Marriage proposals have generally been done by the man in the past, but today there are more and more women taking the leap and risk to ask their men to marry them! Marriage proposals have been done a certain way for centuries and it has only been within the last few years that these proposal styles have begun to change.
Traditionally, the man would get down on one knee to show his future wife how much he loves and respects her and then ask her to be his wife. Of course, before this event would even occur the man would have to ask the lady’s father for permission for his daughter’s hand in marriage. This was of course done out of respect for the father and the lady’s family. Respect and reverence was a very important part of proposals of the past, you were not just marrying the woman you were marrying her entire family! There was also the importance of the dowry back then, an amount of money or land set aside for the groom as a present for marrying their daughter. Many marriages of yesteryear were more of a business proposition and partnership than they are today, including arraigned marriages for the sole purpose of creating a financial bond between families of influence. This is still the case today in some countries.
Marriage proposals today are generally much different than this. Sometimes there is not a proposal at all. The couple has a conversation about marriage and decides together if they want to get married. This is generally what is going on today and is a decision that is more thought out than if the man surprised her with a proposal. With this type of proposal the women would feel pressured to say yes, whether this was her true decision or not. When a couple chooses to make this decision together they are taking a mature and well thought out approach to this life altering decision. Although this may be a more pragmatic way of deciding to get married, it takes the romance out of the act, to say the least. A sad testimony to the loss of the romanticism of the good old days, the lack of traditional marriage proposal has even been compared to the break down of marriage and family as we know it, discussing marriage rather than asking on hand and knee. As a discussion, the act of marriage can be easily broken, like a discussion about which restaurant to go to, allowing the other party to change their mind. As oversimplified as this statement is, a discussion is a discussion, a promise is a promise.
Marriage proposals are something that seems to be of the past. There are some people who still propose to their girlfriends, but not in the same way that it was once done. The art of wedding proposals has disappeared in history and marriage has turned into a decision by both not a question to one.