Dating and Relationship

There are whirlwind romances and there are long, thought-out love affairs that conclude with the much-anticipated engagement. There are also a million variations of love affairs falling between those two extremes.

Whether you’re crazy in love and rushing into a commitment, or whether you’ve waiting for years until the time was right, getting engaged is a big deal. And if you’re a romantic, you’ll want the setting where you propose to be memorable.

Letting the Love Grow

If it’s meant to be, it’s meant to be. Taking your time to get to know the person you’ve fallen in love with is always a good idea. Some of the best marriages are the most unlikely pairings of people–in the best case, a long friendship that has turned into love over time.

Love that is going to last happens between people who respect and enjoy each other, and accept each other exactly as the person is at that moment.

Engagement

When is it time to get engaged? This is different for every couple. Some people skip the engagement period and just get married. More traditional approaches suggest a stretch of six months to a year of engagement before the actual wedding.

If you’re going to be planning a big wedding, you’ll need a year to get everything arranged. The engagement period is a committed time, a time to try out getting serious, sort of a practice for marriage.

Will You Marry Me?

The man on one knee, opening the box with the ring–this is the classic romantic scenario for getting engaged. If you’re the man in a traditional couple, it’s up to you to come up with the unique plan for how to propose marriage.

Picking a spot that has meaning to the both of you, choosing a day that has special meaning, or fitting the engagement into an activity you both enjoy are popular ways of becoming engaged. Don’t forget that ring. Diamond rings are customary engagement rings–and even if you’re marrying a non-traditional woman, she might secretly like a diamond.

Most little girls dream of that moment when someone asks to be with her forever, ring or no ring. Know what would mean the most to your lover, and then blaze forth.