Having launched our 2010 ‘bride of the year’ wedding competition earlier this week we have been overwhelmed with the entries received from Northern Ireland’s Brides.

Now it’s time to reveal some of the wedding proposals that our Northern Ireland brides-to-be have accepted.

Having read the book 'The Island' I had always wanted to go to Crete to see where it was set. My boyfriend booked us a surprise holiday there for my birthday this year, leaving on our 10 year anniversary. When we arrived we booked a boat trip out to the Island, where we climbed to the highest point to see the view. He asked me to sit on the wall to take a photo and when I looked back he was down on one knee. We spent the rest of the day swimming in a beautiful bay and enjoying a Greek BBQ on a boat trip. It was perfect.

Wedding Proposal – Bride-to-be from Whitehead, Co Antrim.

On my birthday this year my fiancé and I went for a walk up to Knockagh Monument. We both sat down for a while at the top, and then my fiancé got down one knee and took the ring out of his pocket and asked me to marry him - and of course I said yes!

Wedding Proposal – Bride-to-be from Carrickfergus, Co Antrim

We had talked for a while about getting married, but I never thought it would happen any time soon. I remember going through a catalogue one day and pointing out what was the most beautiful ring, but not even to him, to my sister and never thought any more of it. He was obviously paying attention! My fiancé didn’t get to make the big romantic gesture he wanted to make as his new born niece was very ill in hospital and we were looking after her other sister. While I was collecting his niece to allow his brother to go back to the hospital, my fiancé went to collect the ring. I knew he was up to something when he went into town alone, but because of all that was going on I assumed it had something to do with his niece. When we back to his house to look after his niece I was in the living room watching TV, while he was drawing pictures in the dining room with his niece. Next thing I know he’s on the living room floor, down on one knee, with the ring that I loved in his hand, asking me to marry him.

Wedding Proposal – Bride-to-be from Derry.

We were in Gibratalar and he said I brought you here so I could propose to you with the world's biggest rock. He let me chose my engagement ring and then got down on one knee and he asked me darling would you make me the happiest man in Gibralatar.

Wedding Proposal –Bride-to-be from Bangor, Co Down.

On our 4th anniversary my fiancé came up to my house with flowers and chocolates, the chocolates were Ferrero Rocher, my favorites! He was as white as a ghost! I thought he was sick! Turns out it was nerves. So when he offered me a specific sweet out of the box I didn't notice that the wrapper wasn't as nicely wrapped as the others. I opened the chocolate and ate the sweet and crumbled the wrapper in my hand! My fiancé then said “what’s that in the wrapper?" I opened it up and my mouth fell open when I seen the ring! I said yes with a Ferrero rocher in my mouth! He gets a lot of stick about it yet and he gets called the ambassador now because of the TV ad!

Wedding Proposal – Bride-to-be from Rasharkin, Co Antrim

I flew to Spain for a holiday with our family and our 3 children; my fiancé was in armed forces in Germany and told me he couldn’t get the time off to meet us there. He surprised me by arriving for 2 days and I awakened with an engagement ring on my finger :) I always say he tricked me into getting married in the most romantic way possible.

Wedding Proposal – Bride-to-be from Lisburn, Co Antrim

I STUDIED AT LIVERPOOL UNIVERSITY AND MY FIANCE VISITS MONTHLY. A BIG WHEEL WAS PLACED IN LIVERPOOL IN NOVEMBER AND I HAVE NEVER BEEN ON ONE BEFORE. I WAS ASKING TO GO ON IT ALL DAY AND MY FIANCE FINALLY GAVE IN AND BOOKED THE VIP CAPSULE ON THE WHEEL. HE KEPT ASKING HOW MANY TIMES IT WENT AROUND AND WHEN IT WENT ROUND ONCE IT REACHED THE TOP AND HE GOT DOWN ON ONE KNEE AND ASKED ME TO MARRY HIM WHILE OVERLOOKIN LIVERPOOL

Wedding Proposal – Bride-to-be from Omagh, Co Tyrone

My partner had disappeared 'out' & was very elusive. He then took me for dinner and talked & talked about getting engaged & how would I like it done. He started to sweat & kept getting up from the able which I found annoying. So I stepped outside & he thought I’d gone home. It was time for desserts & I ordered chocolate fudge. They brought 2 miniature bottle of drink out with a little velvet bag. I kept saying to him I wonder can we take it home & I'm not paying for the drink I didn’t order it.......when I finally had my fill of dessert I opened the bag & in it was the most beautiful ring in the world. He still proposed after all my moaning of the day. I say that’s true love. (Incidentally my step son aged 3 flushed he ring down the toilet last night)

