Preparation
Your own proposal may not have involved famous actors, perfect lighting, and a team of professionals, but we’re betting it was one of the more movie-worthy moments of your life. Celebrate your newly engaged status with a marathon of proposal clips from romantic comedies, ranging from understated to over-the-top.
Nobody could write a proposal scene like Nora Ephron. Case in point: Harry (Billy Crystal)’s dramatic, sweep-Sally-off-her-feet speech in the film’s finale. “When you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible,” he says to Sally (Meg Ryan). Swoon!
OK, so maybe Jane Austen is pretty good at this romance stuff, too. After a few complicated twists and turns (and an initial, rejected proposal!), Elizabeth Bennet (Keira Knightley) and Mr. Darcy (Matthew Macfadyen) finally set aside their pride to get engaged on one glorious and misty morning. “You have bewitched me, body and soul,” Mr. Darcy says, “and I love, I love, I love you. I never wish to be parted from you from this day on.”
And in a romantic comedy based on Pride and Prejudice, a similarly beautiful proposal from another Mr. Darcy (Colin Firth), which of course Bridget (Renée Zellweger) almost spoils.
Following the death of Scarlett (Vivian Leigh)’s second husband, Rhett (Clark Gable) works up the nerve to ask for her hand. With all their flaws, the scene is lovely and unforgettable.
Not even a language barrier could keep Jamie and Aurélia apart. When Jamie (Colin Firth) realizes he loves Aurélia (Lúcia Moniz), he learns Portuguese, and tracks her down back in France at the restaurant where she works to ask for her hand … in Portuguese! “Thank you. That would be nice. Yes is being my answer,” she responds in English. Pass the tissues!
So she can’t avoid the question, music legend Johnny Cash (Joaquin Phoenix) proposes to June Carter (Reese Witherspoon) onstage, in the middle of a concert. It’s sweet, it’s passionate, it’s country.
After Ian (John Corbett) delivers a heartfelt proposal in bed, he and Toula (Nia Vardalos) collapse into laughter. Adorable.
They were just kids when a young and persistent Jake (Thomas Curtis) first proposed to Melanie (Dakota Fanning). “Why would you want to marry me for, anyhow?” she asks. “So I can kiss you anytime I want,” he responds. Even better, the scene comes full circle at the end.
McDreamy-we mean Andrew (Patrick Dempsey)-makes women everywhere drool when he takes Melanie (Reese Witherspoon) to Tiffany’s and tells her to simply “pick one.”
Instead of a ring, Luke (Ed Harris) ties thread around the finger of his children’s future stepmom (Julia Roberts), explaining that to make marriage work, “you have to hang on to that decision by choice, to love each other, even if it’s only by a thread. I let that thread break once, this time I won’t.” Then, he uses the thread to slide the ring onto her finger. So. Smooth.
Riding in gallantly on a horse to rescue his love (who, as it turns out, doesn’t really need rescuing), Prince Henry (Dougray Scott) tells Danielle (Drew Barrymore) that he was sorry for being such a jerk, puts the glass slipper on her foot, and spins her around happily when she says yes.
After Maggie (Julia Roberts) tells Ike (Richard Gere) her proposal stories, he shares what he would say, if it were him proposing: “I guarantee that there’ll be tough times. I guarantee that at some point, one or both of us is going to want to get out of this. But I also guarantee that if I don’t ask you to be mine, I’ll regret it the rest of my life because I know in my heart, you’re the only one for me.” Later, Maggie steals this speech to propose to Ike.
After their mess of a wedding (it got bigger than Big!), Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker) and Big (Chris Noth) finally got their happy ending in the form of a much simpler wedding-after a much more romantic proposal. Sometimes, the second time’s the charm, especially when it involves sealing the deal with a Manolo Blahnik. So very Cinderella-esque, so very “Carrie.”
Rocky (Sylvestor Stallone) takes Adrian (Talia Shire) to one of his favorite places, the zoo in the winter, to pop the question. “What do you think you’re doing for the next 40 or 50 years?” Rocky asks Adrian. “I was wondering if you wouldn’t mind marrying me very much.”
With a title like The Proposal, the engagement scene had to be good. Thankfully, it didn’t disappoint. “Marry me,” Andrew (Ryan Reynolds) says to Margaret (Sandra Bullock), “because I’d like to date you.”
Instead of a token, Jack (Bill Pullman) passes transit worker Lucy (Sandra Bullock) a diamond engagement ring. Now that’s what we call a good day at work!
Sara (Kate Beckinsale) comes home to a room filled with candles and an empty ring box within a box within a box. Then Lars (John Corbett) appears with the ring, saying she has to say “yes” first.
In the most epic non-proposal of all time, Charles (Hugh Grant) asks Carrie (Andie MacDowell)-in the rain, no less-if, “you might agree not to marry me? And do you think not being married to me might maybe be something you could consider doing for the rest of your life?” Carrie says, “I do.”
When Julia (Drew Barrymore) jets off to Vegas with her airhead fiancé, Robbie (Adam Sandler) buys a first-class ticket to get there and get her back. When Robbie realizes they’re on the same plane, he sings a self-penned song, “Grow Old With You” over the intercom, with the help of flight attendants and, of all people, Billy Idol (played by himself).
Despite their differences in social status, Oliver (Ryan O’Neal) is intent on staying together with Jenny (Ali MacGraw). When he says he wants to marry her and she asks “Why?,” his perfect answer is “Because.”
Who wouldn’t want to wake up to a diamond on her (Rachel McAdams) finger and a gorgeous man (Eric Bana) telling her she’s perfect?
Childhood and adulthood fantasies collide when Massimo (Justin Chambers) builds Mary (Jennifer Lopez) a dollhouse and places the ring in the middle room.
All Nicholas Sparks fanatics know this: To fulfill one of her dying wishes, Landon (Shane West) proposes to Jamie (Mandy Moore) after watching a comet through the telescope he built for her.
