Women Who Proposed To Their Boyfriends Are Sharing Why

Buzz Feed

a day ago

Recently, I asked the women of the BuzzFeed Community who've proposed to their boyfriends to share their experiences.
Here are 26 of their top responses:
"I had planned out this big, elaborate scene to tell him. I was going to drop to one knee in St. Augustine and everything. I ended up cracking beforehand and told him like two weeks before my planned trip because he knew I was keeping a secret from him (I apparently suck at keeping secrets), and it was causing issues in our relationship. He cried. It was adorable. Made me love him so much more. I never realized that I could have that kind of emotional impact on someone. Other people's reactions to me telling them I asked have been interesting. Most people's first reaction is, 'Why?' Because he told me he wanted to marry me months previously, but knew I wasn't ready (I had just gotten divorced when I first met him). He told me that when I was ready, I would have to ask him. I was ready, so I asked."
—sallyface
"I proposed. He said yes. But the dynamic was off after that. We never planned the wedding and broke up a year later. Some men can't handle it. If I ever get married in the future, it will not be because I propose. 2/10 don't recommend."
—Samantha, California
"I proposed on New Year's Eve...exactly one week after our first date. Me: '(Husband's name), are you going to marry me?' Him: 'If you'll have me.' I had him."
—miss_trixie
"We had been talking about getting married for the past year, and I couldn't wait any longer due to excitement. It was Memorial Day weekend, and I had just gotten back from a 10-day trip during which I had the realization that I had to propose to him when I got back. I suggested that we go for a walk around our neighborhood, and when we got to a park, I stopped us in front of one of our favorite trees and stood facing him, holding hands, and looking into his eyes for what felt like forever. My heart was beating so loudly, and he could feel it. And then I chickened out, and we started walking again."
"Once we were a little ways out of the park, I turned around and led him back to the tree and tried again. When I finally got the courage to ask, he said, 'Oh my god, oh my god. Yes!' We walked back home, opened some champagne, drank it outside on the sidewalk, and talked about our future together. We didn't announce our engagement until a year later, when he proposed back to me with a ring. We waited because he wanted his family to get to know me better so they would be more supportive and excited about our engagement."—kekienitz
"Moved to Las Vegas in May 2006 and met my future husband in October 2006. I was currently dating another guy and then started hooking up with my future husband on the side. One night, we stayed out all night doing the fun things, and he told me he loved me. Fast forward to August 8, 2008, and we woke up hungover AF, and I rolled over in bed and said, 'If I ever was going to get married, I would get married today.' YES, I was one of THOSE people who got married on those stupid triple-number dates (08/08/08). He said, 'Okay,' and the rest is history. We went down to the courthouse before work that night and got the marriage certificate, and we finally got married on August 8, 2009. Coming up on 17 years, two kids, and one blind dog, and we couldn't be happier. I know what you are thinking, 'A wedding in Las Vegas, how original!'"
—Anonymous, 41, Las Vegas
"We had already planned the wedding, and we didn't really know how to tell our parents. So, I got a ring and asked him on the way to his parents' place for Christmas Eve."
—Anonymous, 37, Austin, TX
"I proposed one night in bed while we were cuddling. I didn't have a ring or anything. But the Christmas lights wrapped around my headboard were on, so there was a soft red glow everywhere. There was rain pitter-pattering outside. My cat was purring at the end of the bed, and I just thought it was a good moment. I blurted out, 'Marry me?' He smiled and replied, 'Okay. On a Sunday?' And I was like, 'Yeah, let's do it on a Sunday.' A month later, we were in bed cuddling, and he asked me, 'Marry me?' I replied the same way he did. He gave me a ring, and that was that. So in the days leading up to the wedding, we would jokingly whisper, 'Suuuunday" into each other's ears like Gollum would say, 'Precious.' We did not get married on a Sunday though, because that's a weird day to get married, LOL."
—cheddarbiscuitcat
"My now husband told me multiple times while we were dating he didn't want to get married until we had $25k in the bank and a house. After living together for three years, moving to a new place for his job, and me working at a shitty brokerage firm with no health insurance, I came home one day frustrated and asked him where this was going. (Back-to-back UTIs costing me $150 a piece were becoming expensive to handle.) His employer didn't allow health coverage for cohabiting couples. I was worried one little thing could send us into bankruptcy. It wasn't a romantic proposal at all."