Wedding Proposal – Bride-to-be from Newtownabbey, Co Antrim

My fiancé had arranged and paid for me to fly to England with him for my birthday. When I arrived we had a quiet night at his house and were going to spend a couple of days at his before going down to his parents for a night. The first morning I was there he made me a beautiful breakfast in bed, He put a lot of effort into the whole thing and even had champagne, he then gave me my birthday card a day early and told me to open it. I wasn’t sure what was going on but when I opened it, it had a picture of us two on the front of it and a poem inside he had written. I read the poem, which was quite good, and at the end it said "will you marry me?” After I had finished screaming and crying I said yes, of course! The ring is beautiful and just what I wanted, it was amazing.

Wedding Proposal – Bride-to-be from Maghaberry, Co Armagh

My fiancé proposed really simply at the time I still lived with my mum and dad, he called in on valentines night while I was getting ready to go out for dinner with him and he was really nervous I didn’t know what was wrong with him! We went up the stairs, I was standing looking in the mirror finishing of my make-up and he said “I have something for you" I turned around and he said "will you marry me? I love you and I want to be with you the rest of my life".

Wedding Proposal – Bride-to-be from Belfast

My fiancé took me to Dublin for my birthday in July. We stayed in the Grand Hotel, Malahide in a gorgeous room and although I didn’t remember at the time it was the first place we had ever stayed away together. I should have known looking back on it because he was being extra nice and anything I had asked for I was getting! We spent a relaxing few days, just walking around and enjoying the scenery and I even got him to go to the Spa with me and we both got back massages. It was great spending some quality time together because after 6 years we sometimes forget to appreciate the little things. I think I was the only person not expecting to get engaged when we went away. We had been teased about it for the whole week before hand and I was adamant that we would not be getting engaged – I thought I knew because we had been to Jacksons Hotel last Christmas and booked it, but we had decided to wait until this Christmas before picking the ring because, my sister was getting married this year.

Wedding Proposal – Bride-to-be from Dungannon, Co Tyrone

Hi. It was new years eve 2003 we had just had our first wee girl she was six months at the time and we were getting ready to go out and my fiancé told me to get something out of the drawer and there was a box and I opened it and there was a ring and he got down on one knee and proposed and of course I said yes wasn’t expecting it and was I on cloud nine all night and now 7 years later we have 2 lovely wee girls age 7 and 4 and are still going strong and think its about time we got married, thanx.

Wedding Proposal – Bride-to-be from Carrowdore, Co Down

It has always been my fiancé’s dream to climb Mt Everest so at 30,000ft in the air (the height of Mt Everest) on a flight to Paris my fiancé he presented me with a portable DVD player and asked me to watch a short film he had made. The film was a series of photos of our adventures over our last year together coupled with music by Josh Ridian - "I'd rather be with you". At the end of the short film the words ‘Will you marry me’ appeared on the screen so excited I turned to my partner who opened the box and showed me the ring he picked. Of course I said "yes" speechless, overjoyed and grinning like Cheshire cats we celebrated with a champagne toast, congratulations from the cabin crew and passengers and an announcement by the pilot.

Wedding Proposal – Bride-to-be from Belfast, Co Antrim

In January during the ‘big freeze’ my fiancé told me I had to see Lough Fea as it had frozen over for the first time in over 40 years. He’s always dragging me out on walks so this was no different! He led me round the lake to a wee sheltered hut where he took out some hot chocolate. When I went out onto the ice to take a picture, Vincent followed me out, dropped to his knee and proposed to me with a beautiful ring. We are really proud to say that no one else can stand on that spot and get engaged!

Wedding Proposal – Bride-to-be from Dungiven, Co Derry

My fiancé surprised me by having a t-shirt made online that said "will you marry my daddy", he put it on our daughter who was only 1 at the time and asked me to go in2 her room to check on her, when i went in she was sleeping in her cot, it was then I seen the t-shirt she had on. On the t-shirt was a pink ribbon tied in a bow and in the middle of the knot was an engagement ring. When I turned around my fiancé was standing at the door. He went over to the cot and got the ring then got down on one knee and asked me to marry him, at first all I could say was how? how? I didn’t know how he got the ring or how he kept it a secret from me but after I calmed down i said yes, he looked very relieved

