Propose To My Girlfriend

You can save a bundle on your wedding plans with a few simple strategies. Check out these ideas for keeping some of your cash, while still giving her the dream wedding she deserves.

If you have started planning your wedding, you have no doubt come to the sickening realization that weddings can get very expensive in a hurry. In fact, the 2002 American Wedding Study pegged the average cost of a wedding in the U.S. at $22,000, and that was 8 years ago! If your girlfriend has her heart set on a lavish affair fit for royalty, you’re pretty darn lucky if her father foots the entire bill. If you are looking to stretch your wedding dollars, maybe some cheap wedding plans are in order, but only if she doesn’t have to sacrifice her day due to the economy.

Sure, you may have to make some sacrifices, such as forgoing a 5 star hotel on your wedding night, but overall, your ceremony should be all you have hoped for. Here are some great tips that can really help you save money, but still get the wedding you (and mostly she) have been dreaming about. The key is to be cheap without looking cheap.

Start planning early –
It is never too early to start the wedding planning process. If you are going to have a large wedding, there are a tremendous number of details to be worked out, and the sooner you get started, the easier it will be. From a cost standpoint, early planning means that you have more time to get the best deals on everything from the venue, to napkins, to booze. Use the Internet to find and compare prices on everything. Getting an early start will allow you to do this much more effectively.

Get a used gown –
Think about it, you can have her get a spectacular, designer wedding gown for pennies on the dollar. The great thing about wedding gowns is that they are only used once. In some cases, people put them away for relatives or friends to use in the future, but many times very expensive designer gowns are sold for next to nothing. Check Craigslist, eBay, and one of the many used wedding gown referral sites populating the Internet. Often you can get a fantastic deal from an individual on Craigslist or eBay, but you’ll get a better selection and easier shopping at the referral sites.

Wear old shoes (her, not you) –
Yes, I can hear her screaming now, but think about it for a second; if she has a long gown, no one is ever going to see her shoes, and when you’re peeling them off her feet later that night, she isn’t going to care that they are old. There is no sense in spending a few hundred clams on new designer shoes that no one is ever going to see anyway.

Get discount flowers at the local market or online, don’t go to a specialty florist -
Specialty florists are very expensive and do you really care that you’re not going to have bouquets of  Casablanca Lilys, Hydrangeas, or Lily of the Valley? Probably not, and if you’re having a large wedding with a bouquet she is going to throw, and dozens of tables at the reception, you don’t want to be using these kinds of flowers. You could spend thousands on flowers alone.

Have the reception somewhere that doesn’t look cheap, but is. -
Why rent an expensive venue such as a 5 star hotel for your reception, when there are some fantastic places that can be had for far less? For example, try some of the state parks where you can rent space. You’ll be rewarded with spectacular views and spend a fraction of what you’d spend renting the ballroom at a nice hotel or other venue. For example, the Egyptian Ballroom and terrace at the Fox Theater in Atlanta goes for about $7,000 a night, and a ballroom at many 5 star hotels such as the The Grand Ballroom at The Peninsula Chicago, can command that much and more for the privilege of holding your reception there.

Have the reception at some place that looks cheap and is. -
You can rent a lodge or hall from the VFW, ELKS, or any one of a dozen organizations in lieu of shelling out the cash for some expensive digs.

This is one time to call in favors from friends, relatives, and acquaintances.  In our current economic situation, bargains are to be found, if you spend the time to look for them. Check for hotels with meeting facilities in your that have been experiencing a lag in business, then, and this important, negotiate with them for a reduced rate. Remember many hotels have been hit especially hard by reductions in business travel and meetings, so their meeting room and ballroom bookings are way down. Use this to your advantage. It will take some time on the phone, but it will be well worth it.

If you have any friends or relatives with nice homes, or homes with scenic views, now may be the time to see if they’ve ever thought about hosting a wedding or reception. Don’t make them feel bad or hold it against them if they say no, though.

