This post originally appeared on Staggered USA.
With the holidays right around the corner, a lot of you have proposals on the brain. We understand. We’ve seen this sort of thing before. Here is what not to do.
10. If you share a space, ask someone you trust to hold the (insured) ring or place it in a safety deposit box. She’s trustworthy, yes, but even honest women have been known to snoop.
9. Avoid rousing suspicion by doing your ring/proposal-planning business during your lunch hour or when she expects you to be somewhere. Men who come home late never fare very well.
8. We might get slack for this, but we say to keep it private. Not because she might say no (and prepare yourself, she might) but because it’s a big moment she might want to share with you alone. She can always run to announce it, but this allows her to do it on her own schedule.
7. Tred lightly with sharing the fact that you’re ring shopping. Not only women share information, men do as well. Some with buddies, others with their wives and girlfriends who share it with other wives and girlfriends, and well...
6. Keep the email trail clean. You might leave it open, it might be seen.
5. Don’t put the ring in a stocking, it’s been done and she’ll expect it if she’s expecting you to be on bended-knee. Also, we don’t think putting it in something she will consume is a good idea. Choking, swallowing and all.
4. Those looking to propose at Valentine’s Day or next year might want to check out post-Christmas sales.
3. Asking her father's, mother’s or parental figure's permission is nice, but not necessary.
2. Prepare a few words. You might not use them, but can get used to the idea and and not freeze up.
1. As always, make it memorable.