Hello all! Hope you’ve had a great week. It’s been a busy week for me, getting my teens ready to go back to high school. Summer break went by too fast for me! LOL.
I’ve been working on a new story proposal, which means I’m writing the first three chapters of a book, plus its synopsis (summary).
However, for today’s blog post, I want to talk about the OTHER kind of proposal…the marriage one.
How did your spouse propose to you?
How long did you date before your loved one proposed?
How long after that did you wait to get married?
What would be your dream proposal?
What are some story settings and or special scenarios you’d love to see written into romance fiction proposal scenes?
What’s the most romantic movie or book proposal you’ve seen/read?
Thank you all so much for participating today! I love to get story feedback from you, as well as hear about your own real life stories!
Blessings,
Cheryl Wyatt
USA Today bestselling author and RN Cheryl Wyatt writes romance with virtue themed with rescue. She’s grateful to be a worshipper of Jesus, a mom, wife, orphan/troop advocate, plus wrangler of words and spoiled Yorkies. She loves readers and cherishes interaction at: https://www.facebook.com/CherylWyattAuthor. Join her newsletter via her website: www.cherylwyatt.com.
Without question, my favorite fictional proposal was in the movie, When Harry Met Sally. Good luck with your proposal, Cheryl. No doubt, you’ll knock it out of the park.
Ok since I am yet to find someone who wants me (or God wants for me) I cant answer your first few questions.
I can answer Mum and Dads story. They dated around 4 months before getting engaged. They went to visit Dad’s family for the first time and were shopping and looking at rings. Mum said they really didn’t even discuss it they just knew they would get engaged their. That night at the dinner with his other sibblings one said Look Mabel is wearing a ring does that mean you’re engaged. I think they knew from the moment Dad first took mum home from the New Year Eve picnic that they would marry. Seems Dad had wanted to ask mum out but was scared she would say no and mum had been waiting and finally took matters into her own hands when someone asked who was taking her home. They waited a year to marry.
for me I am not sure what the dream proposal would be. I wouldn’t like it to be in a public forum like a sporting event etc. I would rather it be somewhere quiet. (oh it could be at the cricket but just between the two of us without onlookers) But my future husband has to like cricket or at least let me go to the cricket when I can.
Honestly I am not sure which proposals are the most romantic. I know I have seen them and read them I think where there is a child (especially where the child has lost a parent) who proposes. I know I read one where a little girl asked the lady if she would be her new mother and gave her a ring. I don’t watch as many romantic movies (funny I can read them but when it comes to watching a lot of the romantic movies I just don’t enjoy them as much)
How fun:) My husband and I met in my first year (his second year) at uni. We became good friends, part of a larger group of good friends. At the beginning of our last year, we were planning a hiking trip to Tasmania, and I fully expected him to propose there, however, he surprised me by proposing a month before we left for the trip. A group of us had decided to celebrate the end of another set of exams with a picnic dinner near the lake- while the two of us were standing near the water’s edge, he turned to me and said something like “I want to spend the rest of my life with you, will you marry me?” It was beautiful and romantic to me and of course I told him yes:) We had been ‘dating’ for 3 years, and planned to get married the weekend after we graduated- a year after he proposed. 14 years later and I praise God that I married my best friend:)
So many questions and yet such a good time to remember (next week is our anniversary)… So here it was how it went: I was going to pursue a PhD far far away and he took some days off work before I moved away. One of the first days of “vacation” included going to a museum near the lake, grabbing a cup of hot chocolate (it was winter) and then sitting by the lakeside to watch the sunset. That’s when he proposed (something about how the distance could not keep our love apart.. I think.. some of it is a blur, I was really excited). It was pretty sweet and (although it was a public area) it was nice to have that moment just for us, no audience (I think that was a big deal for both of us,being just the two of us). I’m pretty sure I cried too. Then we went out to dinner to celebrate. We had been dating for 5 years (we both got a college and a master degree during this time), then another year apart (thanks, Skype!) until we decided to got married and he’d join me, no more waiting.
