at me amazedly. Am I the only person to ever inadvertently propose in a Waitrose checkout queue? Iain, retired researcher, Sheffield
‘Two birds fell out of the sky – dead from the heat’
I’d gone all out: first-class flights to the Carribbean Aruba and a mini-suite at a luxury hotel in the guise of celebrating my 40th birthday. I’d seen hundreds of photos of the famous “Aruba tree” and thought that would be the perfect place to go down on one knee. We walked and walked, but couldn’t find it anywhere. After reluctantly asking for directions, we turned back the way we came. I could see that Caroline was starting to burn, and spirits were starting to dip, then we spotted the tree. It was beautiful, just like the photos! Perfect – until you realise that the person who took those photos was standing in a dirty public car park. Heat, dehydration and fear were all getting the better of me. Caroline wanted to go back to the hotel, so we started walking, and walking, and walking. We were lost again; Caroline was quite annoyed and I was feeling a bit unwell. Then we heard a thud, and another. Two birds fell out of the sky – dead, we assumed from the heat. Eventually we got back and, in a final panic, I said: “Look, there’s a jetty – let’s walk to the end and look at the sea” (again, thinking this would be the perfect place to propose). Caroline shouted, “I’m dehydrated, hungry and have serious burns – you can go look at the fish!” The next night I proposed on the hotel’s beach, and we’ve been married nine years now. Daniel Ramsay, Southampton
‘I told him I’d dreamt he’d proposed – and I hadn’t said yes’
My husband “accidentally” proposed to me while we were on an island in Brazil. He had been planning to do it while we were in Rio but, while we were queueing to see the Christ the Redeemer statue, I randomly started telling him about a dream I’d had the night before where he’d proposed to me with a wooden ring. When he asked what my reply had been, I said, “well, I didn’t say no, but I didn’t say yes either.” Little did I know that he had a ring (that had once belonged to his grandmother – not wooden!) in the rucksack at that moment. Hearing about my dream, he quickly reconsidered. The next day, we arrived on a beautiful, remote island. We were getting ready to go out for dinner when I asked where our wallet was. He pointed me towards our rucksack, completely forgetting that the ring was also there. I dug to the bottom and spotted a small burgundy box. Without thinking, I said: “Er, I found this”, shaking it about. Like a rabbit in headlights, he stared at me, completely lost for words. I panicked, thinking he’d changed his mind and needed a get-out, so I quickly added, “I thought maybe it’s for your saxophone?” as he’s a musician. Recovering, he said: “I think you know what it’s for …” and got down on one knee. That was 10 years ago. Susan McGowan, arts professional, Cardiff
