Where VirginiaGetsEngaged

Clint and Aimee went to high school together, but never thought of each other as a couple. Eight years later, they glanced at each other at a stop light and their thoughts were instantly clear. At the next light, they both pulled over and starting talking…which led to conversation after conversation until they starting dating. 

A year later, Clint decided it was time to pop the question. 

Since Natural Chimneys was a significant place to visit in their childhood, Clint decided that it would be the best place to pop the question. On a Friday afternoon in November, Clint and Aimee hiked up Natural Chimneys with their dog. As they approached the top of the mountain, he pointed out all of their childhood memories in the valley below, and then asked her to marry him. Shocked by what he had said, she paused and said, “Yes.” 

The best time to propose marriage to your girlfriend depends a lot on the kind of relationship you have and your partner’s personality. If your wife-to-be is not that adventurous, then you should make that type of proposal in a more conventional time and formal setting to avoid embarrassing your girlfriend and yourself. If your future bride loves to be surprised every once in a while and both of you lean more towards being daring, then you can unleash your imagination and creativity when choosing the perfect time to propose.

If you are both hopeless romantics, then the best time to propose marriage can be on Valentine’s Day. After all, this day celebrates love and you can not have a more romantic ambience in any other day of the year. So go ahead, plan your proposal for the Big Love Day. If you are not a lovey-dovey couple to begin with, then asking your girl to marry you on this day can be a cheesy experience. Besides, all the fascinating places in your area will be filled with other dating couples, which means, you have a better chance of ruining the mood than getting her to say “yes”. 

Other than Valentine’s and New Year’s, please do not get the idea that the best time to propose should be on any official holiday of the year. While it is true that proposing on a red-letter day gives you the color of love, it can also end up in a very awkward situation. What will you tell your children or grandchildren if you did propose on Halloween or Columbus Day? You may say that there is nothing wrong with proposing on holidays, however, it is simply not a good idea to impose a passionate mood when the general aura is not romantic at all.

Truth be told, the best time to propose to your beloved is when you honestly feel like doing it. That is because the magic is happening right there, in moments when you least expect it, but as the groom-to-be, you always have to be prepared for such rare occasions. In other words, after you have made a firm decision to marry the woman of your dreams, you need to carry the engagement ring in your pocket everyday even if you planned the proposal to happen on some other fixed date. This way, fate will never catch you unaware and you can propose just like the guy in all those mushy movies you have watched on weekends.

Planning the proposal early on can help you avoid most, if not all the blunders that can happen. If you think it is only in the movies that a bride-to-be can accidentally swallow an engagement ring from eating soup, think again. All sorts of boo-boos can happen when you are proposing to the woman of your dreams. So, it is about time you take your wedding proposal more seriously. While the whole thing is triggered by the heart, a lot of brain functioning is needed for the proposal to become one of the most unforgettable moments both for you and your future wife. 

Before planning the proposal, you have to make sure that the two of you have already talked about marriage. Otherwise, your girl may be shocked when you finally pop the big question and things backfire on you. Worse, it would be downright laughable if you suddenly propose to her and she does not even consider you to be the one to walk her down the aisle. For all you know, your girl does not want the proposal to be a surprise at all. What if she plans, instead, to have an active part in planning your wedding proposal? In other words, you also have to know and consider her personal plans in life before even asking to marry her. After all, marriage is going to be a partnership, a mutual relationship at that. So, even before you propose you might as well start to take into account your partner’s opinions and desires. 

Planning the proposal can be easy if you think about the most romantic places or moments that the two of you have experienced as a couple. It is a wise idea to try to remember your very first date and the restaurant where you took her. For most women, going through their first date experience once again can be very romantic, more so if you announce your proposal in the exact same place and, if possible, in a similar ambience. The important moments in your relationship can give you the best ideas on where and how to propose. 

Indeed, all the things that will culminate on your wedding day are a direct result of your proposal. This little act, which is almost always considered to be unimportant by many men, can make or break your nuptial plans. Besides, asking for your girlfriend’s hand in marriage can be the noblest thing for a man to do, but that can only be so if you had done well in planning the proposal.

How to propose is basically a question of how creative and imaginative you are. There are many ways of asking your girlfriend the one big question that ultimately leads to the altar and you probably have the idea of a man getting down on one knee while offering his girl a box that contains a ring. Well, this is the classic way of proposing to a woman. But we are now in the twenty-first century and getting down on one knee can be considered a bit too feeble. Nevertheless, it is not a crime to simply go with the flow and do as the millions of men before you did back in the day. 