"Basically, it consisted of me coming home from work and asking him if he saw our relationship going anywhere. If he did, what were we waiting for, really? We got married six weeks later (his parents insisted on a formal ceremony), and that was that... I don't know if we would have gotten married if I didn't need health insurance. The ironic thing now is that my current job has covered his health insurance for the last three years, so I guess it worked out."—magnoliafly
"When my parents first got together, my dad told my mum that if in six months she hadn't made a decision about being in a serious relationship with him, he was gone. So six months later, my mum comes back from work on a Friday, throws some rings at my dad, and tells him they're getting married on Sunday."
—unic0rnp0opz
"I proposed to my SO at Christmas. We'd had a general conversation about getting married, and he'd brought home a ring sizer, so I knew he was serious. But I was ready and wasn't interested in waiting for him to summon the courage. I bought him a ring. It's even got a stone — an amethyst. I put the ring box in the bottom of his Christmas stocking, and when he opened it, I just said, 'Well, can we get married now?' He said yes, then he ran into the bedroom and came back with the ring he bought me, got down on his knee, and proposed right back. Although we bought each other surprise rings, my ring also has amethyst in it, so they match."
"We had agreed that we would get engaged in 2015, and we had bought rings and hid them in a drawer so either of us could propose at any time. On June 17th, my SO got his MSc, and he was going to move back to his hometown the next day to start a new job. I decided that I didn't want us to live apart without being engaged, so after we had celebrated his graduation, I took our rings out of my pocket and asked if he was interested in celebrating one more thing. He was! We are now fortunately living together again, and are getting married next Saturday, exactly two years later!"
—noodlebamboo
"I proposed to my now spouse at a dive bar on New Year's. We were drinking PBR tallboys and watching a band, but it was like we were in this love bubble. I had this thought, about love being different from 'I can't live without you' versus 'I don't want to go through life without you by my side.' I proposed, and he said yes! We ordered my ring together, and he proposed with it two weeks later. I was insecure about it, but this post empowered me!"
—Anonymous, 33, Tennessee
"He had asked once, and I said no. I knew he wouldn't ask again."
—YouAreAllJerks
"I came to visit him on a Sunday evening at the end of my road trip, where I was to return home the next day (1,300 miles and three states away). Our history was one amazing date three YEARS earlier. So, technically, on our second date, after a lot of wine, he said, 'I'd wear a ring for you.' To which I responded, 'So we're getting married now?' He agreed, and we were married that Friday. We conceived our son that evening. Our life has been one big, happy road trip ever since. We bought a huge travel trailer and have been exploring, kid in tow, for the last year and a half. At nine months-and-change pregnant, we traveled to the most beautiful place I'd ever been to so our son would be born there. It ended up pretty well, I'd say."
—kittehwolf
"I'll share what happened to a friend of mine. They were both married for a few years, and things got kind of rocky. He owned a business and started working in another state. A few months go by, and the relationship gets worse, and eventually he just calls and says, 'Just send me whatever I need to sign. I'm done.' After a few more months go by. He comes home, and his wife gives him a ring. She says, 'This is for you... Keep it, sell it, throw it away...whatever. I'm giving this to you because I want to be married to you.' And he took the ring, and they've been (re)married for over 10 years now."
"I was writing my senior thesis for my major, and my mother was slowly dying from mini-strokes. We hadn't had the best relationship, my mother and I. But he and I had been dating for six months, and he had repeatedly made me realize that I could fix my mother's relationship with me, and the terrible one I had with my father. And I had to finish this 45-page essay, without my parents and without my strength. So I finished it. The entire piece just came together in my head. I called him up to pick me up, since I was two hours away at a different school. While I waited, I began to vibrate with understanding or some type of epiphany. I knew that I was going to ask him the moment I got into the car."
"We made some small talk about how we would celebrate me being done, and I asked him if he would mind marrying me after I graduated. He sort of stalled the car and answered, 'Well, I guess I won't have to wait for that ring I bought to arrive.' We got married a year later."
—mspoisonisland
"My dad is a railway worker. My mum proposed to him by saying, 'If you marry me, I can go anywhere on the tube for 50p. And if you don't, I'll tell everyone you're a tight bastard.' Been together 30 years now."
