Romantic proposals: 'Candles, roses were all over!'

We asked readers to send in their marriage proposal stories -- here are the first few responses!

First up is Birmingham-based Shraddha Kabra's contribution:

My real life romance was not very filmi -- it's just like an average Bollywood flick. But the marriage proposal surely was!

My husband Ajay and me were classmates since FYBCom (1999), but our relationship started much later, in 2004. Like all other couples, we were going out and enjoying life and time passed.

One fine day he called and said that all our friends were going for a party that night. At the time, my accomodation didn't permit me late-night outings, so we decided that we would go to his newly-purchased home, get ready there and have our friends pick us up from there.

Generally, I take a lot of time to get ready, like any other girl. I was in a total party mood, unaware of all his plans. But God was also with him that day -- it started raining very heavily and the lights went off (it's common in India that as soon as it rains heavily, the light goes!).

When I came out of the room, I saw heaven -- a dream.

He had decorated the whole passage with candles, their light feeling like stars in the black night. He was sitting at the other end, on his knees with a bunch of red roses. In the background, romantic music was adding to the mood.

I walked up to him and he took my hand in his hand and then I heard, "Will you marry me?"

All my feelings, which were buried deep down in my heart, flooded out with tears. To add to my surprise, he had decorated one room with all our pictures and there were candles and flowers everywhere. In one corner of the room, a lovely cake and champagne were waiting for us to celebrate this unforgettable moment.

After that, we went through lots of up and downs and finally got married in 2006. It's been five years now and we still share the same feeling which we had when we first met.

Next we have Ranganath S of Bangalore's story:

From Bangalore to Kaashi in search of my Love!

We met on one of the online portals and we shared our common intentions. However, there was no chance that a North Indian girl, who did not know the language (Kannada), food habits and lifestyle of a South Indian guy would get married to him (very rare).

She was the only daughter of a businessman and the chances of us getting married were very, very bleak. But, as one would say, marriages are made in heaven. I was called to visit their place and it happened like a miracle. They all agreed in one go and my parents did too!

I had only seen a North-style marriage in the movies and never knew that I would experience it myself.

We ultimately got married on April 27, 2008 and are living happily now in Bangalore with one cute son. And we still say, 'It's a miracle!'

And here is Gaurav Gaulechha's tale of his proposal:

I know Sonal for the last14 years. She was a good friend of mine for the past five years and my best friend for the past one year. I decided to express my feelings, but I wasn't sure how to.

Then on March 24, I tried the same old technique with added spice. I put the ring in the mocktail glass and thought when she would drink the last sip, I would bend down and propose to her in front of everyone. But destiny had something else in store -- she left the last sip!

She didn't get to know about any of my intentions at dinner. However, I still decided that I would propose that day itself. So when we were on our way to the parking lot, I took the ring out, bent down in front of 1,000 people and proposed. And finally, she said yes!

How and where did you pop the question? What lengths did you go to make it unforgettable for the love of your life? Write in to getahead@rediff.co.in (subject line: 'My Marriage Proposal') with your story and a photograph, if possible, of you and your loved one. We'll be publishing the best entries right here!