Going to the beach can be the foundation for a great, romantic proposal. Check this one out!

Here is the third in the series of romantic ways to propose to your girlfriend. This post is the continuation of 2 weeks ago, where I shared the first two of the three best stories I’ve received recently on romantic proposals.

“Here is how I proposed to my girlfriend. Her name is Tiffany, and she is now my wife. Here is what I did to ask her to marry me. She was still away at college finishing up her senior year, and I was working in DC at the time. It was really tough being separated from her, even by only a few hours, but we did the best we could. She came to see me when ever her schedule allowed and I did likewise. It was difficult for me to leave, with a new job and all, because I was trying to get noticed. She was pre-med, which is pretty time consuming, so her schedule was packed also.

I knew I wanted to do something that would really convey to her how much I loved her, but we didn’t have the time or money to go away on a long vacation or anything. I talked to a few of my friends to see what they did and get some ideas, but most had just asked their girlfriends at nice restaurants.

One of them asked his girlfriend to get married when they were up skiing. That was more along the lines of what I was thinking, but we don’t ski, it’s too expensive, and I didn’t think a learn-to-ski trip would be a great place to propose. I talked to my parents, and my dad had asked my mom after a Rolling Stones concert. While I love the Stones, that wasn’t really what I was looking for either.

I was about pulling my hair out, when suddenly I had a brainstorm. This is how I decided to propose. Tiffany is crazy about the ocean, and it’s not too far away. We could sneak in a trip on a weekend without busting the bank. I found a little bed and breakfast across the street from the ocean in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware called the Light House Inn. From my place in Maryland it’s only about a 2 ½ hour drive.

I told her that I wanted to take her away for the weekend to let her relax before finals started. She had no idea I planned to propose, and that’s just the way I wanted it. We left after I got off work on Friday evening. I had worked for a week putting my plan into action, and was more tired than usual, but I played it off as being really tired after a long week at work. I told her how much I was looking forward to a weekend away for some relaxation.

The room wasn’t booked on Thursday, so I rented it and they had let me come over and prepare it for the next day, when we would be arriving. Let me tell you that working to get the room prepared, in addition to 5 hours of driving was no mean feat when you have to work the next day.

I wanted to lay the ground work for a very romantic weekend. I put vases of roses throughout the room; about 15 in all.. By the time we arrived the next day, the room was filled with the smell of roses. Next, I hid some candles in the bathroom, so I could give her a candlelight bath on Saturday night. I brought up the ingredients for her favorite dinner, so they could prepare it for us Saturday night. She loves romantic poetry, so I brought up some of nicely framed copies of her favorite poems and put them around the room. I scouted out all the nice spots around town for lunches and strolls on the beach, too. All in all it was a busy few hours, but for something as important as proposing to her I wanted it to be really special.

I picked her up after school on Friday and we got on the road. I was pretty excited, and my heart was pounding with anticipation, like I’d had a few too many Red Bulls. I must have fingered the ring box in my pocket about 500 times, just to be sure I hadn’t lost it. I’m kind of a chicken in situations like this, and even though I’ve always been really comfortable with Tiff, and we can discuss anything, the thought of proposing was making me more than a little nervous.

We got there a little after 6 and went to dinner at a place called the Eden Cafe. Cafe is kind of misnomer, because it was a pretty nice restaurant. Not uppity DC nice, but more relaxed nice, and the food was awesome. She’s not a foo foo food kind of girl, so I wanted something nice, without being too over the top. We had a romantic dinner and a bottle of good wine. It’s cool because the booths are all enclosed in curtains, which added to the romance.

After dinner, we went for a walk at the beach to watch the sunset. We talked for a long time, taking in the salt air, and watching the sun sink below the horizon. It’s not like California, where it sinks into the water, but it is beautiful just the same. It was very romantic, and I almost asked her then and there, but I decided to stick with my plan, and build up the romance factor even more.

We went back to the room, and she was really surprised by the vases full of roses everywhere. She started reading the poetry and realized that they were all her favorites, and that really shocked her. She accused me of being a hopeless romantic, something that I cheerfully plead guilty to. It was going just perfect so far, and that made me kind of nervous.