—boscastlebreakdown
"I proposed to my boyfriend of five years last October. I bought a ton of balloons and a really nice bottle of wine, walked into our house, and read him a handwritten, heartfelt letter. I got down on one knee, started bawling my eyes out, grabbed his hand, and asked him to marry me. He said yes! We're getting married this October. He had no idea it was coming. He did say he was planning to propose to me but was very happy either way. I didn't get a ring for him, and I didn't want an engagement ring either. We're just doing bands at our wedding."
—mslovelypants
"Well, I guess I did, as a woman. We were walking in the park playing with his dog and talking, and I just noticed how happy I was and how comfortable I was when I was with him, and I just blurted it out: 'Marry me.' He was taken aback at first, and we didn't really discuss it more that time, but later we both agreed to it. I'm not engaged yet, because I'm waiting for the ring and for him to propose, but we already talked about what we want."
—meliosa114
"I proposed to my now-husband after too many drinks at an empty biker bar. He said yes and that he had been thinking about it already. Our friends were there, and we did a 'cheers'. I don't remember if we talked about it again until one morning, a couple of months later, we woke up to get ready for work, and he said, 'So you wanna get married?' We went ring shopping together so I could pick out what I liked. It had to be resized, so he went and got it the next week and surprised me with it by getting down on one knee to give it to me. We were both in our early thirties, each with a kid from previous relationships, so I think we were both in the mindset of doing things our own way. I like to think we somehow made it modern and traditional at the same time. He's my best friend and my rock. We've been married seven years now."
—Anonymous, 39, Texas
"I had moved to his country to go live with him, but fixing a visa for me wasn't as easy as he had thought. So when we were driving back home up the mountain after a fruitless visit to the immigration office, I said, 'Well, we could also just get married...' Admirably, he didn't crash the car, stared at me for a moment, and then answered, '...Are you sure? Yeah, ok, let's do it!' We got married some two to three months later on a lovely sunny day in Cyprus, with just our parents in attendance. It was wonderful, and now, almost seven years and two kids later, it still is."
—CompanionCone
"I did it because I had an idea for how to do it, and because I was the one most opposed to marriage. He'd been wanting to marry me for a while, but I was too sure something would go wrong to say yes to him. Instead, I watched and waited, and when I realised that we were sticking together through anything, I asked him. No one felt pressured, and it was what we both wanted."
—Quouar
"We had been together about six years and had endless talks about being ready to get married. The idea of planning a wedding was really my stumbling block, but he didn't want to elope. We were on a family reunion on a cruise around Alaska, and the night before we got on the ship, I said, 'Hey, everyone's here, we wouldn't have to plan... want to get married this week?' He said yes. We were married three days later in Juno. I wore a dress I had found in Vancouver in a few hours before we boarded the ship, and he already had his best suit packed."
"Our first dance was alone in the ship's ballroom with an iPod plugged into the PA. I think he was happy but not too surprised because we had talked about it a lot. I wanted to take the pressure off of him with the whole ring thing... He couldn't afford a big rock but was the kind of guy who felt it was important. We got divorced four years later, but no regrets. Certainly wasn't because of how we got hitched!"—criscotwistr
"We were sitting in a pub having a drink, and he asked me about what I thought about us long term and where he fit in the future. I asked him to marry me, and I thought he was going to explode into glitter. We went ring shopping the next day. Just celebrated our two-year anniversary at the end of March and have a baby girl now! Life is good!"
"Technically, we had discussed marriage prior, so I knew he was into the idea. I know he wouldn't be confident buying me a ring because I'm pretty particular about jewelry. On Halloween morning (which was a Saturday), he brought me coffee in bed, and when he gave it to me, I said, 'Do you wanna go get a ring today?' and he said yes. Then we went out for breakfast while we waited for the shops to open, and we were so obviously giddy, and we bought a ring right after breakfast."
—lucidcheesedream
And finally: "We never talked about it beforehand. I thought something weird was going on, and I was frustrated. One night, it just bubbled up my throat, and I was horrified that it actually came out of my mouth. I later learned that that very same night, my husband's plans to propose to me during his college play practice session were put on hold due to practice being canceled. Talk about a weird but really awesome coincidence."
—scribacious
If you're a woman who proposed to her boyfriend (or you're a man whose girlfriend proposed to him!), what was the experience like? How did the other people in your life react? Let us know in the comments or in the anonymous comments box below!