12 Women Reveal What Clued Them In That Their Partner Was About To Propose
Not everyone likes to be caught off guard. As much fun as a surprise proposal is, there might be photos snapped, and do you really want your hair in a messy topknot and your nails chipped when that big moment comes? Sometimes there are clues your partner is about to propose, and if you look out for them, you can save yourself from being caught in an old T-shirt with holes in the armpits when your partner gets on one knee.
For me, it should have been obvious that my boyfriend was about to propose, but I really didn't put together all of the clues until afterwards. We were in Paris. He told me to get dressed up because we were meeting up with friends at a fancy restaurant. He suggested we walk through the Luxembourg Gardens on the way there. He kept patting the pocket of his suit jacket. He was weirdly quiet. When he got down on one knee, the first thing I said was, "Aren't we going to be late for dinner?"
Luckily, not all women are as dense as me, so I had my friends (and the helpful ladies of an AskWomen thread) share some signs your SO might pop the question soon.
This Mom Who Nailed It
We had talked about getting engaged but he still wanted to surprise me. Being in separate countries was difficult but I noticed that my mom kept pressing me to get my nails done before we were supposed to meet one day. That's how I knew. So I immediately called my best friend and said, 'I need a dress!!' Luckily, we found one and sure enough, there was my then-boyfriend on that day.
These Heavy-Handed Hints
We had first looked at rings together in January 2019, and then once more in March, and we generally had been talking about getting married, how we're ready, how in love we are, and all that stuff for quite some time.
In the beginning of May, Brian had told me his parents weren't going to be at their Hamptons house the weekend of June 28 and that we should take Friday off to have a long weekend out there. This wasn't totally random since we take long weekends in the summer often and love to do it when it's just the two of us (it's like playing house, we say), but something about the way he asked seemed different. He was more adamant about it. Something in my gut was just immediately like, OMG. This is going to be it. I started to make little comments now and then, saying how romantic the weekend was gonna be and probing him for about the details about the weekend, which made him nervous that I suspected something (which I did). He did an amazing job getting me off the trail though. Two nights before he ultimately proposed, he asked me if I wanted diamonds on the band or not! I for sure thought it would still be a couple of months away at that point.
I was beyond surprised when it actually happened. Like, completely, totally shocked. We were on the beach in Sag Harbor, drinking wine, and he had me look through some binoculars at these rare birds in the distance. When I turned around to tell him how cool they were, he was on one knee.
— Alexandra, 26
This Nervous Nellie
He was very adamant about going to the city art museum. He suggested it and when I wavered he panicked a little bit. Super, duper obvious it was coming.
This Meticulous Mail Man
I knew the proposal was coming because he told me I was not allowed to check the mail for a while, as he had ordered my ring and wanted the exact moment to be a surprise.
This Revealing Snapshot
I saw a photo of the ring on my then-boyfriend's phone, so that was pretty obvious.
— Leah, 29
This Impending Opportunity
I knew it was coming. It was just little things, like he asked for my mom's phone number and made up some excuse about why he needed to talk to her. I was trying to clean up the living room and when I went over to his computer desk, he kind of panicked and said that I didn't have to clean his desk, he would do it himself — because he had the ring in his desk drawer.
Plus, we were going to this floating lantern event that I'd been looking forward to for friggin' ages, and I knew that if he was going to propose anytime soon, it would be at the lantern festival.
This Window Shopping Windfall
In our culture the couple buys rings together, so going to a jewelry store 'just to look' gave it away.
This Not-So-Surprise Party
My boyfriend claimed that he really wanted to plan a party with all of our friends for that weekend under the guise of a 'Valentine's Day party.' Busted!
— Tori, 26
This Whirlwind Of A Weekend
He planned a romantic weekend getaway for my birthday to a little beach town, complete with fancy dinner reservations. He picked me up from work early for the drive. He was super nervous before dinner. And then he handed me an envelope with an IOU for another trip in three months.
At least I really knew for sure it was coming on the second trip!
This Unintentional Advertisement
My boyfriend tried to show me something on his computer and all his ads were for engagement rings and jewelry stores. He also asked me what size finger I was and then planned a whole trip to Boston out of the blue and told me the day was all about me. Not all that strange until he told me he wasn't going to drink.
— Courtney, 29
These Salient Signals
We had been talking about it for some time before the actual proposal. But we planned a trip to Cancun, and my mom insisted I get my nails done. That was my first clue. Along with us previously ring shopping. Another little thing that made think something is my SO’s sister made a comment about her wanting me to marry her brother. So, I thought he had said something to her about it. Turns out I was right. [He] proposed to me while we were getting pictures taken on the beach in Cancun. Best day of my life aside from actually getting married to him. We are going on two years of marriage now.
Will you be next? Keep your eyes and ears open — your partner might just be dropping hints left and right that you'll be asked an important question soon, and you'll want to be ready when it comes!
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