17 Celebrity Proposal Stories to Sweep You Right Off Your Feet
Though the time between Thanksgiving and Valentine’s Day is the most popular time to get engaged, National Proposal Day is actual March 20, which is, incidentally, also the first day of spring. To celebrate, we’re taking a glance back at some of the most romantic engagements ever orchestrated by your favorite celebs. Check ‘em out below!
1. Kate Middleton and Prince William: Prince William’s proposal was a no-brainer after eight years together with the duchess. The Duke of Cambridge chose a spot that he says brought out the immature, silly side of himself and announced his intentions to marry her while on a 10-day safari in Kenya. He mused back on the moment in a 2013 documentary, saying, “I didn’t really plan it that far in advance, like I just knew I wanted it to feel comfortable where I did it, and I wanted it to mean something, other than the act of just getting engaged.” (Photo via Chris Jackson/Getty)
2. Colton Haynes and Jeff Leatham: In what was perhaps the most dramatic proposal on our list, Jeff Leatham enlisted the one and only Cher herself to help him ask fiancé and Teen Wolf actor Colton to marry him: He played a personalized video of the songstress addressing the duo and singing “I Got You Babe” (the couple’s favorite song), before playing a montage of messages from other friends and family members (which also included Melanie Griffith and Serena Williams). THEN — because apparently that wasn’t impressive enough — Leatham orchestrated a freakin’ fireworks display set to the tune of “Marry You” by Bruno Mars. Oh. Em. GEE.
3. Ciara and Russell Wilson: Wilson not only surprised his bride-to-be with an unexpected vacay to North Island in the Seychelles — he surprised her with a nighttime marriage proposal on the beach too.
4. Bryiana and Rob Dyrdek: It’s clear to anyone who’s ever watched MTV’s Fantasy Factory that star Rob Dyrdek is a big kid at heart, so it’s likely no surprise that the 42-year-old would seal the deal with sweetheart Bryiana Noelle in a place where childhood dreams come true: Disneyland. The jokester got onstage during a live performance of Aladdin to ask the genie to help grant three wishes: to be part of the show, to have “the most beautiful woman in the world” join him onstage, and for “something that shows her my love for her is a forever love” (i.e. a ring).
5. Jillian Michaels and Heidi Rhoades: Michaels got creative when she popped the question to her partner, Heidi Rhoades. The fitness guru ensured hers was no run-of-the-mill proposal by taking her significant other out to the movies for a viewing of what turned out to be a montage of their own love life, which ended with the inevitable question: “Will you marry me?”
6. Maria Menounos and Keven Undergaro: While you might not immediately equate “Howard Stern” with “romance,” the shock jock actually helped to facilitate an engagement between longtime lovebirds Maria Menounos and Keven Undergaro on-air. After nearly two decades together, Undergaro pulled the trigger during an appearance on TheHoward Stern Show to the delight of listeners everywhere, saying, “This show’s meant so much to both of us. It was the first thing we listened to together in that basement on a twin mattress and I said ‘one day you will be on that show and you will be a star,’ and here you are and here we are. It’s like why not make it official now?” Awwww! (Photo via @sternshow)
7. Daniel Franzese + Joseph Bradley Phillips:Mean Girls star Daniel Franzese got down on one knee for his beloved in the middle of a Starbucks — which just so happened to be the same place the lovebirds had met two years prior.
8. Channing and Jenna Dewan Tatum: Though Channing’s methodology wasn’t so crazy (he asked for Jenna’s hand on an uber-romantic getaway to Maui with a Neil Lane rock), he managed to pull a Mr. Big, secretly flying her closest friends to the island as well to join in on the couple’s happy moment. (Photo via Angela Weiss/Getty)
9. Eudoxie Mbouguiengue + Ludacris: You might not have taken rapper Ludacris for a romantic, but he proved to be just that when he went all out for now-wife Eudoxie Mbouguiengue in asking her to be his bride. Not only did he take her for a ride in a private jet, but he projected the words, “Eudoxie will you marry me” on the ground beneath them. How sweet! The couple then wasted zero time, wedding just days later.
