Keep It Simple!

Last night on my local news channel, I watched an entire segment that was dedicated to showing men how to propose to their significant others and how Valentines Day was the perfect time to do so. It featured a young couple that was recently engaged at the Fairmont Hotel, and the gentlemen who proposed, had hired a "proposal consultant". I had heard of a wedding consultant, but never someone who would plan a marriage proposal. It got me thinking. Since when have marriage proposals become so complicated? I had mixed feelings about the idea of a man hiring someone to do the work for him. Are men that incapable of being creative that they need to spend thousands of dollars to ask the woman they love to be with him for the rest of his days?  

Perhaps I'm being a bit harsh. A good friend of mine who has a masters in psychology,  sat me down and walked me through the inner workings of the male mind.  She said that men are terrified of rejection and the idea of being told "no" after a proposal would be crippling. Well this I can understand, but what I was having a difficult time coming to terms with, was the idea that a man would let someone else dictate to him what they thought would make a good marriage proposal. This hired stranger knows little or nothing about the prospective grooms' sweetheart. They haven't woken up beside her over the last few years, or held her when she cried, or watched her eyes light up when the man in her life makes her feel like she's the most exquisite woman on Earth. 

I think men get a little caught up on making sure that the story behind a marriage proposal is an epic fairytale. A marriage proposal doesn't have to be complicated or grand, it just needs to come from the heart. When you start making plans to ask the woman (or man) to permanently join their life with yours, the proposal should reflect all those precious moments that you spent together coming together into one poignant moment. As long as their your words, your emotions, and your desires, that's all that matters. Just shut the world out, take a deep breath, and she's going to say yes!