1. Photo Album
Assemble a photo album of pictures that chronicle your relationship from the beginning. You can buy a new, high-quality album from one of the better stationery stores or you can search the thrift stores for a well-maintained vintage album that comes with its own charm and history already built-in. You can visit a scrap-booking store for page decoration ideas that will accentuate the photographs and make each page come to life, but most importantly, the last page should have a very special picture of the two of you with the words “Will You Marry Me?” printed below. The surprise will be instantaneous, so have the ring and a box of Kleenex ready, and don’t forget to leave a space for the “She Said Yes!” picture you’ll put in later.
2. Surprise!
There are several variations on the theme of surprising your bride-to-be with an engagement ring on Valentine’s Day. You can rent the billboard across the street from her office or the scoreboard of her favorite hometown team. You can have a magician materialize the ring from out of nowhere or have the waiter at a fancy restaurant bring it to her on a tray full of desserts. The DJ on her favorite radio station is always an excellent choice, as is hiring a plane to sky-write it in the air. Just don’t forget to listen to the radio station at the right time or look up before the wind blows your proposal away.
3. Create-a-date.
Take her back in time to your first date or your first kiss or the first time you told her you loved her. Re-create it as faithfully as you possibly can and include as many details as you can remember. As you near the end of your date get down on one knee, pull out the engagement ring, wish her a happy Valentine’s Day and ask her to marry you. This idea will be easier for some than for others, but if you can pull it off she’ll be bragging about it to everyone she knows for years to come. Warning: she’ll be in such a state of shock that you remember anything about your first date or first kiss that she might not hear your proposal, so ask her twice – just to be sure.
4. Friends and Family
If you’re leaning towards proposing to her in a more public venue, consider surrounding her with family and friends to make her day even that much more special. To maintain the element of surprise, take her on a romantic date for two but have your friends and family show up “unexpectedly” a few at a time. Make sure everyone else is on the surprise and have fun with trying to keep it away from her until everyone else gets there. It’s an especially nice touch to have your best man be the last one to show up and hand you the ring right in front of her, just like he will in the actual wedding.
5. Treasure Hunt
If you’re proposing to your bride-to-be on Valentine’s Day you might as well have a little fun doing it. Lead her on a treasure hunt where you work through the clues together to find where X marks the spot of the treasure she doesn’t even know it’s there yet. You can write little notes that lead her through every room of your house or make pointers out of sticks and stones along the path of her favorite hiking trail. Whatever place you choose, each clue should have its own reward that builds anticipation for the next clue. Her favorite candy bar, a single rose, a box of truffles, theater tickets – all leading up to the grand finale of a diamond engagement ring and a proposal of marriage!
