Future Family’s Input when Planning your Engagement or Wedding

Have you ever stopped to consider the valuable resources your family or your future fiancée/wife/husband’s family really are? Families are a great source to learn about cultural traditions relating to weddings and engagements. In fact, you may even get a family heirloom to pass down to your future spouse/fiancée. Additionally, if you are entering a culturally diverse marriage, it may be a good idea to learn about customs in your future family with respect to engagements and wedding ceremonies. Not only will you score big points with your future in-laws for taking an interest in their history and culture, but your future fiancée/wife/husband will appreciate the fact that you took the time to learn a little more about him/her.

A Puzzle of an Engagement Proposal

Does your boyfriend or girlfriend have a favorite hobby that he/she likes and you want to create a unique way to propose? This idea works great for those that can’t muster up enough courage to “pop the question,” but are still looking for a unique way to propose. Sports, animals, titles of books, and other hobbies make excellent resources for this idea, and for our example we will use animals. First, find pictures of different animals with your proposal question. “M-A-R-R-Y M-E” is a good choice, so try to locate the following animals (just for this example, remember to use their favorite interest). For the example, I have chosen the following: M – monkey A – aardvark R – rabbit R – rat Y – yak M – monitor E – eel Now, arrange all of this pictures sequentially so the puzzle can be easily guessed, but don’t write out the “marry me”, as that is how the puzzle is solved. A good way would to have all of the pictures arranged in a left-hand column and have some room to the right of the column for your boyfriend/girlfriend to write what the picture is. At the bottom of the display, put a “?” to let them know it is a question. Also, you will want to explain that this is a puzzle, and the answer is derived from taking a letter from each of the words to make a statement. Also, if you want to be more specific, you could say the first word has 5 letters (and would be the first five animals) and the second word has two letters (and would be the last two animals). If after some time, he/she still needs additional help, you can always mention to try the first letters from each word. This unique idea is very inexpensive, and if shipped to a long-distance girlfriend/boyfriend can be delivered electronically via a PowerPoint presentation.

Date Night with a Memorable Proposal: Going to the Movies

Ok, so most people who are dating often times go to the movies at least once in their relationship. If this is where you went for your fist date, this idea works even better, if not, it still will be special. First, call ahead to see if you can place an advertisement during the waiting time when all of the on-screen commercials play before the movie starts. If so, place a “(Name) will you marry me? Love (your name)”. Also, when you go to order the popcorn, place the boxed ring in a plastic Ziploc-style bag and place it at the bottom of the container before the popcorn gets filled. You fiancée will be so excited. Grant it it’s no Cracker Jacks, but the prize at the end of the popcorn is the best! Finally, talk to the theater manager to see if he/she has any other recommendations or can allow you a reserved space, as your fiancée will no doubt be overjoyed and may not be the quietest moviegoer.

Proposal Idea: Cook a meal together…. but will he/she pick up on the clues?

If you have wanted to impress your boyfriend/girlfriend with your cooking skills, or attempt at cooking, no doubt you two have previously had dinner night together. What about a proposal idea that revolves around cooking a meal together? For your first course/appetizer, why not serve some soup with alphabets in it? Buy a bag of alphabet pasta and spell out the words “Will you marry me?” in pasta letters making sure to bag them in an plastic bag labeled “pasta” so you are not questioned as to why you are only using certain letters. Ask that special person to cook the pasta while you make the base of the soup. Next, for your main course, you may want to have a copy of Lady and the Tramp and prepare spaghetti and meatballs for your special someone. You can enjoy the movie while you eat your meal. At the end of the movie, you can mention how you Lady and Tramp lived happily ever after and tell you special someone you wish to do the same. Pull out the ring! Afterwards, serve a dessert and some champagne with a label on it that features both of your names and the proposal’s date. Labels can either be made on your computer or some specialty spirit producers can custom-make one for you.

Gift Basket or Gift Bag Proposal Idea

So you may have a special lady who you’ve decided needs proposing. Unfortunately, you just don’t know where to begin. How about creating a gift basket/ gift bag engagement proposal? Now, this idea requires a lot of planning, but she will be so surprised. First, try to order things that would be interesting. Does she like chocolate? If so, consider ordering some personalized M&M’s with either “Will you marry me?” or each of your names on them (ex. Henry & Matilda). They can be ordered online and personalized with your message. Next, does she like candles? Yankee Candle allows personalized message candles to be ordered which you can have the same or similar messages. If you are really confident, you may even want to think about a “She said yes!” message on your candle. Finally, make sure you have the ring, but don’t include it in the package. Get a separate small gift bag and put it in there. make sure you hold on to it and keep it out of sight.