The next morning we took a relaxing shower and went downstairs for breakfast. The breakfast was delicious, and just what we needed to get ready for a day down by the beach. It was forecast to be a really nice day, and it seemed like the meteorologists justified all the money their parents paid for college, because it was the perfect day, about 80 degrees and sunny, with a gentle breeze off the ocean. We just had a great day at the beach, which was one of her absolute favorite things to do. We even ate a picnic lunch at the beach.

A while before the sun started to go down, we packed up and went back to the B&B. I had more planned to help get her relaxed. One of the great things about the Lighthouse is that it includes a massage, which seemed like the perfect way to increase the relaxation factor. Boy, did it ever! We were about as loose as you can be when we washed up and went downstairs for dinner.

The dinner was superb, and she was amazed that they had her favorite food as the dinner that night, which of course they didn’t, but she didn’t know that I had arranged the whole thing in advance. They suggested a spectacular bottle of wine to go with it. I’m not a big wine drinker, but this stuff was incredible! It was something white, but I don’t remember exactly what. Anyway, it was a really romantic dinner. After dinner, we went for a leisurely stroll around town. We stopped for a beer in one of the pubs downtown. Before the Saturday night crowd started to flood the place, we headed back to the room. Now I was starting to get really nervous, because the time was approaching fast. I was so excited to ask her, but plenty nervous just the same.

When we got back to the room, I went in a got the bath ready. I put out the candles, and spread rose petals all around the tub. I had the nice towels and thick bathrobes folded and arranged just perfectly. I heated some massage oil over a small candle. She got in the bath and I gave her a hot oil massage. My hands were shaking so badly I could barely give a decent massage.

I had the ring box hidden under a towel. Her eyes were closed as she was enjoying the massage. I pulled out the ring, and started to tell her all the reasons why I loved her so completely. When I started to explain why I wanted to make sure she was with me for the rest of my life, she began to suspect what I was getting at. I was already down on one knee, because she was in the tub, and I was next to it giving her a massage. I pulled out the ring, took her hand, and slipped it over her finger. I don’t know if you’re really supposed to slide it over her finger, or let her do that after she says yes. I was pretty confident she would say yes, but still, it might have been a bit presumptuous of me. Thankfully, when I asked “Tiffany, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”, she jumped out of the tub, threw her arms around me, and screamed, “Yes! Yes! Yes!”

I don’t know what the other guests thought was going on, but I was pretty darn excited that she agreed to marry me that night, I’ll tell you what.”

Jason R.
Washington DC

What I like about Jason’s proposal is the extra mile he went through setting the whole thing up, and putting in elements he knew she’d really appreciate. He did it all on a small to medium sized budget, and you could do pretty close to the same thing for even less if you wanted to. Waiting until the second night to ask her was perfect because if she suspected anything, her suspicions were probably gone by the time he actually asked her. An all around, great proposal!

Click to see the 2nd in the series of Best Romantic Proposals now.

Proposing at Sunset in La Jolla is certainly romantic.

Here is another in the series of romantic ways to propose to your girlfriend. This post is a continuation of last week’s where I shared the first of the three best stories I’ve received recently on romantic proposals. Here is the second.

“We were on a 2-week vacation together in San Diego. I’d been with my girlfriend, Heather for about 3 years, although it seemed like we’d known each other our whole lives. I thought before we left that I might propose to her on our trip. I wanted to, but I’d been really busy at work for months wrapping up an important project, and hadn’t the time to plan anything. She made most of the arrangements for our vacation, and I couldn’t very well have her make the arrangements for the proposal too, could I?

The day before we left I talked with some of the friends we were going to meet there and got some ideas, then spent a few hours on the Internet to fill things out even more. I wanted to propose to her in a very special way, but it’s tough to put something like that together in such a short time frame, but I was determined.

I’d gotten the ring months ago, in anticipation of the time when I’d propose to her. I made sure it was packed about g times, just in case I’d forgotten it somehow. I knew exactly what Heather wanted, because we’d done a bit of browsing in a few different jewelery stores. I ordered it off the Internet to save some money (and help pay for our vacation). It was pretty safe to say that she probably had an inkling that I was going to ask her to get married at some point, because we had talked about it, and looked at rings together.

