Romantic Marriage Proposals -- Creative Marriage Proposal Ideas

Coming up with the perfect marriage proposal for your loved one can be nerve-wracking, especially when you have no idea how to ask her or him to marry you! However, a creative marriage proposal will be much appreciated.

In my case, my husband proposed to me on Valentine's Day. I'd always hated the holiday so he wanted to give me a reason to enjoy it. We're both Indian food fanatics, so after spending a wonderful day in the city together, he proposed to me right in the middle of the Indian restaurant where we had dinner. Now we dine at an Indian restaurant every Valentine's Day, and 10 years later, it's become a cherished tradition.

That said, there are about a million different ways you can propose to someone. There's the hot air balloon marriage proposal, the marriage proposal at the beach, the scoreboard proposal ... the only thing limiting you is your imagination.

For most of the couples I know, it was the man who proposed to the woman, but ladies, by all means, go for it and propose to your beau. Break tradition! Needless to say, all of these ideas I'm presenting will work for men proposing to women and women proposing to men, as well as same-sex couples.

So prepare to get on bended knee and show that person in your life how much he or she is loved. Please pass the tissues...

One of the most romantic ways you can ask someone to marry you is to do it while on a hot air balloon ride. You get a great view and there's something ethereal about proposing marriage when you're literally not on the Earth -- talk about being swept off your feet!

Hot air balloon proposals have become so popular that many companies (including the couple I link to below) actually offer marriage proposal packages, which include things like a champagne picnic or a banner with you and your sweetie's names written on it.

Obviously, don't take your honey up in a balloon if he or she is afraid of heights because that would completely ruin the mood. You probably don't want to go up that high if you don't like heights, as well, because you're going to be nervous enough when you're doing the asking.

And, oh yeah -- absolutely DO NOT drop the ring!

Another great way to make a statement -- quite literally in this case -- is to place your message in the sky. Imagine your words streching across the heavens ... think how moved your beloved will be by your effort!

There are generally two types of ways you can do this: banner flying services will have a small plane fly a banner with your message -- in most cases, "Will you marry me?" -- behind it. The good thing about this is that it's permanent and you can save the banner afterward as a memorable souvenir from the day. You can also hire a skywriter, where a plane will literally scribble your message in smoke across the sky. This is great if you want to make a huge, out-there declaration, but unfortunately, the words will only stay in the sky for so long.

I've linked to a couple of skywriting and banner services below, but you can always look up services that are local to you and ask them if they offer marriage proposal packages. When putting together your message, though, make sure you see a draft and check to see that the name is spelled correctly. It would stink if you want to propose to Erica and your message reads, "Will you marry me, Eric?" Yikes! Talk about going up in smoke...

The beautiful thing about a beach is that it's romantic by its very nature. The rolling surf, the beautiful sands, the crashing waves ... no wonder that love scene in "From Here To Eternity" is considered to be a classic!

That said, there are many creative ways to propose marriage at the beach. You can stick a message in a bottle, as the man in the below video did for his fiancée. You can carve the words into the sand. You can write out the words with rocks or shells. You can send your loved one on a little "treasure hunt" and have him or her dig for the ring.

While there are many possibilities, however, just a few things to keep in mind. Watch the weather forecast -- proposing in a hurricane is less than romantic. Same goes for asking someone to marry you when it's 95 degrees outside and 95 percent humidity. Also, make sure your beloved is comfortable on the beach. Bring a towel to sit on, bring sunscreen or bug spray ... you don't want to spring a surprise proposal and then have her get a sunburn and tons of sand up her bathing suit!

If both of you love Chinese food, a fun idea is to have the proposal written on a fortune and then present it your darling in a fortune cookie. My best friend's husband actually did this for her: he put two fortune cookies in the microwave to soften them, then stuck a handwritten proposal in one and the ring in the other. My friend loved the way he asked her and still talks about it to this day -- 15 years later!

If you want to go for a more formal approach with this, give your favorite Chinese restaurant -- emphasis on restaurant, not take-out place -- a call and see if something can be arranged with them. If not, you can get this done with fortune cookie companies, such as Click The Cookie and Fortune Cookie Supply.

A couple of tips: as always, make sure the fortune says EXACTLY what you want it to say. Also, make sure that the person doesn't eat the cookie before breaking it open. It would be terrible if you stuck a ring in a cookie and the person swallowed it. So you should probably instruct him or her to open it first, just as a precaution.

If you want to makr your loved one's proposal a bit adventurous, send him or her on a scavenger hunt. Put together a series of clues that have romantic poems or statements written on them and incorporate items or locations that somehow relate to your courtship. The last clue should lead to the ring and, of course, the proposal.

One tip - don't make the hunt too hard! Try to keep it fun and romantic. You don't want to get your honey angry and frustrated before bringing up the idea of marriage. That might have the reverse effect, and you might end up not getting the answer you'd hoped for.

Want to shout your love out to the world? Then ask your loved one to marry you by taking out an ad on a scoreboard. Almost every stadium allows patrons to place ads or messages on the scoreboards for a fee, usually about $50-100. Make sure you make the arrangements well in advance so that there's time for the message to be prepared.

Making a public proposal of marriage comes with risks -- if the person says no, you're getting rejected in front of thousands of people. That said, really think before setting this up. Does your significant other like sports or will he or she just be sitting there bored for the event? Is the person an introvert? He or she might not like being asked publicly in that case. Pasting your message up in a ballgame can be very romantic -- but it could also turn out to be extremely humiliating if not done correctly.

1. Romance should come first. Don't just hand over the ring -- say WHY you love your significant other, even if you're not usually an emotional person.

2. Include a poem or song, if possible. When you've taken the time to write something memorable, it shows how much you care.

3. Choose a type of proposal that the person being asked would like. YOU might think that a simple proposal at a barbecue is fine, but if your loved one is gushing over the proposal that a friend got where her fiancé rode along the beach on a wild horse, then your honey might want something a little more elaborate.