Will You Marry Me?

"Tell him yes. Even if you are dying of fear, even if you are sorry later, because whatever you do, you will be sorry all the rest of your life if you say no."
- Gabriel Garcí­a Márquez

Even the most macho of all is likely to lose his mojo at the time of proposing his girl. Why does it have to be so hard?

It goes without saying that the fear of refusal makes the 'proposing' situation unnerving, but we suggest that unless you are too certain about this woman or girl under discussion, please don't pop the question, or else you might just wind up wounding your pride.

Ouch. You definitely can't let that happen, never even in a dream where you are pulling the clichéd 'one knee' proposal (while your knees are killing you) and carrying the instrument (read ring) to seal the deal, and the woman politely refuses to hitch her wagon to yours. Definitely not. We are sure by now you have got the drift of what we mean. Moving on.

Coming below are some romantic ideas to pop the question to your inamorata.

This is the usual but a stone bonker plan, where you take your woman to a nice garish restaurant, the one where she just likes to hog out on her favorite cuisine (aww, your little hog, okay guys don't do that). Just think of what she, as a woman, and most importantly as a little jumpy, starry-eyed girl would want her man to do for her.

You know something like stealing covert glances at her (actually she'd prefer them overt by now) while her excited eyes try to focus on the fitfully burning candles, to whispering sweet-nothings in her ears, et al, (you might want to swot up Mills and Boon or watch some romantic movies, so much for love).

Just try to think like her to understand the quixotic world she dwells in, and plan accordingly. As for the real deal, we leave it to you if you want to bend down on one like a chivalrous gentleman and ask her hand or slip the ring in her champagne flute, because we are sure, you will have already won her over with the aforementioned arrangements.

If you can't think of any other stunt,
There's always a scavenger hunt,
To work things fervent.

Sometimes our own smartness bedazzles us. Okay. Moving on, again. Your girlfriend-whom-you-want-to-turn-into-your-helpmate would be thrilled to know that you have actually expended some much of your time, energy, and of course your brains to plan it all out. She will definitely say YES, for a man who plans so much for a woman, must really love her.

Woohoo! Oh but yes, make sure you remember the spot where you have stashed the expensive gewgaw or else you will be playing the remaining part of the hunt. Hahaha.

Bowl her over the beach! You know, there are some, okay maybe a majority of women, who continue to preserve the word 'high maintenance' and that's probably why there are men out there who are ready to pay through their nose to make their proposal grotesquely immoderate―yes, that's the correct way of putting it.

But, why blow the dough when a simple, tried-and-tested, and foolproof idea of proposing her on the beach, with the tickling company of sand under the feet and the relaxing sound of the waves will make her face aglow with glee? Nuff said, we think.

Now, coming below are some romantic ideas to propose to the woman who has the gumption to go down on her knees and break the rules by being the one to pop the question!

Well, before we begin we would like to say that there's absolutely no reason for the man to feel emasculated in this situation. In fact, you must feel proud that there's a woman who is confident about her feelings, scrapping the tradition, and probably even fought dissuasion from her family and friends. You should consider yourself lucky!

So, idea numero uno for the non-traditional woman is to take your man to that one place where you first met or had your first snogging session or your first date. But make sure that the place is relatively secluded and is audience-free, as you don't want your guy to feel embarrassed but astounded.

Nothing works like magic other than a handwritten note! Guys are simple creatures; they appreciate simple things and when you, the brave woman, pours her heart out in a personal, handwritten letter as well as plights her troth in it, the man is certain to feel touched.

The way to man's heart is through his stomach! How true and this is something you can cash in on by preparing a lavish dinner for him. Make his tummy feel special; sate it with his favorite dishes and whet his appetite by promising him a sumptuous dessert and something 'more special'. There's no way he is going to say no!

Here are some ideas that can be used by both inamoratos and inamoratas.

Ask a baker to make a custom cake with the proposal written on it, and take him/her for random shopping and see their expressions change as they see the proposal. You definitely can have your cake and eat it too!

This one's really cute; just imagine a bunch of little ones holding the 'will you marry me?' placards in their hands. Sweet and adorable. Just the promise of ice creams or chocolates would do that for you.

We all need a little breather from the daily grind, so why not plan a vacation over the weekend and unwind yourselves together. Your proposal during this respite will totally knock their socks off since he/she will have never anticipated it!

With websites specializing in creating affordable online art, you can actually have a custom-made painting to mark the special day of your lives. How about creating the proposal scene on to the canvas and replicating it in the real life? One word: MEMORABLE.

Your perfect proposal moment could be something as random as posing for a selfie with your sweetie pie and having a friend photobombing with a ring behind (without of course he/she realizing it), and as he/she checks the snap and sees the ring, immediately get down on your knee and seize the moment. They will be too surprised, and the reaction would be priceless.