I was pretty determined to keep it a surprise however, so I hadn’t mentioned anything about marriage or weddings for about 2 months before we left. I found out later that she hadn’t forgotten a thing, and was hoping I’d ask her during our trip. As it turned out, she was still kind of surprised, though.

We got to San Diego on a Saturday. We both had quite a few friends there, since she had gone to college there, and I had a couple of close friends who had. Plus, my brother had been there for 4 years in the Navy. Between the three of them, I’d gone there quite a few times. It was kind of funny that Heather and I actually met through our work in New York, though. It’s about as far away from San Diego as you can get, in more ways than one.

The first couple of days we spent hanging out at the beach and going to open air restaurants. We were generally soaking up the sun and getting the New York winter our of our systems. It felt great, because it seems like it takes a while for that east coast, cold to the bone feeling to go away.

The forth day, she went off to spend the day with her friends, and I spent the day formulating a plan of attack. I was more sure than ever that I wanted to marry her, and that this trip was the perfect time to propose to her. After some checking around I found the perfect place to propose, Scripps Park in La Jolla. I took a drive there and my sources were right on the money, it was perfect.

I had to work fast, but I’m a project manager, so it comes naturally to pull all the aspects of a project together. This one was just more important than most.

I hired a 2 piece band (okay, so it was only a couple with guitars, but they were very good) to play at the spot where I planned to ask her, which had the most spectacular view of La Jolla Cove and the beach, with the waves breaking over the rocks.

I told her we were going for a picnic there, which I actually prepared and packed in a proper picnic basket. We went to the park, but we had to park on the street about 2 blocks away and walk in, because there is really not much parking at the park itself.

Once we got there, we went for a romantic walk over looking the ocean. As the sun started to drop toward the horizon, I suggested we have our picnic dinner, which I’d packed. We got to the spot and I spread everything out. We started to eat, and the band came over and began to play some relaxing guitar melodies. Heather was kind of surprised, but she thought that they were just one of those bands that goes around and plays for money at the park.

They began to play her favorite song, Angel by Sarah McLachlan. The woman was an excellent singer, actually. I took a bouquet of roses from the picnic basket and gave the roses to her, one at a time. With each flower I told her a reason why I loved her so much, and why she was to woman for me. As the song was finishing, I got on my knee (I had to actually get up, rather than down, as we were already sitting), pulled out the ring, and gave it to her as I asked her to marry me.

She was overcome, and started crying, but she did manage to say yes through all the tears. It was very romantic. The sun was setting, and the orange / red was painting the sky and the few clouds on the horizon. The band was playing, and she was holding the roses. Her ring was sparkling in the sunset.

We’ve been married for 8 years now, and I don’t regret a single one.”

Alan P – New York, NY

What I like about Alan’s proposal is that it was simple, yet very romantic and tied all the elements together nicely. It proves you don’t have to spend a fortune to give her the romantic proposal she wants. The one rose at a time, while giving her a different reason he loves her was a very nice touch. Music is a very powerful, emotional experience, and having the band playing her favorite song was great. Now, whenever she hears that song, it will remind her of her marriage proposal.

You can find romantic ways to propose to your girlfriend, you just have to think about who she is, and what she likes.

When asked what they’re looking for in a proposal, many men give the same answer “Romantic ways to propose to my girlfriend.” Obviously, many men don’t have that strong, romantic streak that let them find those on their own. Many guys just aren’t wired that way. And even guys that are romantic could use a little inspiration or some fresh ideas once in a while.

What is romance, anyway? Is it like the Edwin Meese porn definition from the ’70′s; I’ll know it when I see it? Well in a way that’s true. You also have to take your girlfriend’s personality into account. When some women would consider hugely romantic, will barely move the meter for others.

Here are some dictionary definitions of romance:

“of, pertaining to, or of the nature of romance; characteristic or suggestive of the world of romance: a romantic adventure “

or maybe this one:

“fanciful; impractical; unrealistic: romantic ideas “
or
“imbued with or dominated by idealism, a desire for adventure, chivalry, etc “

None of those romance definitions really embody the spirit of when it is to be romantic for your gal. I like these better:
“characterized by a preoccupation with love or by the idealizing of love or one’s beloved “ although that could also apply to a celebrity stalker, I suppose. That being the case, these two are the ones that define romance best when it comes to proposals:
“displaying or expressing love or strong affection “
“ardent; passionate; fervent “

So, how can you be ardent, passionate, or fervent when displaying or expressing love or strong affection for your girlfriend as you propose to her? Thought you’d never ask………..