Wedding Proposal – Bride-to-be from Belfast, Co Antrim

We were off for a week in July and decided that on the Friday (30th July) we would go up to the north coast for some lunch and to go to the beach. The weather wasn’t great when we woke up so I didn’t think we would bother but my fiancé insisted that we go anyway as things may brighten up. (Little did I know how exactly they were going to brighten up!!) We drove up the coastal route which was lovely and the rain did in fact stop with the sun trying to break through the clouds. We had lunch at the Ramore wine bar and drove on to Portstewart strand with ice-cream. He said that he was going to get his shorts out of the boot and go for a swim – to which I replied, “Are you mad, it’s a bit cold!” He then asked me to get out of the car and I replied “I’m fine here, it’s too windy!” but he insisted that I just get out for 5 minutes. I got out of the car and he got down on his knee (to which I admittedly said “you’ll get your jeans all sandy!”) and he then asked me to marry him 

Wedding Proposal – Bride-to-be from Belfast.

I had gone on a girlie trip to Liverpool for a few days. I had left my hubby to be at home with our little daughter. He must have missed me that much as on my return he suggested a trip to the beach. As my daughter and I are huddled up in our coats and hats I turned around to discover my gorgeous boyfriend on one knee with the ring of my dreams. We had a family hug after I said a big fat "YES"

Wedding Proposal – Bride-to-be from Greenisland

After 5 ½ years together, all of them counting the pennies, Keith snuggled up to me on the sofa with a glint in his eye. I was looking rather fetching in a pink fluffy bathrobe, just finished putting our son to bed. Keith put his arm around me and said, “Would you like to engage me?” “Engage you in what?” was my response. “Engage me in engagement!” Keith said. Of course the answer was yes and we spent the next 2 weeks looking at engagement rings!

Wedding Proposal – Bride-to-be from Carrickfergus

My fiancé had bought my favorite pizza which I had been craving in my pregnancy and placed the ring in the middle and got down on one knee and asked me to marry him.

Wedding Proposal Bride-to-be from, Belfast

We booked a romantic pre xmas trip to London, I had always wanted to go to see a West End show so we booked that too! We have a fabulous first day shopping looking around Xmas markets then later that night we went to see Chicago. Just before it was about to start we had a few drinks ( he had a whiskey) then as the music started and everyone was taking their seat my fiancé got down on one knee and produced his Grandma's engagement ring and popped the question. Of course I said yes and cried with the emotion. Lots of people clapped and congratulated us. I missed the whole first half of the show but it was worth it! Really amazing!

Wedding Proposal – Bride-to-be from Ballyclare

Well the Oul Romantic got down on one knee ‘when in Rome’…I always wanted to go see the Colosseum at night to get some pictures, so being the bossy me I said we could go on our first night. So that night we got a taxi that brought us to the recommended ‘Gladiator Restaurant’. While dining al fresco, watching the sun set behind the Colosseum he got down on one knee and brought out the little box with the most beautiful sparkling ring. I couldn’t wait to say YES! So ‘when in Rome’ you never know what might happen….

Wedding Proposal – Bride-to-be from Strabane

We have been engaged since 2004. We had only been together 6 months and I knew that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with my fiancé and had dropped a few hints about getting engaged. We were at a friend’s wedding reception and while sitting together at the table, he asked me if I would marry him. We went the next morning to pick the engagement ring and spent the night in a hotel where he got down on one knee and proposed again.

Wedding Proposal – Bride-to-be from Belfast

My fiancé had picked me up from work and asked if I fancied going out for a few drinks which was pretty normal on a Saturday night until he started asking what I was planning on wearing I thought this abit odd. So we went out just the two of us, had dinner then on to a bar. I was quite tipsy and he was very quiet, which was a bit annoying so I decided to enjoy my own company and had a few more drinks after a while he got a bit fidgety. I thought maybe he was going to end our relationship but he just blurred out will you marry me. I thought he was joking and started laughing I didn't even answer him it was only the next morning I realized he was serious when he asked me again I didn't laugh this time the first thing I said was when can I pick my ring which we done that day and we've never looked back.

Wedding Proposal – Bride-to-be from Belfast

‘My boyfriend knew turning 30 was personally a big deal for me. My mum and sister had organized a surprise party for me so he didn't want to steal there thunder that night and he held off proposing until the next day. We both have children, my son is 13 and his son is 5. Spending quality time alone is very hard as you can imagine so with the children being looked after; my fiancé had his opportunity on the Sunday morning. I knew I had a final surprise to get but had no idea what it was. After a little nagging for my present, he asked me to close my eyes and hold out my hands. As excited as I was I was very nervous as he is a bit of a prankster. He gave me the box popped the question!! I thought he was joking and it was a pair of earrings LOL and told him to be serious!!! After giving me a look of disappointment he said he was, I was delighted to open the box and see my engagement ring. Shocked I hugged him so tightly, when I kissed him he asked was there any chance’.

