For many men out there, the big problem is not when to ask the question, but how to ask it. Most choose typically romantic settings in which to pop the big question, such as dinner in a fancy restaurant. Others, however, try something more imaginative, using the element of surprise.
Gary decided that a good time to ask his fiancée Leslie to marry him was at her family’s Passover seder in Westchester, N.Y. The sweethearts., who asked that their last names be withheld, sat at the table surrounded by Leslie’s relatives. After the children finished singing the Mah Nishtanah (the Four Questions), Gary stood up and said, “Wait a minute; isn’t there a fifth question? I could have sworn there’s a fifth question.”
Leslie, thinking Gary was trying to tell a bad joke, kept shushing him and telling him to sit down. But Gary continued, saying, “This fifth question we will remember for the rest of our lives,” at which point he put his hand on Leslie’s shoulder and proposed to her.
The proposal held up the rest of the seder for a half hour while all the relatives clapped and wished the couple mazel tov.
Shortly before a fund-raising dinner at their Great Neck, N.Y., synagogue, Dani Aryeh promised his girlfriend Mindy Greszes, “If I win the ring at the raffle, I’ll propose to you in front of everyone.” And he did.
When the couple arrived at the dinner, they told the rabbi what Dani had said. The rabbi made sure Dani won the raffle.
David Gershov decided that the end of a romantic movie would be a good time to propose, because by then most of the audience would have left the theater; and he knew his fiancée, Michal, would not like a public scene.
David would soon be taking Michal to Australia where she would meet his parents. He wanted to introduce her as his intended and not merely his girlfriend, and he knew she was expecting a proposal any day.
He took her to an unfancy restaurant in New York’s Greenwich Village. When she saw the dull surroundings, Michal was very disappointed, assuming that the proposal would surely not come that night. After they finished eating, David asked Michal if she would like to see “Sense and Sensibility,” which was showing at a theater around the corner.
When they got to the theater, the only available seats were in the back. David whispered to a couple sitting in the middle of the theater that he was going to propose to his girlfriend and asked if they would let him have their seats.
This couple moved, but told the others sitting around them about David’s plan. The news went around the whole theater.
When the movie was over, David asked Michal to watch the credits, which she didn’t think was unusual because they often did that. Then she heard the couple’s favorite song, “Boi V’shalom,” playing over the loudspeaker. Michal knew something was going on. She turned to David, but he told her to look at the screen.
There she saw a poem that David often recited to her. This was followed by a slide reading, “Will You Marry Me?”
The entire audience burst out in applause; Michal burst into tears.
Abie knew his girlfriend Rachel wanted to get engaged on a boat. He decided to make her dream come true.
He made a sign reading, “Rachel will you marry me?” The plan was for Abie to rent a boat and arrange for his brothers to stand, holding the sign, on a bridge under which the boat would pass. However, it was raining on the day Abie decided to propose, so no one would rent him a boat. He found a friend with a boat who agreed to give them a ride, but because the weather was bad, Rachel was in no mood for a cruise.
At this point, Abie’s friend turned to her and commanded, “Rachel, get in the boat.” And sailing through the rain, Abie and Rachel became engaged.
Mel Lichtenstein proposed to his wife, Carol, in a more typical setting: a fancy restaurant.
However, every time Mel started to say something, the waiter would show up, asking if everything was all right. In the meantime, all Mel had been able to say was, “I have something I want to ask you.”
After a considerable amount of time, Carol — who had no idea what Mel was going to ask — finally said, “Are you going to ask me already!”
Carol later said, “If the waiter had been even more attentive, I would have never gotten married.”