Skywriting.

I always pictured my dream proposal a lot like the [spoiler alert]























scene in Coupling, when Patrick asks Sally to marry him. It made me laugh and cry simultaneously.

I love how my husband proposed to me, so I'll share it here:

At the time, he was big into building model airplanes. For my birthday, I asked him for a model of the Red Baron's plane.

My birthday arrives, he comes over to my apartment with the model, and three figurines (2 crew members and the Red Baron). He hands me the crew members one at a time, which I then unwrap. As he hands me the Red Baron, he says "be careful unwrapping this one" and drops the box that had held the plane and figurines.

My engagement ring is around the Red Baron's neck. I look at the soon-to-be-Mr. Lucinda, and he's on one knee.

That's an original one! How awesome!

For me, since I'm a huge beach bum, I always thought it'd be fun to be laying on the beach in summer, and see a proposal on one of those banner-towing planes that buzz the shore.

Of course I would need to be nudged in order to notice it, and then it would be hard to convince it was directed at me, and not some other person with my name.

My sweetie (voyagermo) and I proposed to each other while half-asleep after hinting to each other at That Irish Shop in Des Moines over claddagh rings. The only thing that would have made it PERFECT, in retrospect, is if he'd have bought the ring for me that day, in the shop, then dropped down to one knee. But that wouldn't be MY sweetie -- he's such an introvert.

We DID buy the rings (each of us got one) the next day.

A friend of mine was camping with her boyfriend when he popped the question. The only problem was that the whole trip had gone wrong - it had rained the whole time, there were horrible mosquitoes, there were food issues - you know, all the bad camping trip stuff that can ever happen happened to them in those four days. So it's the last day and it is of course, raining, and he says, from the edge of the lake, kneeling, "Honey, please come out of the tent, I have something for you," because he had planned it to be this very romantic sunset proposal. And my friend, without looking, crossly said, "Is it chocolate? Because unless it's chocolate I am not ever coming out of this tent again."

I have loved this story for years. And yes, they did get married and AFAIK they are still.

Personally, I am not going to think how I would like to be proposed to because it feels like a jinx somehow. As long as it doesn't contain any iteration of the words "pregnant" or "baby" or "guess we have to, huh?" I'll be happy. If it ever happens. And, actually, if it doesn't happen? I'll still be happy.

I can't remember how or who actually popped the question. I think that we got married sort of by default. We were considering having a child, and, at the time, we needed to be married, to be covered (it ended up costing $15 out of pocket to have a c-section birth/private room, etc).

Anyway, it just sorta drifted that way, and all I remember is discussing the details.

I want the whole thing spelled out across a football field in hundred dollar bills. Or diamonds. That I get to keep.

OOO or Doritos.

God, I hope it's Doritos, TPS. Nothing is more romantic than a sparkly diamond on an orange-stained finger.

You'd be amazed what Brit Hume will say when there's a gun to his head.

Bury ring in sand, she finds the ring later when we go scavenging with the his and her's metal detectors I got us earlier. As she looks up to find me, I'm down the beach a bit, on bended knee, clutching my Windbreaker and shouting "let's get old together".

Provide ring to her OBGyn, and at the right moment he goes "What the...?" and raises the ring. That's when the doors to the supply closet "accidentally" come open, where she finds me on bended knee.

Send her the link to "(her name)willyoumarryme.com", with 90s-era graphics showing me on bended me and "yes", "no", "maybe" radio buttons below. If she clicked "yes", it'd go to an animation of me dancing and being happy. If she clicked "no" or "maybe", she'd get directed to the "Weighing pro's and cons" page (see below). Navigation would be "Login" "About Me", "FAQ" (with questions like "What the hell is wrong with you?", "How is a proposal website romantc?", etc.) "Why? Weighing the pros and cons" (would have an animated interactive scale allowing her to drag wedding ring icons with personal factoids about me ("$55,000/year w/ benefits", "not afraid to do dishes", "makes dumb websites", "not sports-crazy", "not too wild about your mother") onto either side of the scale.

Holy crap, it exists (or will). Why am I not too surprised?

Looks like the site did exist- the copyright is through 2002, and the links on the page are broken.

Our proposal took place on a balcony in the French Quarter in New Orleans, which is not quite as romantic as it sound, since it was the balcony of our apartment where we had been living together in an unmarried state for quite some time - and neither of us is quite sure who actually proposed. We take turns blaming each other/taking the credit.

For me, the perfect surprise proposal would probably be to have a bookmark printed (or just make one), and use it to secretly replace whatever sales receipt/take-out menu flyer/torn scrap of paper/electric bill envelope/toothpick/dog-ear that I have marking my place in my book of the moment.

It should involve small_ruminants. Goats maybe, or possibly new world camelids.

/is not actually intending to marry.

Well to answer the question directly: If I had a gf who was taking part in the Vagina Monologues, I would like for her to work a proposal into her monologue, on opening night.

Hopefully it would be to the effect that because of the positive effect I have on her vagina, etc. etc. If she mentioned my name, all the better.

(If gf drew the "Coochie Snorcher" monologue, all bets are off. Then it should happen at dinner, afterwards.)

danf, as someone who just did "My Vagina was my Valley" in this year's local Monologues (see earlier note), I praise you for your choice. (Although MVwmV isn't any better to work the proposal in. She'd really have to do it as a "Vagina Happy Fact", or maybe during "Say and Wear".)

All's I know is I have always wanted to do a live dove release from under my wedding dress.