I really don’t like public proposals. It seems like the moment is for show and not for cherish and being honest to one’s feelings with no social pressure. (Not that he didn’t know I’d say yes, but it was really nice just to stay there holding hands and making plans for a few more minutes with no interruptions.) I don’t think I have a favorite proposal scene, but I definitely have a list of things I dislike (even though they are common in movies and books): no restaurants, no parties, no fairs, not in front of family or friends…
I met my husband in church and he felt the Lord tell him I was going to be his wife. However we didn’t go on a date until a year later when we were talking after church and a woman walked up and said,” Go ahead ask her!” She later said she had no idea why she said that. He asked me out then. It was September, we were engaged by December, and married in June. He thought that was a long wait :-)! We’ve been married 36 years! Our youngest just got married and left the nest. Our other two have been gone for a while now.
We were sitting on my porch in the rain and he looked at me and said, “What do you think about getting married someday?”
After a brief discussion I realized that this was his idea of a proposal.
We had only been dating for six weeks and had only known each other existed for about six months. We were married 10 weeks later.
My dream proposal was always accompanied by a kiss in the rain. That was what I got! It rained on our first date. It was raining when Tim proposed. It rained on my wedding day. It was raining when I gave birth, all five times! It rained on our 25th anniversary! I still get sentimental when it rains!!
My three favorite proposals are all from JoAnn Durgin books! In Prelude when Sam proposed to Sarah I cried! He summed up their relationship in that diner scene. It was perfect!
Sam Jr couldn’t be outdone so his proposal to Lexa was also so special. Yellow roses and an instant wedding! It doesn’t get better than that unless it was the proposal in Gentle Like the Rain!
When Sidney proposed to Isabella I think I melted!! The rain I’m sure had nothing to do with it! The fact it happened on the road in what could only be a God moment is what made it so very special.
My daughter dated her boyfriend for three years through college. He got permission to propose at the end of a small White House tour on the lawn. The rest of the tour group waited to hear her answer, which was yes! They married a year later after college graduation.
My husband said, “Wanna change your last name?” We met at church camp, both counselors for a week. We didn’t really date much as we lived about an hour apart. I think we just knew, though. The first time his dad met me, as my then boy friend walked me to my car, his dad told his mother, “There goes our future daughter-in-law.” And, he was correct. He proposed in May, we wed in October, two years after we met at camp.
I don’t know what my dream proposal would be, but I enjoyed a few proposals recently from the box set “Whispers of Love”. Regardless of the proposal, I believe the man should ask the woman’s father, or guardian.
We celebrate 25 years in a few months.
My dream proposal would have to be the way my husband proposed to me. It was just us. So perfect for who we were as a couple, and I’d have to write a book to explain all of it. :) So I won’t.
My nightmare proposal? That’d be him making a big production and bringing in all kinds of people to do some silly song and dance and having it go on and on forever… You know, those proposal videos that go viral. I watch those and go, Okay, kinda cool, but that guy? No thanks. :D
Thank you, Jill! That’s one movie I’ve heard lots of good stuff about, but have never seen. Sticking it on my must watch list. Thanks for stopping by and for your kind words!
Cheryl
That is so sweet about your parents! I love this story. I LOVE the idea of it being centered around cricket. What about at a match!? That would be SOO cool. Maybe I’ll write a cricket match proposal scene just for you…
Hugs friend! Any guy would be blessed to have you!
Oh my! That proposal is SO sweet! And romantic with the water’s edge. So awesome! I’ll bet you’re still best friends too! :-)
Thanks for stopping by and sharing!
Oh wow…another lakeside proposal! That is so cool! Thanks so much for sharing! And I loved your thoughts on proposals that didn’t work for you in books. Great feedback! I appreciate it!
Diana, that is a sweeeeeet story! How cool that God worked the way he did to get you together! 36 years is a long time and that’s wonderful! Thanks for stopping by!
The rain! LOLOL! That is so cute! Seriously. Very sweet and significant. I had to laugh when I read the part where you said you realized this was his idea of a proposal. Mine was similar, to a point I had to ask my husband, “Are you trying to propose or something?” Hahahaha!
Thanks for stopping by!!!! LOVE that rain has such significance in your relationship. :-)
Cheryl
Wow! ON the White House lawn! That has to be the coolest setting I’ve heard about in awhile. :-) Thanks for sharing. Glad you stopped by!
Congratulations! That is a cute proposal question about changing your last name. Sounds like your spouse has a great sense of humor and adventure. :-) I’m with you on the asking a father’s permission. I agree 100%. :-)
Thanks for stopping by!
