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 A quick search on YouTube is proving to find a growing number of extreme proposals...
An unsuspecting woman cast her fishing line into a lake recently only to reel in a dazzling diamond ring, which had been attached to the hook by professional divers underwater.
A trip to the Cinema for one woman resulted in her watching a film about her impending proposal, resulting in the groom-to-be running into the Cinema at the end of the film to complete the task.
An Ikea shopping trip for another couple ended with the future groom breaking into song and dance before getting on one knee.
To stage his proposal, a self-proclaimed "thrill-seeker" enlisted the help of Minneapolis Police to fake his arrest in front of his future bride.
Those stories may be rare, but more people are finding elaborate, sometimes extreme ways to propose marriage, wedding industry experts say. For many couples, the marriage proposal has become part of the wedding build-up, complete with paparazzi-style photography to capture the moment, and often, an audience.
Across the pond in Canada and the USA, Some grooms-to-be are even hiring a "proposal planner" - for a fee of $2,000 to $10,000 - who all but promisesthat the bride-to-be will say yes.
"I'm only getting married once, so I wanted this to be an engagement to remember," Ryan Calhoun, 28, said of his "shocking" arrest proposal, which he said had little romance but plenty of adrenaline. "It was a little risky, and it takes the right woman to do something like this."
From engagements that create public spectacles to private, jet-setting fairy tales, popping the question is not just becoming a bigger deal. It's big business, too.
Amy Lynch isn't surprised. The author and researcher of generations Y and Z said couples are getting married later in life and typically living together before they're engaged, therefore demystifying the proposal process - to the point that they feel the need to turn it into an event.
"Marriage isn't the usual marker of adulthood that it used to be," Lynch said.
"It's a bigger decision to make, so the proposal and the wedding have accorded more importance."
Jewellers report that popping the question with a ring is no longer enough. Most women want to pick out their engagement rings, yet nearly 70% of women surveyed feel the "surprise factor" is essential to the perfect proposal, according to a survey.
While many men are reportedly feeling the stress of planning the proposal others see it as their time to shine. The wedding day itself has always been about the Bride, it's her day, and so the grooms day is the day he surprises his lady with his choice of proposal. While she is dazzling her friends by showing off her ring, he can regale the crowd with his story of proposal.
The art of a marriage proposal can be a risky one, there is no guarantee that the lady will say yes, and with public proposals on the rise, so are the YouTube videos of turned down proposals!
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Wedding Magazine 