My wedding was on a beach in Hawaii. It was one of the most beautiful settings anywhere, and it was so cheap it was almost free. The weather was perfect, except for the wedding party there was no one around for a mile, and the warm sand felt fantastic between our toes. See, if you aren’t wearing shoes, you’ll definitely save money on them. It took some time to find the perfect beach and set it all up, but the money we saved on the venue paid for our trip to the islands.

Get your cake at Costco or Sam’s Club –
You might also negotiate a favorable rate with a small, local baker if there is one in your neighborhood. That will save you money on the cake vs. one of those larger bakeries or custom cake places.

Look to other sources for the eat and drink. – Another way you’ll save big by not having your reception at a fancy schmancy hotel is on the booze and food. If you have the reception on a beach or in a state park, you’ll be able to bring your own alcohol, and  have the food brought in from a local restaurant or caterer with reasonable catering rates. You can  even cook the food yourselves and have it brought to the reception by a friend. You can get the hors d overs at a warehouse food store or at Costco for a much better deal than you’ll get at a hotel.

Hire a photography or videography student to handle the photo and video duties -
This can save you a substantial amount of money, but be aware that you’re potentially risking family heirlooms here. “What, Grandma and Grandpa don’t have any pictures from their wedding because they cheaped out and there was a problem?” On the other hand, you may get fantastic results and save hundreds.

These are just some of the ways you can save your hard earned dough on your wedding plans. You may have to scale back your (or her) expectations somewhat, but you can still get a tremendous wedding for far less than you’d expect. Remember, it pays to negotiate, and never take the first price they quote you for anything.

The very staduim where (now) former Texas Longhorn QB Colt McCoy just proposed to his girlfriend. See, guys really do propose in football stadiums!

Well, if you’ve been wondering if guys really propose on football stadium scoreboards, check out former Texas Longhorn quarterback Colt McCoy’s proposal. He just proposed to fiancée Rachel Glandorf on the 50 yard line at 100,000 seat Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium, the very same stadium where he won so many games. In true football stadium proposal fashion, he even put his up on the Jumbotron.

What did he say to propose to her? Well, he actually let the big screen do the talking for him, where a giant “Will You Marry Me?” was posted as a huge surprise for her. Of course, he promptly got down on one knee, so when she turned around from the scoreboard, he was waiting, ring in hand. Obviously, she said “Yes!”

McCoy really went the extra mile for his beloved. He even had her engagement ring custom designed, although it took several visits to different jewelers before he could locate one that would do exactly what he was after.

How does he really feel about her? According to ESPN, McCoy stated that “She’s awesome and if anything, she makes me better than I am. I know she has my full support and she’s a great girl. She’s been a blessing to me and my family. I know we’ll have a great relationship.”

That’s the way you should feel about a gal if you’re going to ask her the most important question of your life. If you don’t, wait until you do, or find another woman.

Before you slip one of these on your girlfriend's finger, you'll have to figure out how to propose to her. If you want to fly in the face of convention and choose a fun way to propose, check these out.

Most experts counsel that you should take your marriage proposal seriously and make it a romantic affair (maybe not the best choice of words for this occasion). When asked, most women replay that they wanted their proposal to be more romantic. What if you have a more light hearted girlfriend, though. She may have her heart set on a something a with bit more levity. I’ve posted some great ways to propose in the past for those of you that want to take a more lighthearted bent on the subject. With that in mind here are some more fun ways to propose marriage you can use to win her hand.

Be aware that any of these could backfire a bit if you are not 100% sure that she doesn’t have that underlying romantic streak that would point to a more romance oriented proposal. If you’re ready, here are some great, fun ways you can propose to your girlfriend. Be aware, some of these are bit over the top, but then again, they may be perfect for your gal.

Video Proposal – You can have a slickly produced, professional video made where you propose to her, or you can do it yourself. If you have it professionally done, it will probably look better, and if the productions staff is good, they can give you some great insight on how to compose it. On the other hand, it will cost more, and if you want to do any of it around the house, it will be more difficult to hide it from her; “Why do you have a film crew here?” She may also appreciate the personal touch if you are artistic enough to make the proposal video yourself.

