Five Over-the-Top Engagement Ideas

If you are stuck for engagement ideas and If getting down on one knee and asking for your lover's hand in marriage is not a bold enough proposal gesture for you, here are five fantastically creative engagement ideas that you might like to use - or even elaborate on.

• Tell your partner to take time off work because you are arranging a week's holiday - but don't tell your partner where you will go. Plan for a week's vacation in a five-star resort in Mexico. You can propose one evening at a fine-dining restaurant over champagne and serenading mariachis. Have the diamond in your pocket ready to present.


• You can arrange with your local adventure guide for a private hot-air balloon ride. Choose somewhere beautiful to fly over such as lolling green hills or the vineyards. Even better, schedule the ride for sunrise or sunset and you might even like to choose a hot-air balloon company that provides a meal with a beautiful table setting. Present the engagement ring at the end of the meal.


• This one is quite a bold proposal manoeuvrer. Why not surprise your loved one with a proposal and a wedding at the same time! Schedule for the two of you to holiday in Hawaii - a great place to go because marriage requirements are less. Arrange the wedding from the dress to the wedding invites. When you go out for dinner one evening, have everyone waiting nearby so they can hear you asking for her hand in marriage, and once they have heard you propose they can come out and the wedding can commence on the spot.


• If your partner wakes up every morning to the clock radio, you may want to arrange with the radio station she listens to, to have your proposal recorded and played at a time she will hear it. Be ready to present the engagement ring when your proposal is played.


• Depending on your levels of experience, you can take your lover on a dive or a snorkel. At the end of the snorkel or dive, and ideally in one of the most beautiful areas, you can write: "will you marry me?" on your diver's slate. And when she nods in agreement, you can slip an inexpensive, expandable ring on her finger. When you are back on dry land, you can present your partner with the real engagement ring.