Haha Sally! Definitely write it in a book. And I’m like you with the nightmare proposal. I wouldn’t want a bunch of people or fanfare…although I confess I’ve put my characters through that a time or two. EEEEK. LOLOL!>
Blessings and thanks for coming by!
My parents grew up in the same small farm community in Kansas. His best friend was dating my mom. One day he took my mother aside and told her she was wasting her time with his friend. He told her he loved her and she didn’t know it yet but she was going to marry him. Shortly after that my mom stopped seeing the friend and started dating my father. Six months later dad presented her with a ring. Six months after that they were married. My mother passed away on their 56th wedding anniversary. My mother said theirs was a match made in heaven. Till the day my father died he said he could never believe how blessed he was to have married my mother.
Which reminds me, I love Scotty’s proposal to Lilah at the beach. It’s definitely the kind of proposal that I think really gets the romance and the “being us” part.
I was almost done with Grad School when my now husband finally asked me out. I say finally because his sister, and my friend, had been trying to get him to call me for quite some time. About 11 months later he proposed. He has a friend whose father is a Shriner’s Clown. Jappo made a balloon bear holding a balloon heart – inside the heart was the ring. We were at a college hockey game – right behind the home team’s bench! He knew me well enough to not put it on the megatron. :) We married less than a year later and just passed our 17th anniversary. And no worries – Jappo made me another heart balloon and we still have season hockey tickets.
I think the proposal needs to show that the person knows the other person very well. That may be something bold and public or quiet and personal. While we were in an arean with about 4,500 people around us, only a few knew what he was up to and that was fine with me.
Good luck with your proposal!
i met my husband in May, and we got married the next May. After our third date, about 3 weeks, he kissed me, just a little peck, and I told someone the next day that I had met the man I would marry. My ring was on Lay-a-way by August, and I knew he had it out by mid October. I knew the day he picked it up, even though he didn’t tell me. We were out walking his dog, and he said, “So, you wanna get married?” I said “Sure.” he said “I guess I’d better get a ring then.” I said “I know you have it, and you had better give me that ring right now!!!” So he put it on my finger.
Sometimes I wish I had gotten a better proposal but it is what it is. I’m his, have been for 23 years and I wouldn’t have it any other way. The song by Downhere Living the Dream says it best…
Well, this is not what I imagined
But this is real life
In the trenches and
We are living the dream.
Everyday, love makes the promise
That we can be great
If we wanted and
We are living the dream.
Highs and lows we’ll take on together,
Choosing joy whatever the weather, and
We are living the dream,
My husband and I met in missionary training. He arrived a term after I had. 6 weeks after he proposed to me but I wasn’t ready. That was 10/79. I then left in January of ’80 to go onto our linguistic school in Missouri. We continued to write. He flew out to Missouri for spring break and officially proposed. We got married in August of 80, in fact our 36th anniversary is today. So we got married less than a year after meeting. He wrote every day while I was at language school and is a poet. Such letters, how could I not fall in love with him. We have served in PNG since January of ’82.
I have read so many books, not sure which proposal stands out to me. Alot of good ones out there.
My husband proposed to me on my 19th birthday. We went to Long Beach, Washington. It was in August and when we got there, it was the annual Kite Festival. He was so upset that there were so many people. So, we decided to go to the Lighthouse in the nearby town. it is a beautiful day and we hiked up to the lighthouse, the fog rolled in so thick we could barely see our hands in front of us. By this time Russ(my hubby) was so upset that I said,”what is wrong with you?” He said,” I was going to propose to you.” So I said,” Then do it!”. He did, I said yes. When we walked back to the car, the sun came out and we looked back and read the sign that said Welcome to Cape Disappointment. At that point we just busted up laughing. We celebrate out 19th anniversary in September!
Wow! Over half a century…56 years is incredible. Thanks for sharing!
That is an adorable proposal!!! Love the ballon bear!
May sounds like a great month for you! Sweet proposal and sentiments! Love it. :-)
I love how persistent your husband was! Way to win your heart. Bless you both for serving as missionaries too!
Cape Disappointment! Oh my. :-) What a great story to tell even years later! Very sweet and funny. :-)