But if you want to know how to propose in ways that are more interesting and applicable to this day and age, then you better think about how to enthrall and bewitch your woman’s emotion. You know very well that the way to a woman’s heart is through her fantasies. Thus, most women just can’t say no to things that captivate their imagination. Making your girlfriend want to say a vigorous “yes” to your proposal essentially means holding her spellbound with your act. 

Some of the more ingenious ideas on how to propose to the woman of your dreams go beyond simply uttering the words. Heck, you can do it 10,000 feet up in the air by printing the big question on your parachute or ask a pilot to write it all for you up in the sky with smoke from his airplane. Smoke signals can work to, but your girlfriend may not get it at all. But if you are great with sign language, you can invite her to go scuba diving and right beneath the sea ask her to marry you using hand signals amid all the bubbles from your scuba gear. If you are the typical shy guy, the best way for you is take a full page ad in your local paper with nothing but your names and the question you have always wanted to ask. A local TV ad can have the same effects, too. 

But all these do not mean fooling or tricking your girlfriend with crazy antics. On top of making sure that your proposal becomes an unforgettable moment in both your lives, sincerity still counts as the biggest factor when proposing to your bride-to-be. And never forget that most, if not all, women have keen intuitive abilities that can smoke out liars and jokers. But in the end, whatever her decision will be, you can bet that her answer will be directly influenced by how to propose.

The creative ways to propose to your bride-to-be should be somehow unique, but totally unmistakable. Always take into consideration your girlfriend’s personality because she will definitely go to places or do activities that she cherishes. That is winning half of the battle called surprise. Things can be a lot easier for you if she loves being traditional and a hopeless romantic. But everybody knows that being traditional in this century almost always translates to being such a bore or a loser. Even if you know your girlfriend more than anyone else, there is no way that she will fall for a drag even if it means marrying you. 

So your goal is to enthrall her and captivate her fantasies. Thus, you need to make up creative ways to propose to her which can go with her favorite things in life. For instance, if she is a big sports fan, you can always invite her to watch a live game and have your proposal flashed on the big screens. This can be very mind-blowing for your girl and the chances of you getting her “yes” can easily be a homerun or a slam dunk – actually, the metaphor depends on the game you are watching. You can never go wrong with proposing in front of 20,000 sports fans, plus the folks watching the game on TV.

If your girlfriend loves danger or is an avid adventurer, then the creative ways to propose to her should also captivate her daredevil personality. An easy way to go about this is to shout the question while going for a bungee jump. You can also check out if asking her to marry you while jumping off a cliff with a parachute is practical given the considerable amount of wind resistance that can make your voice inaudible. 

When planning creative ways to propose to your girlfriend, you must make sure that your true message will not be lost. It is very important for your proposal to get across to her. Otherwise, she may not be able to comprehend whatever it is that you are trying to do, and instead of accepting your proposal, she might end up being more confused. If you think that your plan can make her distracted and perplexed, you are better off doing the old-fashioned way of proposing, which is getting down on one knee, holding her hand tight, showing the ring in a box, and asking her to spend the rest of her life with you.

I recently took a trip up to Shenandoah National Park located in the beautiful Shenadoah Valley. As part of a local photography group, we chose to hike down to Dark Hollow Falls located on one of the better known mountains called Big Meadows. 

The Dark Hollow Trail is a little steep in places, but the 1.4-mile loop (optional) trek to Dark Hollow Falls is well worth the trip. The broad path is well maintained as it leads the visitor over the edge of the main ridge along the stream course. At the height of the spring runoff, these falls are an impressive site as water cascades 70 feet down the side of the mountain.

One of the most exciting parts of any walk in Shenandoah National Park is the possibility of the seeing large mammals rarely encountered elsewhere. The white-tailed deer are clearly the most obvious and few visitors will leave with out seeing a few. Other species to be on the alert for include bobcat and black bear. Black bear is a specialty of Skyline Drive, reaching one of the highest densities to be found in Virginia.

This is truly a place to visit with your future wife. 

-Josh

Directions

From Limberlost Trail, continue south on Skyline Drive 7.6 miles to parking area on the left. The trail is across the street from and slightly north of the Big Meadows Visitor’s Center.