You can watch it with her, leave it in her  DVD player, if she watches movies frequently, or get a label made for it that looks like some movie she has been wanting to see with her friends and give it to her, suggesting that she invite her friends over to watch it. Be aware that the more complicated you make it, the greater the chance that something goes wrong.

Puzzle Proposal – Several companies will make any picture you send them into a professional jigsaw puzzle. Take a picture of yourself holding a ring and a sign that says “Will you marry me?” Make sure it is in the middle, so if she does the outside of the puzzle first, as most people do, she won’t stumble on to the proposal at the beginning. Obviously she should be the type to love puzzles for this to be a big hit. Alter the picture on the front of the box so that she won’t see what’s up from the get go. Just blur out what you’re holding, or even better, take two identical photos, one with you holding the ring and a sign, and the other with you holding something a bit more innocuous. Have the puzzle company put that one on the front of the box, and actually make the puzzle out of the one of you holding the ring and proposal.

TV Commercial Proposal – If your gal is the type to regularly watch a particular TV program, you can have a commercial made and aired during it. Be advised that if her favorite show is a popular one in prime time, this could be exorbitantly expensive. You might want to shoot for something a bit more off the beaten path, so to speak. The other caveat with this approach is TiVO. If she uses a DVR to skip commercials, she may well go right past yours.

Scavenger Hunt Proposal – You can have a scavenger hunt set up. It is great to do one with a whole group of people, so she won’t suspect a thing. She’ll just think it is a fun group activity. Little does she know….. Give her and all the other participants a letter, outlining the scavenger hunt. Each will detail a different set of clues, with your girlfriend’s ending where you’ve hidden the ring. If you’re worried about leaving her engagement ring somewhere where it can be found by just anyone, use a note that says something mysterious, like “redeem this with (your name here) for something truly magical.” You’d obviously replace the “your name here” with your name.

There are many other fun ways to propose to your girlfriend if she’s not the type that would rather have a romantic proposal. Just make sure, because like a first impression, you only get one chance to propose… For more fun ways to propose, see my earlier posts on fun ways to propose.

If you’re going to get engaged in the coming year, you may well want a peek into what the most popular engagement ring styles will be for 2010. At the risk of sounding clairvoyant, some of them will be popular simply because they are every year, and 2010 will be no different.

Princiess cut diamond solitaire rings, such as this one, will be very popular for 2010

Princess Cut Diamond Solitaire – This ring, with a square shaped diamond is a neo-classic, and perennially among the most popular engagement ring styles. A simple, Tiffany 6-prong setting on a band of either gold or platinum does a great job at showing off the diamond. The upside is that the ring looks great, but the downside is that you need a comparatively larger stone because it is out there all by itself, where everyone can get a great view of it, and nothing else to draw your eyes away.

Round diamond solitaires will also prove to be very popular in 2010, and should also be on your “must see” list.

Princess Cut Diamond Solitaire with Channel Set Sidestones – This is similar to the solitaire ring above, but has an array of stones on the band, flanking the main stone. The smaller stones are in a channel setting, where they are visible only from the top. The advantage is that the channel set diamonds can be relatively small, yet look very impressive. It is an elegant design that is favored by many women.

The channel set sidestones on this ring add to the brilliance

With this style, you can get a very impressive looking ring for a relatively modest cost, an definite advantage in today’s economy. The princess cut was designed specifically to offer maximum reflectivity and brilliance, so that with one in the center, flanked by a row to either side, you’ll definitely have a ring that you can show off.

Three stone rings such as this one, either with side stones or without, should also be hot sellers for the coming year.

Three Stone Engagement Ring – This will be very popular in 2010 with round diamonds, either with 3 equally sized stones or with a larger diamond in the center. You can have this ring either with the three primary stones only, or with channel mounted side stones to add to the elegance.