The following romantic ways to propose were left by various people. I’ve chosen the three that best fit what a romantic proposal should be. They are great examples of romance, and sure worked great for the guys that used them. See if you can find one that you think would be the perfect fit for proposing to your girlfriend. I’ve posted the first today, and the other two will be in my next post.

“I’d been dating my now wife Sherry for over 2 years when I proposed to her. I knew she was the perfect woman for me, and we’d talked about marriage a bit in the abstract, but never as it pertained to us, really. I was sure she had the same feelings for me that I did for her, though, so I decided it was time to ask her the big question.

I didn’t want to do the same old thing when I proposed that many of my friends did when they asked their girlfriends to get married. You know, the restaurant, bottle of good wine, table in the corner thing. I had bigger plans in mind for mine. I wanted to really sweep her off her feet. After all I was only going to do this one time in my life, and I wanted it to reflect how much I loved her and what she meant to me.

She really loves flowers (deep down, what girl doesn’t, I suppose?) so I wanted to use them somehow. She’s a big time family girl. Her family is really important to her, and she is really close to them. Thankfully, I love her family too. I knew that she’d really appreciate it if they were involved in the whole thing.

Here’s what I ended up doing for my proposal. I set up a family get together, with her mom and dad, both sets of grandparents, her sister and her family, three of her cousins and their families, her aunt and uncle, and her two brothers. We always got together with her immediate family, so I could do this without arousing suspicion, which is important, because I really wanted to surprise her in a big way. I guess I kind of went overboard, but me asking her to marry me was the last thing she expected that day, so it worked out great.

I set up our get together in a local park with a really nice rose and flower garden. We were surrounded by roses on three sides. It was really beautiful, and smelled fantastic. There were a few too many bees, but it just fed into the “Birds and the Bees” theme of the day.

I have a really nice portable stereo with an iPOD hook up that sounds fantastic, so I put a bunch of her favorite music on my iPOD and played it throughout the day. She even commented about how many of her favorite songs were playing, but never put two and two together that it meant something else was going on.

For dinner, I had her favorite food catered in. I would have just had a nice barbecue, but I wanted to do something extra special for her that day. She loves Bouillabaisse, so I had a restaurant that makes great Bouillabaisse bring us a huge pot of it for everyone. It was kind of casual, but special at the same time.

We had a really great day there with her family. After dinner, I stood up and got everybody’s attention. I had Sherry come over in front of a fantastic rose bush, where I was standing. I took her hand, looked into her eyes, and told her how important she was to me, why I loved her, and why she was the only woman for me. I got down on my knee, pulled the ring from my pocket, and slipped it on her finger.

She was shaking like a leaf, and tears were welling up in her eyes. She said yes, and gave me a great kiss and huge hug. I pulled out a bouquet of roses from the bush, where I’d hidden it before, and gave it to her. The whole family was cheering and crying. It was a pretty amazing experience. “

Jeff J. – Spokane, WA

What I like about Jeff’s proposal is the way he really surprised her with the proposal, and that he incorporated so many things that she liked and were important to her in it. He had her family there, played her favorite music, and even brought in her favorite food. Having it in a park surrounded by flowers was the perfect setting. Even better was that it wasn’t super expensive. He probably spent quite a bit less than if he would have taken her out to a really nice restaurant for dinner and a bottle of wine.

It shows that if you try, and think about what is important to your girlfriend, you can propose to her in an extremely romantic way without having to spend huge amounts of money or leaving town. Best of all, she will be really happy.

Stowe was one of the romantic locations guys used to propose. Location is only one of the improtant ingredients. Here are some great ideas for you to use.

If you’re about to propose to your girlfriend, coming up with a proposal that’ll just knock her socks off and leave her in tears, barely able to utter a “yes” is the goal. It is however, easier said than done. In one recent survey, about three fourths of women were not completely satisfied with the way their husbands proposed to them. With that in mind, here are some great marriage proposal ideas that men really used when popping the question. Needless to say, their girlfriends were among the 25% that were satisfied!