How We Met

 The first time I met Victoria was at the gym, she was the most beautiful girl I had ever seen.  I didn’t hesitate for a second. I knew that any guy would want to sweep her off her feet and I wasn’t going to take that chance.  I walked right up to her and introduced myself.    She had a carefree way about her, and when I looked into those deep green eyes I went nuts.  I thought at that moment that she was the most amazing woman I had ever met, and I was right.  We dated for only a short time before I fell deep in love with her and realized I couldn’t go a day without seeing her or talking to her.  I had never felt anything like this feeling before.  It is so strong that I knew this was the woman I wanted to spend the rest of my life with.  Searching for the ring was very important to me, I needed to find the perfect one because this is the one thing she was going to cherish and wear for the rest of her life. After about 3 months of searching, I found the perfect ring for her and began planning a trip to New York in January, but first I had to get the guts up to ask her dad if he liked me enough to marry his daughter.  I really stressed out about that part more than I should have, he was really happy for us and impressed that I asked him before taking his daughter to the big city for the weekend.

The Proposal

   I planned everything down to the smallest detail. (the flights, limo ride from the airport, hotel room on the 35^th floor and the perfect proposal dinner….)  How we were going to get there, where we were going to stay, what restaurants we would eat at. When we arrived in New York, I was so nervous I could hardly wait until dinner, so I could give her the ring I had been staring at for the past three months.  I wanted everything to be so perfect for her. I wanted to give her the storybook wedding she had been dreaming of. It was a winter evening in Time Square and the cold air kept us nestled close together while we walked around town. We had reservations at the Marriot Marquis on Time Square.  The restaurant is located high on top of the building and rotates around with glass walls so you can see all of downtown.  It seems like I walked Victoria around a dozen times before I found the right table. Clearly, the view is the same from any table, so she still picks on me about that.  The dinner was great, I think, I still don’t have a clue what I ordered.  All I could think about was her and what would she say… the moment I had waited on for so long was finally here and my heart began to pound, very hard.  I can honestly tell you that asking the girl of your dreams to marry you is the most exciting thing I have ever done in my life!!!   It took me at least 15 minutes to get the ring box out of my pocket.  There I was sitting at a table and across from me the most gorgeous girl in the world, when I dropped the ring box on the floor beside my chair.  Now this added a little more adrenaline to the moment and I tried to be real cool by pretending I dropped my napkin and I reached down and picked the box up.  I couldn’t take it any longer, I had to ask her right right away. I wanted to see her face when she opened the box. I needed to hear her say yes!!  So I got down on one knee and asked her if she would be my wife.  I will always remember the look on her face…….she said yes.

I love you Victoria

How We Met
Lauren and Ryan met at Dartmouth College where they were introduced by a mutual friend. Though Lauren tried to make her crush on Ryan known through numerous invitations to her sorority formals, Ryan had no time to date with his demanding engineering courseload. They did, however, keep in touch and reconnected after college when Lauren was in her first year of medical school at the University of Virginia and Ryan was working in Albany, New York.
Over Valentine’s Day weekend, Ryan invited Lauren to visit him in Saratoga Springs to celebrate the end of a week of medical school exams. After showing her Skidmore College where he had spent his undergrad years, Ryan put Lauren to work moving him into his new apartment. But that was not the only surprise he had in store for her that weekend. Before she left, Ryan surprised Lauren with a special Valentine’s Day teddy bear. In return, she surprised him with an invitation to come visit her in Charlottesville. And so began a year of visits to Saratoga and Charlottesville, Hershey and Maine, until Ryan decided that he had accumulated enough frequent flier miles and would move to Charlottesville so that they could be together.

The Proposal
Ryan proposed during a surprise weekend getaway to Front Royal, VA where they attended a hot air balloon and wine festival. Ryan and Lauren’s first activity as an engaged couple was hot air balloon ride on a crisp fall morning overlooking the Blue Ridge Mountains. After narrowly missing a barn and surviving a crash landing, they celebrated with a champagne toast and spent the rest of the day sampling the fine offerings of Virginia’s many vineyards. Truly a weekend to remember!

My fiance wrote me a romantic note the day before stating that I be ready and dressed to impress and packed for the next 2 days by 4:00 p.m. the next day. I went and bought the nicest ‘little black dress’ and packed like he said. At four the next day he showed up at me house in a huge 12 passanger limo. My mom was in on the whole thing and the limo took up the whole street! Boy was I surprised. Before I knew it we started driving to New York. We went on the horse and carriage rides through the city and it stopped at the Tavern on the Green. I was so excited we both have never been there before. We had a very nice dinner, the whole time him complamented me on how beautiful I looked. After dinner we went back to the limo where he surprised me with 56 long stem red roses. That stood for five year and 6 months since we met. How romantic! He than read me a poem he wrote and went on to tell me how much he loved me and so on. Then he popped the QUESTION!!!! I said yes tearfully and it will be the absoulute best moment to date I have ever had and will be cherished forever!!!!