Remember, you can make a tremendous impact on the cost of your ring by weighing the effects of the particular diamond on the overall cost of the ring. In most cases, the diamond is the singe larges contributor to the overall cost of the ring. Look at my previous post on how to find affordable engagement rings for some powerful strategies on how to get her the ring she deserves at a price you’ll love.

These should prove to be the most popular engagement ring styles for 2010, but that doesn’t mean you have to run with the crowd! To look at more popular styles, and see how low prices can get on high quality engagement rings, look on line ant one of the most respected on-line jewelers , Superjeweler.com. You will save huge amounts of money over shopping at the mall jewelers. To discover how much they can save you on her ring – click here now

Stuck for something to say when you propose? Maybe a love poem is just the thing to get the creative wheels a turning again...

If you are going to propose to your girlfriend, sometimes you can use a poem. Obviously a love poem will not be right for everybody, but it can add that romantic touch some proposals are lacking. Here is a collection of love poems that you could use for your proposal. They are also a great source of inspiration if you’re having trouble deciding exactly what to say. For more on that, see my previous post on what to say when you propose after you check these poems out.

I Seem to Have Loved You
Rabindranath Tagore

I seem to have loved you in numberless forms, numberless times,
In life after life, in age after age forever.
My spell-bound heart has made and re-made the necklace of songs
That you take as a gift, wear round your neck in your many forms
In life after life, in age after age forever.

Whenever I hear old chronicles of love, its age-old pain,
Its ancient tale of being apart or together,
As I stare on and on into the past, in the end you emerge
Clad in the light of a pole-star piercing the darkness of time:
You become an image of what is remembered forever.

You and I have floated here on the stream that brings from the fount
At the heart of time love of one for another.
We have played alongside millions of lovers, shared in the same
Shy sweetness of meeting, the same distressful tears of farewell-
Old love, but in shapes that renew and renew forever.

Today it is heaped at your feet, it has found its end in you,
The love of all man’s days both past and forever:
Universal joy, universal sorrow, universal life,
The memories of all loves merging with this one love of ours-
And the songs of every poet past and forever.

I Love Thee
Eliza Acton

I LOVE thee, as I love the calm
Of sweet, star-lighted hours!
I love thee, as I love the balm
Of early jes’mine flow’rs.

I love thee, as I love the last
Rich smile of fading day,
Which lingereth, like the look we cast,
On rapture pass’d away.

I love thee as I love the tone
Of some soft-breathing flute
Whose soul is wak’d for me alone,
When all beside is mute.

I love thee as I love the first
Young violet of the spring;
Or the pale lily, April-nurs’d,
To scented blossoming.

I love thee, as I love the full,
Clear gushings of the song,
Which lonely–sad–and beautiful–
At night-fall floats along,

Pour’d by the bul-bul forth to greet
The hours of rest and dew;
When melody and moonlight meet
To blend their charm, and hue.

I love thee, as the glad bird loves
The freedom of its wing,
On which delightedly it moves
In wildest wandering.

I love thee as I love the swell,
And hush, of some low strain,
Which bringeth, by its gentle spell,
The past to life again.

Such is the feeling which from thee
Nought earthly can allure:
‘Tis ever link’d to all I see
Of gifted–high–and pure!

A Better Tomorrow
Yvonne Warren
I never knew there would be a better tomorrow
But you’ve come into my life and taken away all my sorrow

My days of sadness are a thing of the past
Because I have found true love at last

My days of emptiness are gone for good
Because you fill a void in my heart that you should

You’ve opened a window
You’ve shown me the light
And my love for you will continue to burn bright.
A Breathtaking Fantasy
Joyce Hemsley
My dearest, here I am planning
a trip down the lane to the sea,
in August as the sun is shining
and you’re there to comfort me.
A breathtaking fantasy.

Over the fields we will ramble
picking fruit from God’s bramble
soft fruit for jelly & blackberry pie,
oh happy day ~ sing I, sing I,
as my eyes point up to the sky.