Wedding Proposal – Bride-to-be from Holywood, Co Down 

My Fiancé proposed to me on Christmas day 2008, at a Christmas party with all my family and friends it was beautiful and was the happiest day for both of us, I would love to win this. We have been together 10 years and are still so in love and happy together it would really make our day if we won this. Thank You.

Wedding Proposal – Bride-to-be from Belfast

After two years of long distance my boyfriend moved to Kent England to be with me. Within this year he booked 4 days away to Venice. He booked an amazing hotel. After a day of walking around Venice, seeing the sights and taking a ride on the gondola, we walked to a riverside cage which served beautiful bottles of wine. We sat holding hands and watching the boats go by. He asked if we could go back to the hotel and get ready for dinner. It had been such an amazing day that we decided to stop off at a local shop which sold champagne. We purchased a bottle of dom Pérignon, and while we were buying it, a lady shouted over, "Did you just get engaged?!" I replied, “No way, it’s been five years and he still hasn’t pulled his finger out!" We then went back to the hotel room, when I came out of the bathroom, he asked me to sit down. I remember him explaining how much he loved me and how he wanted to spend the rest of his life with me. He then got down on one knee and asked me to marry him’

Wedding Proposal – Bride-to-be from Belfast

My fiancé convinced me early this year to go home and visit my family in Asia whom I haven’t seen for 5 years since I arrived here in the UK. He was more excited than me and it was an emotional and happy time for me to see my family and friends. I showed him all my favorite places, my old school, church I regularly visited back then with my family. A day before we were due to go back to UK, we went to my favorite church which I called my "haven of peace". We looked at each other, holding hands with a smile on our face before I knelt down and said my prayers. A few minutes after, I turned and was about to sit down. Then I saw him on his knees, with a tender look on his face and with the most beautiful ring in his trembling hand. He then said I want to spend my life with you, will you be my wife? I felt my eyes watering and were both crying, I said yes. He planned all along to do this, our trip, seeing my family and old friends making the occasion more special and romantic.

Wedding Proposal – Bride-to-be from Newtownabbey

My fiancé is from East London, with roots in Nigeria and is a practicing Muslim. His family is from the Hausa part of Nigeria, where it is tradition to get engaged in the week leading up to the wedding. This is done in a ceremony where the groom’s parents present a letter to the bride’s parents seeking permission for their son to marry the daughter. On a spa break at the Galgorm last May, we found ourselves talking about how it would be a beautiful setting for a wedding. We both knew from that stage that we would marry, and we often talked about our plans for the big day. However, we wanted to wait to get officially engaged the traditional Hausa way just before the wedding so that we could respect his culture and family tradition. I loved the idea of the Hausa ceremony, even though it meant no engagement ring to show off to my friends! However, this plan wasn’t to be. My father died four years ago, so my mum is going to be the one giving me away in the Hausa ceremony.

Wedding Proposal – Bride-to-be from Belfast 

It wasn’t a proposal as such. We have been together for seven years and it was just the next step to go up to Beaverbrook’s and pick my ring.

Wedding Proposal – Bride-to-be from Bangor, Co Down .

We were in a hotel in Belfast staying for the weekend cause it was my birthday, we were getting ready to go for dinner, I was sitting on the edge of the bed and he got down on 1 knee beside me with the ring and asked me to be his wife.

Wedding Proposal – Bride-to-be from Cookstown, Co Tyrone

One Saturday in March my fiancé had taken me into Belfast shopping, I thought it would be clothes shopping but instead he took me to Lunns and asked me what I thought of their window display, which was of course, engagement rings! I was so excited I couldn’t wait to get in and start picking. It was such an experience getting fancy treatment and trays and trays of beautifully sparkly rings to try on! I picked my engagement ring practically straight away. That’s when the waiting game began; he told me he would propose properly sometime later in the year. I had no idea when I would get it and I had the torture of not being able to get my hands on my lovely ring for ages! Eventually on the 25th May 2009 he took me out to the continental fair for our second anniversary, I started to get suspicious and kept thinking he's going to do it now! But he didn’t. We went from the fair for a stroll round the city centre, again I kept thinking he's going to do it now but he didn’t! So he took me on surprise,

Wedding Proposal – Bride-to-be from Greenisland .

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