Julie B – Los Angeles, CA
“When my husband proposed to me, it was after one of our frequent walks on the beach. Not only was it romantic, but since we often did this, I really didn’t suspect a thing. Not only that, but it was two days before Christmas, so when he pulled a large box from the trunk of his car, I just though it was an early Christmas present, something he’d done on previous Christmases.

I opened the box, only to find that it was full of those messy, shredded packing materials. It contained a smaller box. After about 3 of these, I was starting to really wonder what the heck he was up to, and frankly I was curious with just a hint of annoyance. After I opened the last one, there was a really cute, stuffed, teddy bear holding a really small box.

Now I was excited! I opened the small box with my trembling fingers, thinking he had given me a nice piece of jewelry for Christmas. When I opened the small box, there was a ring box inside that contained the nicest diamond engagement ring I had ever seen. When I opened the ring box, he got down on one knee and proposed to me. I was overwhelmed, and of course I said “yes”!”

Sammy A. – Omaha, NB
“I work in a large insurance office, where every cubicle is pretty much like all the rest. My (Now) fiancée, was in the habit of sending me a nice bouquet of flowers every Friday at lunch time. One Friday, no flowers came, and I was kind of surprised, but I figured something must have gone wrong with the delivery truck or something. I was really busy, so after lunch I soon put the whole no flowers thing behind me and got back to work. The day went by pretty fast, and soon it was over. After work, I walked back to my car with a couple of coworkers to begin the long awaited weekend.

I was shocked to find that my entire car was filled to the brim with red rose petals! It was unbelievable. As I started cleaning out all the roses, I found a small box tied to my seat. Inside was a ring and the most beautiful proposal letter I have ever read. Just then, my boyfriend drove around the corner, jumped out of the car, got down on his knee, and proposed to me in front of my shocked coworkers. Did I say yes? Of course I did, and we’re getting married in June. Yes, he did help me clean out the rest of the rose petals from my car.”

Michelle R. – Denver, CO
“My (now) husband Mike has never been the overly romantic type. That’s fine with me, I don’t think too many guys are. One thing we share is a love of the Broncos. My dad has had season tickets since the 70′s, and our family always went to the games when I was growing up, so I have a lot of great memories attached to the team. I know most guys would kill to have a wife that loves football as much as I do, but I guess he’s just lucky. I actually met him in college at CSU at a football game. We have Broncos season tickets, and he’s had them for years, long before he met me.

Well, we were going to a game in December against the Dolphins. It was cold, as you’d expect in Denver in December, but the game was amazing. It seesawed back and forth, with Miami taking the lead at the beginning. In the 2nd quarter, Miami’s Sammy Morris ran in for an 11 yard touchdown to give the Dolphins the lead, 14 – 7. I was pretty mad about it. After Mile High calmed down a bit and we had the ball back, I looked in our game program to find out who this Morris guy was.

I still don’t know how he did it, but right there, laminated to the Sammy Morris program page, was a really touching note that ended “My Darling Michelle, will you marry me?” I mean, Morris wasn’t even a Dolphins starter. I guess Mike knew not to put my proposal on a Bronco’s player’s page because I pretty much knew all of them by heart and wouldn’t have a reason to look there. That’s another reason I love him, he’s always thinking ahead.

At the end of the game, the Broncos had a hard fought 20-17 win, and I had a new fiancée! Who could  have asked for anything more?”

Cathy C -
Boston, MA
“My husband is so romantic. He proposed to me during a ski trip at Stowe a few years ago. We were out for a stroll after a fantastic day of skiing. There was a light snow falling, the air was cold and crisp, and I was feeling just a little tipsy from a combination of the altitude, the day’s skiing, and the 2 glasses of wine I’d had with dinner. His strong arms were around me, and I felt so warm and safe. We were walking along Main Street in Stowe and stopped to look in the window of Ferro, one of my favorite jewelery stores.  We had discussed  marriage a few times in the past, and even talked about what kind of ring I liked. They close pretty early, so we were just gazing through the window, and I saw a ring a lot like the one I wanted for an engagement ring.