We should be well-nourished
with His gift of the purest,
edible berries, and vitamin “C”
giving us strength and vitality,
ever to be in love you see.

My dearest, here I am planning
a breathtaking trip to the sea,
down lover’s lane so beguiling,
berries will grow wild and free.
A breathtaking fantasy.
All I See is You
Kelly Lobdell
I remember us,
the way we used to be,
I’d hold you in my arms,
your smile so sweet to me,

But now when I see you,
you look right through me,
I feel so alone now,
but when I close my eyes…

…All I see is you.

The love we used to share,
gone up in whirl winds,
will I ever love,
or ever live again,

I am tired of crying,
and I am done trying,
To remember all about you,
but when I close my eyes…

…All I see is you.

All the love I am sending,
the memories I won’t sell,
I know there must be an ending,
to the story I will tell,

I dream only of your love,
and happiness in life,
I try not to think of you,
but when I close my eyes…

..All I see is you.
Author: Anonymous
In this world full of hurt and pain,
I need someone who would help me through the rain.
To comfort me when I’m sad,
Doing everything just to make me glad.

In this world I need a Brave Knight,
Who would never give up any fight.
A knight who would dry away my tears,
Telling me to overcome my fears.

A knight who loves me for who I am inside,
With him there’s nothing more I need to hide.
A person who will still be standing strong,
Eventhough everything has gone wrong.

I need someone who is willing to give me more,
Someone I can call my Knight In Shining Armor.
An Angel To Me
Patricia Annette Roden
The moment I opened my heart and let you in
I saw this great love starting to begin.
I opened my eyes to a vision of you
I hope, I pray your feelings are true.
I have loved and I have paid the cost
And I have felt the pain of the love I lost.
But, now, I think I have truly found
An Angel who walks upon the ground.
You go beyond all limits for me
Just to show your love endlessly.
I could search my whole life through
And never find another ‘you’.
You are so special that I wanted you to know
I truly, completely love you so.

Hopefully these have inspired you or at least given you a glimmer of an idea for your own proposal. Have a great weekend…

Are you in a bad relationship. If yours is showing any of these signs, fix it or get out, fast!

You may think you’re in a great relationship, but that little voice in the back of your head may be telling you otherwise. There are signs of a bad relationship you can look for to discover if you are involved in a relationship that you may be better off leaving. If you’re contemplating taking it to the next level, or, at the other extreme, think that you should get out, now is the time to find out for sure.

Some of these signs are game changers. If your relationship exhibits even one of them, pack your bags and head for the door. Why have you waited so long already? Others, though may point to some things you need to work on together before you just hit the road. If you can’t fix them, then ending the relationship is the best solution, but don’t throw out the baby with the bath water just yet.

Here are the signs of a bad relationship that point to an early exit. If yours shows any of these, hit the ground running, and don’t look back. Chances are that it won’t ever get better, and even if there is a small chance that it can, the risks are just too great for you.

Sign 1 – Physical abuse – If you’re being physically abused, you probably use all manner of rationalization to keep yourself in your relationship, or it is the fear factor that holds you back, but it is time to go, and go now. You may think that it is only the woman who gets physically abused, and the media does little to dispel this stereotype. While male on female physical abuse is often the more serious, and difficult to escape from, amazingly enough, it may not be the most prevalent.

Several studies report that there may be as many, or even more male partners experiencing abuse from their female partners as the reverse. A survey of 644 dating high school students by Henton, J., Cate, R., Koval, J., Lloyd, S., & Christopher, S in 1983 found that slightly over 12% of couples indicated physical abuse in their relationships, with even distribution between male and female initiation.

Another study, performed in Seattle in 2007 by Herrenkohl, T. I., Kosterman, R., Mason, W. A., & Hawkins, J. D showed that, of the 644 couples tested, 25% of women and 13% of men reported having perpetrated inter-partner violence. Median age of the participants was 24 years.

