In my mind, there’s nothing quite as sweet or well-remembered as the day you receive or give a marriage proposal. The surprise, happiness and general “Yes, yes!” response is the norm to a slightly nervous smile, bent knee, and the ring.
There are those out there who have an entirely different idea of what a proposal means. If you’re one of the lucky ones that were treated to the bended knee and ring, with no sing-along-glee extras, count yourself lucky. It could have been a far more unusual affair.

Tweetathon
Mike Duerksen had a good plan, initially. He had the lovely idea of a 12-hour date where he and his girlfriend visit all of their special places which would end with him proposing. However, he completely destroyed the intimacy of it by tweeting constantly what they were doing. The tag string on twitter was #MikeProposes and you can read the entire saga at Storyfi. For Mike, the best part about this plan was that his girlfriend, referred to as J, wasn’t on twitter.

On 13 April, 2012, he set his plan in motion. One of his earliest updates was that “J” had asked him to stop tweeting and focus on their time together. After eight spots were visited, and 700 tweets later, she said yes. Now this leaves me curious as to what the birth of their first child will be like. #TMI

Game on
This proposal hinged heavily on the fact that the couple in question were avid Halo players. The gentleman, Moviesign, set up a message for his girlfriend, Furtive Penguin, and led her to a spot in-game where he claimed they’d find an energy sword. Instead, the spot led to a ‘top-down’ view where he’d written the proposal with weaponry on the ground: “Marry Me”. He then asked her to be his team mate for life; she said yes. The wedding date hasn’t been set as of yet, as they’re waiting for the release date of the next Halo game to avoid any possible conflicts.

Player
If you have lots of money then a run-of-the-mill proposal likely doesn’t cross your mind, as is the case with this tycoon. Gennady Zaleskiy paid £10,000 (that’s R126, 270) to become the leading man in the play “The Romantics”, which he managed to get staged in his city. He then organised to have his girlfriend present in the audience. When he appeared on stage in a mask, where his character declares undying love for the leading lady, he turned to face the audience and said “No. The woman I love is called Victoria and she is in the sixth row. Will you marry me Victoria?” Victoria said yes.

Fire … no really, fire!
Let’s take a look at stuntman Josh Madryga’s proposal.  Firstly, Josh is dressed in drag … a wee bit unusual at first glance. He proposes, she says yes, and I’m about ready for the video to end. He then gets set on fire, which is just plain weird but since he’s a stuntman I’ll let it slide as a professional courtesy. But when will it end?

He then has his buddy shoot fireworks directly at him. For what effect I’m still uncertain. It seems that the death-wish should have been saved for if she had said no. Let’s hope his fiancé has medical training, as her life with him will be interesting to say the least.

Going for gold
Matt Grevers, a two-time Olympic gold medallist, organised for his girlfriend and fellow team mate, Annie Chandler, to hand out medals to the winners of the 100-metre backstroke at the Missouri Grand Prix. All he had to do was come first for the proposal to be perfect.

His adrenaline and natural talent secured him first place. Upon taking the stand and receiving the medal he waited for Annie to be asked to join him, she did so rather hesitantly. This is when he dropped to one knee and proposed. She said yes, amid great cheering from the spectators.

Let us know in the comments below what your wedding proposal was like and what other crazy, dangerous, or funny wedding proposals you’ve seen or heard of.

Main image courtesy of Mike Duerksen (Youtube)