Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

The Absolute Worst Ways To Propose To Your Partner

Strange wedding proposal
Photo by Gift Habeshaw on Unsplash

Reddit user aloe_veracity asked: 'What is the worst possible way to propose?'

Make us preferred on Google

From our friends and families' own cringy stories, to the tales captured on social media, we've all witnessed our fair share of proposals that totally missed the mark or were just plain awkward.

In fact, most of us have come across so many of these stories, we all have an idea of what the worst proposal in the world would be.


Redditor aloe_veracity asked:

"What is the worst possible way to propose?"

Stealing the Spotlight

"At someone else's wedding or wedding reception."

- N-y-s-s-a

"I had to stop my friend from doing that. One of the nicest dudes ever, just a little naive."

"Fortunately, this was before the wedding, I didn’t slap the ring out of his hand or anything like that. I just very clearly told him it was a bad idea whilst at the pub."

- Polite_as_h**l

Clearly a Subplot from 'Grey's Anatomy'

"Arrange a fancy date night with your girlfriend, including dinner at a posh restaurant."

"In the middle of the meal, fake a brain aneurysm. Bite into a concealed blood pack, collapse, and fall onto the floor, the whole bit. A 'doctor' or a 'nurse' planted at an adjacent table rolls you onto your back, checks you, and says that you're not breathing and you have no pulse."

"He or she rips open your shirt to apply a defibrillator... revealing, 'WILL YOU MARRY ME?' written on your chest in red body paint."

"Pull out the ring, and say, 'I can't live without you, baby.'"

- Thatimensfaa

So Romantic

"Chucking the ring at them and saying, 'Here, wear this.'"

- Kai6180

"My friend got engaged like this and thought it was so cute for some reason. They did not last."

- Bada**Bumblebee

Wedding Dress Included

"My mom told me that my cousin’s girlfriend got tired of waiting for him to propose (apparently he said he would but hadn’t gotten around to actually doing it) that she straight up bought a wedding dress and told him they were getting married."

"He said, 'Okay.'"

"I believe they’ve been married for about 20 years now."

- PorkrindsMcSnacky

So Nervous

"My husband proposed to me while I was driving. At night. On a very busy, twisting road."

"He had a big proposal planned but then got super nervous and kind of just blurted out the proposal while we were in the car."

"We celebrate our 25th anniversary this fall. My thought was if I had the power to make him THAT nervous, I was in a pretty solid position."

"Honestly, it's not how you're asked; it's who's doing the asking."

- Neener216

Worth Waking Up For

"Mine might be the worst. I was a broke 19-year-old and thought that if I can't spend money on a good proposal, I'd go with the element of surprise."

"I woke her up at 3:00 AM and gave a speech about how we were going to be together forever and propose."

"Her response: ARE YOU F**KING KIDDING ME...'"

"We've been married 14 years this October."

- the_navillus

Red Flags in the Morning

"I got woken up an hour before my alarm clock rang. He just came home from visiting his parents for the weekend."

"No elaborate speech, just a 'Now or later?'"

"Me, being an unarticulated zombie for the first hour after being woken up, managed to mumble, 'Now.'"

"I got the ring stuck on my finger. It was slightly too small. And then I just went to work."

"Later that day, he reminded me that I still 'have to' say yes. Of course I did."

"A day later, colleagues figured out he never asked. He just demanded. So I told him to ask me, but he said since I already said yes, he didn't need to."

"After a little back and forth, he asked."

"I should have seen that red flag waving in front of my face, but it took two years to see it."

- Mondfairy

Practical Purposes Only

"This is the story of how my parents got engaged."

"Dad: Hey, you should move in with me."

"Mom: No. Not until we're married."

"Dad: Okay. Fine. Let's get married."

"Mom: Wait. Are you seriously asking me like this?"

"Dad: Yes. Why not. Marry me and then you can move in with me."

"And then they got married."

"It did not go well."

- biddily

Short and Sweet

"Proposing via text."

- Salty-Entertainer-29

"will u marry me?"

"k."

- aloe_veracity

Public Proposals

"For me personally, the worst would be any grand gesture around people. I’d rather you ask during a cozy night on the couch."

"My ex and I just talked and knew we were going to do it. We picked up the ring together and were walking out of the store. He bent down on his knee at a bench, and no one was paying attention. I’ll never forget how precious that was to me."

"I was at a large music festival last year and saw a guy propose to his girl quietly in the back of a crowd. No one seemed to notice that either, but I saw it and started crying to myself at how beautiful it was. She was snuggling into him the whole rest of the set."