In still another study, this one performed by Hendy, H. M., Weiner, K., Bakerofskie, J., Eggen, D., Gustitus, C., & McLeod, K. C. in 2003 demonstrated similar results. In this study, 16% of men and 26% of women reported inflicting violence on their current romantic partner

This pattern does not seem to be restricted to the United States either. A 1999 study entitled “Domestic violence in Australia: Are women and men equally violent?” found that of the over 1,600 respondents in the study, 5.7% of men and 3.7% of women reported being victims of domestic assaults. While the Aussies seem to perpetrate domestic violence at a far lower rate than their American counterparts, the proportion of women to men victims remains relatively consistent. Shockingly, the Australian study reveals that more men than women needed medical treatment for their domestic injuries.

Any domestic violence situation is extremely serious, from a safety, family, and law enforcement perspective. If you are on the receiving end of an abusive relationship, even if you are the presumably stronger male member of the partnership, run, don’t walk away as fast as possible. While it’s possible things may change for the better, it’s just not worth the risk.

If you are on the giving end, get help now, you sick bastard, before it gets even worse.

Sign 2 – Emotional Abuse – See above….Just because you are not being physically harmed, you may be targeted emotionally by your partner. The threat of physical harm may even be used as part of this abuse, although the violence may, in fact, never materialize. Emotional abuse may take many forms, and may be consistent or intermittent with the partner promising to change their ways, and even doing so for a time. Some emotional abuse tactics include extreme jealousy, verbal abuse, threats, lies, broken promises, physical violence, emotional withholding, lack of intimacy, raging, sexual coercion, infidelity, power plays and control games.

Counseling and therapy may solve some of these issues, but in most cases the abuse is part of a pattern perpetrated by both parties. That is why so many people seem to move from one bad or abusive relationship to another. Counseling or some other form of intervention by a qualified professional is essential to keep this behavior from repeating itself. In many cases the root cause of this is prior emotional abuse suffered by the perpetrator, either in childhood, or in an earlier romantic relationship.

Sign 3 – Radically changing your appearance in an attempt to re-attract your partner. If you find yourself hitting the gym in attempt to look ripped, buying new wardrobes, or changing your hairstyle in order to keep her interested, you’re probably barking up the wrong tree. She should be attracted to you as a person, not your hairstyle, tattoos, or muscles. If you are severely overweight, losing weigh is probably a great idea just on health grounds, and it probably wouldn’t hurt your relationship either, but if you’re trying to look like a decathelete in the hopes she’ll love you again, it’s not a good idea. That is a sign of a good relationship gone bad, or a relationship that was bad from the beginning.

Sign 4 – You find yourself alienating your family and friends to try and please your girlfriend. Well, there’s always the possibility that your family and friends are thieving meth heads, and in that case alienating them would be a great idea. On the other hand, if she’s just driving a wedge between you and them as a manipulation tactic, wake up and smell the coffee!

Sign 5 – Your partner seems like she is unappreciative of anything you do. You clean the kitchen and she just yawns? Well, maybe it’s the only time you’ve ever done it! Honestly though, if that’s a pattern, not just an isolated incident it could spell trouble in your relationship. In many cases, you’ll try even harder to please her, the more she dismisses your efforts until she’s doing nothing more than taking advantage of you. If this sounds familiar, you need to examine what’s really going on, and whether staying in the relationship is the healthiest thing to do.

Sign 6- She seems like she is undermining you every chance she gets. If she seems like killing your dreams (under the guise of “bringing you back to earth” of course) is her favorite pastime, it is not going to get any better once you are married. You have to do an honest evaluation though. There is definitely nothing wrong with dreaming big; if you fail to dream big, you’ll never achieve greatness. However, if your dreaming gets in the way of you  actually achieving anything, especially day to day activities like work and school, that is not a positive trait, and she may have a valid point.

