My Ideal Proposal...what do you think?

[SCchico]

Ok my ideal proposal to my girlfriend of 3 years would be to take her back to the beach were we saw our first sunset on our first date. The ideal part for me would be a two prong effort.

The difficult problem would be on coordinating what I want there to be there. Since my love for her has bloomed through the time and experiences shared in those 3 years, friends and family have played a key role from everyone loving her and making us feel welcomed into thier lives so I would like to continue this by including all our close friends and family to this experience and official beginning of our future lives.

The way I''d like them to share the experience with us is set up a large outdoor tent that is basically a canopy top with no sides so they can relax but be far enoug away that they wouldn''t distract her view and obviously recognize them from afar, but so they could all see when I get down on my knee and let her know that there is no one else I would rather spend the rest of my life''s sunsets with than her or something to that effect (trying to end our courting where we began it...that whole circle thing). That way after they see me put the ring on her finger they could all come and greet us or we walk to them. I think sharing that moment with those important to us would be an added bonus rather than just us two. Of course I would need to coordinate her folks flying in and some out of town friends coming in but i would cover the expenses for all of this.

Now I would also like to capture this moment since I think it would be nice to look back when we''re old(er) and gray and get a kick out of that special day. So I''d have to do a little acting on my part. I''d like to to want someone take our picture but of course I will have to forget to bring our digital camera so we''d have to use the camcorder''s digital camera mode, so I''d hand over the camera to a stranger (there''s always a good crowd there) and subtly tell them to just hold the camera while I''m ''showing them how to take a pic'' while she is waiting. So when I walk back to her I would simply walk up to her and get on bended knee and let her know how I feel and ask for her hand in marriage.

I know it may sound complicated but for her I would do that and more to make it ever so special for her.

 

[SoonIHope]

What a romantic idea, and so well thought out!!!

I think the idea of going back to the beach is soooo perfect and sweet!!! But I have one or two comments which may or may not be relevant, depending on the type of person your girlfriend is. I have a friend who was proposed to just after her now-fiance asked a stranger to take their picture, and she said that while she is glad to have the pictures of the proposal, during the proposal itself, ALL she was thinking was, "Wait a minute, is that guy taking our picture now?? While this is happening? A lot of other people seem to be looking at us too??" and barely heard anything her boyfriend was saying. So while I think it is a very very sweet gesture, I think you have to make sure she isn''t a self-conscious person who is going to be too busy thinking about everything else going on to actually be in the moment with you during the proposal. I personally wanted my proposal to be just the two of us, with no one anywhere in sight range because I wanted the moment to be ONLY about us, and I didn''t want to be distracted by anyone else watching and making me self-conscious. If your girl''s not like this, then you can of course disregard!

As for all the people watching - also soooo sweet!!! But I can''t help but think your tent idea seems a bit complicated! And if they''re far enough away that she can''t recognize them, they probably won''t really see much of the proposal, right? So maybe instead of having them waiting there, you could just take her from the beach after the proposal to a nearby restaurant or something where they would all be waiting to surprise her? But I don''t think there''s anything wrong with the tent idea other than the fact that you''d have to rent a tent!

In any case, it sounds like it will be an incredibly romantic proposal, and makes me so happy to hear all the thought you''re putting into making it perfect!!!! When are you planning to propose? You know you have to come back here with ring pictures after the fact, right??

 

[SCchico]

Your resturant idea is great! I didn''t think of that at all but I know the perfect resturant for a total casual group round up for that!
I do know she wouldn''t be distracted one bit by the camera being on is...she would be too floored by me getting on my knee. Infact trying to cover as many details as possible I''ve thougth about how poor the sound on a beach usually sounds on camcorder footage so I have thought about buying a slim small digital voice recorder so I can later edit it into the video footage. Of course I''ll provide pics/updates but for now I am getting started on my diamond search this weekend.