If I had three lives, I'd marry you in two: Perfect Proposals

Asking someone to marry you takes planning and guts, if you want the perfect proposal story you and your wife can tell later you need to find the perfect place to pop the question.  World Reviewer has some sage suggestions for the perfect proposal.

There are two kinds of marriage proposals, the impetuous kind, born in the passion of the moment and the planned variety where the moment has to be perfectly arranged and orchestrated. No one can help out the impetuous, but if you’ve the foresight to want to have a kosher story to tell the kids then these are some of the most perfectly romantic canvases on which to start:

“I just saw a shooting star and I wished you’d say yes to my next question…” Take your intended on an evening balloon flight over the desert, and as the sand dunes roll sensuously like a lover’s body under a sheet, and you sip champagne taking in the quiet, unforgettable sight of a clear night sky, make your move.

“I’d move heaven and earth for you…” If you’re a playful dog who likes to tease, whisk your lover away on an unexpected break to Harlingen in the Netherlands, and book the Harlingen Harbour Crane. From the outside it looks like the kind of crane ship yards use to move crates around, so pointing out that that’s where you’re staying will make you unpopular for the five minutes it takes to get inside. From there on in you’re on easy street, inside it’s all made up to fit two, in close, romantic quarters and though you can’t actually do any shifting of earth you can spin it around to capture all of the view, which is kind of like moving heaven…

“I want us to be intertwined for all eternity…” One of the most iconic and romantic pieces of art is Klimt’s The Kiss. The bright gold covers the couple showing only their faces and hands, their forms locked together for always. It’s just asking to be proposed in front of. One school of thought suggests it depicts the bright change of scenery caused by love’s first kiss – a theory which offers a wealth of potential proposal dialogue to mine! Hanging in the Austrian Gallery in Vienna there are a couple of beautiful hotels nearby. Hint hint.

“You smell just right to me…” We all know how powerful a force pheromones can be when it comes to affairs of the heart. That compulsion we feel towards some people is just our bodies picking up their enticing scent. With this in mind the annual August Jasmine Harvest in Provence will only enhance the feelings your intended has for you, they’ll be intoxicated by the sun and the heat and the scent and the flower fights and will fall for you like soft petals when you pop the question.

“Our love is comparable to the most passionate, dramatic narratives…” For some people nothing says I love you like a very public display of affection and a public proposal gets the crowd on the side of the proposer. There’s no more public show of ardour than to declare your intentions from a box in one of the world’s great opera houses before one of the grand romantic operas. Get the house on side and have them shine the follow spot at your box as the rock on the ring dazzles. To really make her feel like a princess the Vienna Opera Ball Season is the perfect excuse and she’ll be the belle of the ball all night after you’ve shined the light on her that she deserves.

“You make me feel like I’m on top of the world…” Less crowded with proposers than the Eiffel Tower or the Empire State Building, on the peak of Mount Kailash you can really lay the world at your loved one’s feet. A place of pilgrimage, Hindus believe Shiva, the divine master of Tantra, lives on top of Mount Kailash where he practices yoga, makes love and smokes ganja. It’s a four day trek to the top and on the way the only people you’ll meet are pilgrims. This is a really unique journey to share with someone, and though arduous it’s just more proof that you’ll go to the ends of the earth for each other.

“You’ll always be my queen…” One the world's greatest monuments to love, the Taj Mahal was built as a memorial for a well loved companion, and the Emperor who built it put all his emotion and funds into creating a shrine to his lover and his love. That story, told on bended knee by the pond in front of the Taj would melt a heart of marble.

“You’re all I’ll ever need…” Anyone who has seen the films ‘Blue Lagoon’ of ‘From Here to Eternity’ knows how romantic a secluded beach can be, and the only way to ensure you’re the really the only ones on the beach is to arrive on your own boat. A sailing trip is a popular honeymoon choice but why wait? Just the two of you on your own boat… Wade ashore early and lay a breakfast picnic out on the beach compete with ring filled champagne glass. It’ll be like you’re the only two people in the whole world.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR