It’s National Proposal Day on 20 March, so what better date to take that next step with your special someone? But you don’t have to stick to the rules. If you’re thinking of popping the question, take some inspiration from those who weren’t afraid to do something different.
Marine life was the start of married life for two lucky couples after a unique underwater proposal at Plymouth’s National Marine Aquarium. Jordan popped the question to Nikita after recruiting a team of divers to carry a huge sign in one of the attraction’s giant tanks. The same tactic was used when Louis Harrison proposed to his girlfriend, Bethany James.
This one is not for the faint-hearted. Russian Alexey Bykov faked his own death in a bizarre proposal to find out if his true love Irena wanted to be with him for the rest of their lives. He hired a film director and stuntman to help before he ‘rose again’ to pop the question. Incredibly, she said ‘yes’.
In 2012, restaurant chain Pizza Hut created a dinner box which came with the chance to buy a complete engagement package. Their bizarre creation included a red ruby ring, limo and a fireworks display.
In 2021, a video clip went viral, appearing to show a man pretending to get arrested by police, before pulling out a diamond ring for his partner. Realising the whole situation is a set-up, the woman covers her face as she breaks down in tears. It’s not known whether they were happy tears…
In a similar prank, Canadian Ben Vienneau proposed to his girlfriend, Marcia Belyea, after arranging for a police officer to pretend to arrest her. Ben then proposed in the back of police car.
Shawn Wright of Calgary, Alberta, Canada, launched his proposal to Maylynn Stephenson into outer space.
Shawn strapped the ring to a spatula and tied it to a high-altitude balloon, which was also equipped with GPS for tracking and a Go-Pro. He sent it up, up and up – 30 kilometres into the sky in fact – where it journeyed for four hours before landing 300 kilometres away.
Shawn retrieved the ring from the edge of a pond in Taber, Alta, and showed the video to his fiancée.
A man from Leicestershire proposed to his girlfriend by creating a Hollywood-style film trailer and playing it to her in a cinema.
Claire O’Grady was taken by surprise when her boyfriend Dougie Hird appeared on the silver screen when she went to the pictures with a friend. The four-minute trailer showed Dougie running through the Leicestershire countryside towards Claire, symbolising leaving behind his past to spend the future with her.
Animal loving couple Kevin Scalon and Bethany Rumley got engaged at an alpaca farm, surrounded by the weird but wonderful creatures.
Bethany thought they were just enjoying a planned day out when Kevin produced a ring. The moment was captured on camera, complete with photobombing alpaca.
Alexander Loucopoulos proposed to his girlfriend Graciela Asturias aboard a 90-minute zero-gravity flight. The 90-minute trip aboard a Boeing 727 cost $3,500 per person and was arranged by Space Adventures of Virginia.
“I was afraid the ring would float really far away,” Loucopoulos, 32, told a journalist from the Associated Press after the incredible stunt in 2007.
Jamie Forde surprised his girlfriend with a unique marriage proposal on a flight from Glasgow Airport to Barra in the Outer Hebrides.
Jamie arranged with staff at Barra airport – the only airport in the world with a runway on the beach for a scheduled flight – to draw the proposal in the sand for his partner Anna to spot on the plane’s approach to land.
Thankfully, Anna spotted the message, which read “Anna, Will You Marry Me?” in huge letters and said ‘yes’.
Amateur pilot Anthony Bordignon took proposing to new extremes by using a pretend engine failure to pop the question to his terrified girlfriend.
Anthony invited his girlfriend of two years, Katherine Wareham, to come on the plane ride with him – despite her visible misgivings. He then staged a pretend engine failure and asked her to read a fake checklist, which turned out to be a proposal.
The whole experience was secretly filmed and Katherine can be seen sobbing.
Luckily for Anthony, she accepted his extraordinary proposal. In the video, she tells him she had no idea it was coming (and that he is an idiot).
Proposals can be as crazy as you like but it pays to be sensible when it comes to protecting the engagement ring. At TH March, we offer specialist insurance for your engagement ring so you can rest assured that this precious piece of jewellery will stay safe, no matter how brave you were when it came to asking the question.