Groom
“Will You Marry Me?” Oscar Wilde once said that “Men always want to be a woman’s first love - women like to be a man’s last romance”. While a greater degree of equality between men and women has been fought and won in the intervening decades, when it comes to asking The Big Question, the ball remains predominantly in the male’s court. Do modern-day Celtic Cassanovas still think that dinner á deux and a bended knee is simply going to be enough to clinch the deal though? To help the men of the South East along with the arduous task, we have put together a selection of original, and inexpensive, proposal ideas that will score you maximum brownie points with your wife-to-be, as well as sharing one of the most romantic proposal stories we’ve probably ever heard. So, get reading and follow our top-tips for a guaranteed ‘Yes!’ – good luck! Love online… Puppy love… The Piece de Resistance… The first clue was to send Orla back to where it all began in 2000. “A nightclub where he used to work and I used to frequent!” Outside the nightclub was another clue, instructing Orla to go to the car park at Bray Head where they enjoyed many romantic strolls over the years, followed by a clue that sent her to Presentation School in Bray, where “he taught me how to drive”. There, in the school’s basketball courts, was a clue that instructed Orla to go to “where we had our first date - Johnny Fox’s”. Already perplexed and confused, Orla then got lost en route to the famous pub and restaurant, and had to phone Damien for directions. “Just sit in the exact spot where we had our first date”, he told her. Unable to see anything that looked like a clue, Orla had to ask the barman, who gave her an envelope from behind the bar. Inside was a card with a row of kisses on one side, and on the other a message that read, “That’s a lot of kisses but how many?” – “It was the same amount as the number of our new house”, she recalls. Driving to their new address, Orla opened the door to find roses lining the hallway. In front of the kitchen door was a present and a note that read, ‘Open Me’. “When I opened it, there was a photograph that Damien’s sister (who had known about the plan for the last month) had taken one evening while I was sitting at the computer. I knew that Damien was standing behind me at the time, but I didn’t know was that his hoodie was unzipped and on his t-shirt was written, ‘Will you marry me?’” Stunned and delighted, Orla opened the kitchen door and was greeted by red roses, a festoon of pink and red balloons, and her romantic boyfriend down on one knee with a diamond ring asking that all-important question, this time face to face – “I obviously said ‘yes’!”
Say cheese!
Take a trip to a photo-booth, have the ring to hand and pull it out as the first photo goes off - when the strip comes out, you’ll see the shock and excitement on your sweetheart’s face as she realises what’s happening.
Be a web wizard and create a web page with her name, containing a photograph of you on bended knee holding a diamond ring, and send her the link.
If you’re a softie at heart, and your beloved likes dogs, bring home a cute new puppy with a ring hidden in a bow on its collar.
Having bought a new house in Bray with her boyfriend Damien, Orla from Greystones in county Wicklow had arranged to spend the day of 2nd February choosing doors for their new home. Just before 10am, Damien rang Orla and told her that there would be something waiting for her in the letterbox of their new house. “There was an envelope and inside was a letter, saying that he had bought something for me but before I got it he was going to have some fun “you want it, you have to go find it”, were his words.
Feeling inspired yet? Off you go then and start planning – you’ve got a lot of work to do, after all!
