My proposal advice

I love sharing the story of how Mike proposed to me. It was in Chicago two years ago over the July 4th weekend. We were walking to dinner, when he asked me to walk into the courtyard of a beautiful church with him. It's the 4th Presbyterian Church on Michigan Ave., across from the Hancock Building. I was looking at the fountain in the middle and when I turned around, he was on one knee. Then when I looked up, our families began walking in one by one underneath the archways. They had all flown into/or driven to Chicago to surprise me! I cried harder with each new person I saw. We then took horse-drawn carriages to dinner at Smith & Wollensky's on the river. This picture was taken there. Awe, so romantic. Mike? He scored big points with that proposal. Women still cry when I tell them the story.

What made me think of this is a girl from work got engaged over the weekend, so we were all sharing our engagement stories with each other yesterday. Come to find out she got asked to be her boyfriend's wife in the most romantic spot you can think of for a proposal: in bed.

Ugh, I hate the "in bed" proposal stories! Can't these guys come up with anything more creative? Whenever someone shares this kind of story, you suddenly begin thinking they were probably naked, living in sin, and the guy got caught up in the moment, and blurted out, "Marry me!" I know you're thinking the same thing. Then when they tell their parents and grandparents the story, the first thing they'll think of is that their little girl isn't pure anymore, when they should be thinking how excited they are.

So men: I'm not saying you have to spend a ton of money, but get a little more creative than just being in your bedroom. You need to remember, you'll be telling this story for years to come, including to your children. Do you really want the kiddos having bad thoughts of mommy and daddy?