10. Sasha Clements and Corbin Bleu: Being that Corbin Bleu is best known for his Disney role in High School Musical, it only makes sense that he would pop the question to his then-girlfriend, now-wife Sasha Clements, also a Disney alum from How to Build a Better Boy, at the “happiest place on Earth.” Bleu made the moment extra special, however, by doing the deed in front of Cinderella’s castle and — get this — hiding her ring in a glass slipper. Swoooon! (Photo via Chelsea Lauren/Getty)
11. Heidi Klum and Seal: Though the two have since split, we’d be remiss to leave the tale of Seal’s unreal proposal to Klum off the list: The guy had a freakin’ igloo built special for the occasion. “I proposed on Dec. 23 at 14,000 in Whistler, B.C., in unchartered terrain on a glacier, in a natural snow cave, in an igloo built just for the moment,” Seal told People back in 2005. Well, okay, then! (Photo via Jason Merritt/Getty)
12. Pink and Carey Hart: Pink didn’t wait around for Carey Hart to make a move: She took matters into her own hands and proposed to him! In fact, the singer didn’t even wait for her motocross man to finish his run in the Pro 250 class finals he was engaged in at the time: Girl held up a sign written on a pit board with the big question from the grandstands. When he didn’t immediately respond, she added the word, “Serious.” Hart pulled off the track in the middle of his third lap to sweep her up in his arms (a surefire yes). (Photo via Frazer Harrison/Getty)
13. Mariah Carey and Nick Cannon: For a larger-than-life diva like Mariah Carey, you need a larger-than-life proposal, and that’s exactly what Cannon gave her with the not one, but two proposals he gave her. After giving her a 17 carat (yowza!) diamond that he had hidden inside a Ring Pop on the roof of her apartment building, the former Nickelodeon star took Mimi on a helicopter ride to really make things official. “He sort of kidnapped me and took me on a helicopter ride,” she said. “Then he re-proposed.” (Photo via Charley Gallay/Getty)
14. Neil Patrick Harris + David Burtka: Like Franzese, David Burtka decided to choose a nostalgic spot to put a ring on his now-hubs, taking Neil Patrick Harris to the street corner where they met. A year later, Harris returned the favor on Valentine’s Day, proposing to Burtka in Santa Monica. OMFG, how cute are they!? (Photo via Jason Merritt/Getty)
15. Camila Alves + Matthew McConaughey: Matthew McConaughey’s sweet proposal to Camila Alves played out like a Russian nesting doll, with the Dallas Buyers Club star hiding her ring eight boxes deep in a Christmas present at a family gathering. Despite the fact that Alves reportedly did not say yes right away (“I’m not gonna say what it was,” the star told Jay Leno on The Tonight Show), she caved when McConaughey assured her that he would outlast her down on one knee. (Photo via Christopher Polk/Getty)
16. Sofia Vergara + Joe Manganiello: Just six months after they first started dating, Joe Manganiello surprised Sofia Vergara with a romantic gesture for the storybooks: He learned Spanish in order to propose to his Colombian fiancée, including the line, “Eres mi todo,” or “You are my everything.” (Swoon). The Magic Mike actor spilled the beans to Live! With Michael and Kelly, saying, “You only get one chance to do it, and if you’re going to do it, you gotta do it right.” Needless to say, he was a tad bit nervous about the ordeal, saying, “The last thing you want to do is… mess up the Spanish on the proposal to a Colombian woman.” (Photo via Mark Davis/Getty)
17. Gabrielle Union + Dwanye Wade: Dwayne made the pair’s special moment a family affair, having his three siblings hold up a sign that read, “Will you marry us?” Okay, we’re weeping. (Photo via Jason Carter Rinaldi/Getty)
Which proposal tugged at your heartstrings the most? Share with us @BritandCo.
(Photo via Chris Jackson/Getty)