If your relationship shows any these signs, you need to seriously evaluate it ASAP. Proposing to your girlfriend if you are in one of these bad relationships will not make things any better. Many people get married every year even though they are not in good relationships, somehow thinking getting married will fix their problems, or that they can not get a more suitable partner. Don’t make that mistake. If you’re in a bad relationship, take steps to fix it at once, or get out now.

Know these when you propose to help prevent disaster.

This is proposal season and there are so many different ways to propose to a girl, you might appreciate a little guidance if you’re planning on popping the question. There are some important things to remember before you propose that I’ll look at, and there are some classic, and not so classic ways to propose that you can draw from for your own proposal.

Here are some important points to remember when proposing and planning your proposal:

Be sincere – Sincerity is of the utmost importance when you are are asking the woman you love to marry you. Leave the funny stuff at home; now’s probably not the time for it.

Be In Command of the Situation – Women love confidence, and although there’s a good chance you’ll be shaking like a leaf as you propose, do your best not to show it. In fact, you should do your best to portray nothing but supreme confidence, not only when you deliver the proposal, but throughout the entire sequence of events leading up to that moment.

Make the Situation Romantic – Women love romance. As it is with confidence, this is a generalization, but it is far more often true than not. Yes, it’s been said before, but even if your girlfriend isn’t overly romantic, she will want romance in her proposal.

Make it Just For Her – A proposal is a very personal thing. You should use every bit of knowledge at your disposal to make sure your proposal is laser targeted. You want it to be specially for her, and you’ll need to take into account her personality, what she likes, what makes her feel special and comfortable, and what she holds near and dear to her heart. Music, food, locations, settings, season of the year, weather, literature, poetry, hobbies, family, and just about anything else you can think of is all fair game.

Don’t Do Anything as Part of the Proposal that Will Make Her Feel Uncomfortable. – Sure, you may think it’s really great to propose in front of her family. After all, what could prove your love for her more than that? Unfortunately, that may make her feel like running from the room. Eve if she doesn’t feel completely uncomfortable, you’re trying to make everything perfect. Making her feel uncomfortable in any way whatsoever doesn’t fulfill that goal. The same goes with proposing in a place that she may not be comfortable in, such as in a balloon if she’s uncomfortable in small aircraft or high places, or at a sports stadium, if she’d rather not share this intimate moment with 75,000 of her closest friends (possibly more if the event is televised).

Practice makes perfect – You think that practice is a good idea for anything important? You’re right, and nothing in your life will be more important than this. Run through it a few times, including the proposal speech (What you say to her, not the assembled throng) and everything leading up to it. Make sure that everything goes as smoothly as possible, because even with practice, there will probably be a few hiccups.

Plan everything – Spontaneity is fantastic, but you don’t want to leave anything to chance. Make sure you have plans and backups in place in case there is any problem. It is best to make a plan that has a minimum of opportunities for problems so you’ll not have to go scrambling around for your backup plan.

Leave as Little to Chance as Possible – Want to propose outside? Great, there is certainly nothing wrong with that, just make sure you check the weather forecast if you have anything planned that is weather dependent. If part of your day includes a restaurant, double check your reservations, and make sure you check the day before you’ll be going there.

Don’t Forget the Engagement Ring – Do you need a ring to propose? Maybe technically not, but the vast majority of women polled indicated that neglecting to have a ring at your proposal is the most serious proposal related mistake a man can make. You don’t have to give her the Hope Diamond, but at least put a ring on her finger. Another ring related mistake is to spend too much for your ring. Sure, you want something nice, and something that she deserves, but you don’t want to start out your life’s journey together with a boat load of debt. Better to start off on solid financial footing and a little smaller ring.

These tips can help you propose to your girl the way that she deserves. For more ideas, see some of my previous posts. You’ll find romantic ways to propose, the best from stories that were sent in by readers, and some great proposals from the girl’s point of view. There are nuggets in there that you should mine to find out how to propose to your girlfriend.

Good luck if you plan on proposing to your girlfriend during this Thanksgiving!

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!