I mentioned it to him, but I don’t remember exactly what I said, because at that moment, he pulled a box from his pocket. He opened it up, and there was a ring that looked almost like the one we were looking at, but if anything, it was even more beautiful! There were were, standing under the awning, with snow falling all around us, and he was down on his knee, slipping a ring on my finger. I was completely overcome. I’d been hoping for this moment for months, but was completely unprepared for it. It was the best day of my life except the day we actually got married, and the day our daughter was born.

It turned out he’d been planning this for quite a while, He bought the ring at that store and even talked to them about putting a similar ring in the display case so he could be sure we would see it when we looked in”

Those are just a few of the great marriage proposal ideas I’ve received here. I relayed some others in my post on cool ways to propose. If you have some great stories that you think would give other guys an idea that would save their butt, please leave it the comments section.

You can give the perfect romantic proposal on a beach, but there are so many other ways.

What are some romantic ways to propose? Does it even matter? According to recent surveys, the fact is that most women were not satisfied with their proposals, and one of the main reasons is that they were no romantic enough. Guys, the majority of women love romance, even if they are not romantics in the truest sense of the word.

One of the places that romance matters to them the most is in their marriage proposals. You know what that means. You need romantic ways to propose. Forget about the football game proposals, or proposing in front of their family and friends. Most women would much prefer you to propose to them in a quiet, intimate setting, with the romance factor set to “high”.

How can you do that? Here are some romantic ways to propose that will be sure to have her overcome with emotion and sobbing with joy. A romantic proposal must include the elements of romance she’s looking for.

Here are some of the best, most romantic proposals you can use to completely win her heart, although you should really have won it before you pop the question.

Romantic Way to Propose 1 -

Have a candlelit dinner in a nice restaurant, with a spectacular view. An intimate table is vital here. Arrange to have red rose petals sprinkled on the table before you arrive. Do not do any of the weird stuff, like having the ring baked inside of her desert, or any similar shenanigans. You could have the server bring you the ring on a silver serving platter, though. That can be a nice touch.

Romantic Way to Propose 2 -

At sea, watching the sunset. Charter a boat for an intimate cruise, and have the staff serve you an intimate dinner on the at sunset , either up top, aft of the flying bridge, or on the stern dining area. The smell of the ocean, and the sunset combine for a tremendously romantic experience.

What can go wrong with this proposal: Well, anytime you’re at sea, the weather can tun ugly, no matter the quality of the weather report you received before you left the harbor. Another possible trouble spot is seasickness. Even if the weather is great, there can be enough roll to the sea that you or your gal may develop a spot of queasiness in the ole’ bowels. That would quash the romance in a hurry. As with anything mechanical, the yacht could break down, although that is rare.

In the past, chartering a yacht for the evening was quite expensive, and it’s still not a cheap date. As with many other things however, the soft economy has served to dramatically lower the price of evening yacht excursions.

Romantic Way to Propose 3 -

A walk on a secluded beach at sunset is almost always a sure winner with the romantic in her. To make it even more romantic, set up a bit beforehand. Put a message in a bottle at a certain spot. Don’t use any old pop or beer bottle, either. Find a nice, ornamental bottle. Put your proposal inside the bottle, and cork it. Important: Do Not put the ring in the bottle. The last thing you need is for some beach wanderer to walk off with your $5,000 or $10,000 engagement ring. Keep the ring safely in your pocket. Depending on the effect you’re looking for, you can scatter some rose petals around too. If you’re trying to make it look like you just happened upon the bottle, forget the roses.

As you’re walking down the beach you can get the the perfect spot and “find” the bottle. If you’re not using the bottle idea, you can hide a mat, some champagne, and some nice glasses in the sand. Whatever you decide, make sure you check the weather report first. Unless you’re in southern Cal, it does rain and get cold at the beach, you know.

You want to have the romantic elements. Sincerity is important. In addition, make sure you include personal elements, such as why she means so much to you, the first time you met, the first time you kissed, etc.

Ask the right question. No matter what else you say during your proposal, make sure you say those magical words “Will you marry me?” Two thirds of women polled in a recent survey on marriage and proposals indicated those words were very important in a good, romantic proposal. Something else that’s important is to make sure and surprise her with your proposal, so keep a lid on it, please. You’ll have the romantic proposal she’s been dreaming of since she was a little girl.

Remember, like a first impression, you typically only get one chance o propose to your girlfriend, so make it perfect!