- ApprehensiveBanana07

Quite the Rebound

"Say the wrong name. Other than that, you'll be fine."

- shipsaway9

"Something similar happened to a family friend. Someone she met online proposed to her within weeks of meeting her with a gorgeous diamond ring."

"She got caught in the moment and said, 'Yes.' It was at a fairly busy restaurant and everyone started clapping and cheering for them."

"When she got home, she took off the ring to send us a photo of it, and that's when she noticed that there was someone's else initial engraved on the inside."

"Turns out that the guy's ex-fiancee had broken up with him just months before their wedding. He met my friend online and decided to ask her to marry him instead out of spite and possibly because he didn't want to lose his deposit on the wedding venue and catering."

- Dane_k23

Fooled Ya

"Propose after being caught cheating."

- BeneficialSomewhere

The Argument to Win Them All

"While in an argument about wanting the get married, bring out the ring and just say, 'Here.'"

"A friend of a friend was 'proposed' to this way and thought it was the cutest. The red flags were waving themselves."

- royal_rose_

A Different Take

"Propose from prison."

- No-Art-9083

"Propose in prison."

- aloe_veracity

"Propose ON TOP of a prison."

- Ok_Wave_7359

A Jarring Experience

"Shock them by proposing to them right after they've told you that they've lost their job."

- BroadcasterX

Proposing or being proposed to is supposed to be one of the most special moments in a couple's life, signifying all that is to come. Imagining how someone could approach this moment in some of these ways is really staggering.

More from Trending/best-of-reddit

Screenshots of Jessica Tarlov and Emily Compagno; Abdul El-Sayed
Fox News; Sarah Rice/Getty Images

Jessica Tarlov Has Perfect Clapback After Fox News Co-Host Criticizes Abdul El-Sayed For Not Being A 'Practicing Physician'

Fox News host Jessica Tarlov had the perfect response to her colleague Emily Compagno after Compagno complained that Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed is not a "practicing physician."

El-Sayed, an epidemiologist who campaigned on expanding healthcare access, strengthening the economy, and ending unconditional U.S. military aid to Israel, became the first progressive to win a statewide primary in a state carried by President Donald Trump in the 2024 election. He is set to face former Republican Congressman Mike Rogers during next month's midterms.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshot of Donald Trump during White House event
The White House

Trump Ripped After Openly Lusting Over MAGA Sisters With Tone-Deaf Joke Following Cornell Sexual Assault Allegations

President Donald Trump was criticized after openly lusting after Fox News host Rachel Campos-Duffy and her sister Leah Campos during a Hispanic Heritage Month event that took place amid national outrage following the sexual assault allegations that have been the center of a scandal at Cornell University.

A former Cornell student known only as "Jane Doe" filed a civil lawsuit detailing an October 2024 sexual assault at the Chi Phi fraternity house and Cornell's handling of the assault after it was reported to school officials. Cornell’s chapter of Chi Phi was closed shortly afterward and remains barred from campus.

Keep ReadingShow less
Pete Hegseth; Gavin Newsom
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images; Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images

Pete Hegseth Just Threw Out A Bunch Of Absurd Slurs While Talking About Transforming The Military—And Gavin Newsom Clapped Back Hard

California Governor Gavin Newsom mocked Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth after Hegseth delivered a slur-filled speech about who he's trying to bar from U.S. military service.

Speaking at U.S. Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia, Hegseth claimed that the Trump administration's cultural reimagining of the nation's armed forces has been a grand success. But, as evidenced by what he told those in attendance, this "success" was only possible because the Department of Defense has made no secret of excluding certain groups.

Keep ReadingShow less
Tom Holland; Florence Pugh
Jeff Spicer/ Getty Images for Sony Pictures; NBC

Florence Pugh Revealed That Tom Holland Is The Reason She Appears In 'Spider-Man: Brand New Day'—And We Love To See It

Florence Pugh has built a career on scene-stealing performances, but her latest Marvel appearance came with one particularly flattering endorsement: Spider-Man himself.

While promoting her latest historical drama, East of Eden, Pugh stopped by The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, where she was asked about her surprise appearance as Yelena Belova in Spider-Man: Brand New Day.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshots from @kelsgordon's TikTok video
@kelsgordon/TikTok

Woman Reveals The Fallout After She Caught Her Sister's Fiancé Cheating Just 2 Hours Before Their Wedding

Some people would rather live in a state of oblivion than know the truth.

TikToker @kelsgordon realized her sister was one of those people when she discovered, just two hours before her sister's wedding, that her sister's fiancé had a whole other romantic relationship in the works—and she intended to go ahead with the wedding anyway.

Keep ReadingShow less