After you have all of these items, wrap them individually. Place each in a small box or wrap them in tissue paper. If you can’t wrap, you can even place them in small gift bags. You will need to write “Open first, second, third” on each individual tissue paper/bag/box. You may want to start off small, with the M&M’s for opening first, then progress to the candle for second, and leave an empty box/bag marked “Open third/last”. Inside, you can either put nothing in there and then ask her to marry you, or if you will be nervous, you can put a pre-made recording of you (either audio or video) with a note that says “Play me” on it. This way, you can ask her to marry you. Finally, when she says yes, pull out the “bonus gift” of the ring.

Beach Wedding Vows: Make and Take Your Memories

If you are planning a beach wedding, how about making and taking a souvenir with you so you will always have a visual reminder of your special day? First, you will need to have a class container with a lid engraved with either your names and wedding date on it, or you can even have the most memorable line from each one of your vows engraved on it. Next, after each couple has recited his or her vow, take some sand and deposit it in the bottle. You may even want to put the lid on it and shake it to symbolizing two different hands of sand intermixing and becoming one. Adding sand is also recommended for family vows where children are involved in the process. If so, you may want to add everyone’s name on the bottle along with the date. Check with a local glass shop or engraving shop for these containers. With a little planning, a glass-blower can even customize your glass’ color to match the colors used for your wedding theme.

Wedding Day Ideas: A creative way to carry your vows

Have you ever wondered where can you store your vows on your wedding day should your memory fail and you need to have a hard copy as your back-up version? Here is a unique idea: what about carrying them on your flower arrangement? First, you will each need to write your vows down on a paper 3” by 5”, but no larger than 4” by 6”. Next, you will need some simple supplies sold at any craft store. Purchase 2 floral picks with wires and 2 “fake” wedding rings. Roll each vow into a scroll shape and place a ring around it. Now, take the floral pick and wire the ring to the floral pick and secure each to your wedding arrangement. Be sure not to wire the scroll, only the ring, as you don’t want a hard time trying to un-secure your vows. You may also want either two unique rings (one gold, one silver), or you may want to write your name on the outside of the scroll, to denote each person’s vow.

Additionally, make sure each scrolled vow is firmly placed and arranged so it looks like part of your arrangement, and not something that shouldn’t be there.

More creative ideas in future postings.

Family Proposals: Getting the children involved with the proposal

For relationships where either parent has prior children, or those born during the relationship, getting the children to accept the “new parent” is important. One of the ways to help make kids feel involved is to have them involved with the proposal. For younger children, a t-shirt with the “Will you marry my mommy or daddy?” will most likely work, but what about pre-school and higher aged children? A great idea is to take a family portrait with the parent and children and present it to the future fiancée. To dress it up, you can frame it and have a plaque engraved with the “Will you marry us?” on it and the date of the proposal. Also, you can have each child read a “I want you as my mom/dad because….” at a family proposal if the children are accepting of the future spouse.

Look for more interactive family proposal ideas in future postings.

Proposals with pets? Sounds strange, but there’s a reason for it

Does the special guy or girl in your life have a pet, or do you have one that is an important member of your family? Would you like to involve the pet in your proposal? Well, here is how you do it: First, look for a fanciful pet costume; you know either a tux or dress, depending on the pet’s gender. Now, write something to down on a piece of paper that can be folded like a scroll. Something like, “Will you be my forever mommy (or daddy)? Marry my daddy (or mommy).”

Now, roll it up and tuck it inside of the costume or collar. Your special guy or girl won’t understand why it is dressed up, perhaps allowing you enough distraction time to compose yourself or prepare to set-up your proposal. Your future fiancée will either come running or else be so excited with emotion he/she won’t know what to do.

Remember, in all relationships pets and especially children are package deals, so be sure that all members of your new family are accepted by their new “parents”. Involving all members of the family in the proposal is a great idea and provides a greater sense of family. Look for tips on how to involve children in proposals during my next posting.

Want to Propose to Him or Her All Over Again?

So you’ve been married for some time now and the love is stronger than ever. Problem is, you just know what to get your spouse for that special birthday/anniversary/holiday gift. What about a marriage proposal? You know, the whole, “Will you marry me again?” kind of thing. Now, if you want to go all-out, consider purchasing an Anniversary ring, but, if you want to save some money, try to get your hands on his/her current ring and take it to the jewellers. Have it engraved inside something like “Will you marry me again” or “Lets do it again”, something where your spouse will know and remember this day.

Now make sure the other person doesn’t go crazy looking for his/her ring, so try to time the missing and re-appearing of the ring close together. Won’t your spouse love you when you “just so happen” to find it after they have been frantically searching for it for days. If you are looking for some creative proposal ideas, well, keep tuning in because I have some planned especially for Renewal of Vow Ceremonies.