Our 22 Favorite Celebrity Proposal Stories

Sophia Bush and Grant Hughes

It doesn't get much more romantic than a surprise proposal while traveling with your partner in Italy. Grant Hughes popped the question to Sophia Bush while on a boat on Lake Como, with a square diamond sparkler by Kantor Gems. Bush wrote on Instagram, "So it turns out that being your favorite person’s favorite person is the actual best feeling on planet Earth 💫 #YES"

Jonathan Bennett and Jaymes Vaughan

TV host Jaymes Vaughan crafted the sweetest surprise proposal to Mean Girls star Jonathan Bennett with a touching song. While Bennett was away filming The Christmas House for Hallmark in Canada, Vaughan was hard at work writing and recording a personal tune that he would use to pop the question.

When Bennett returned, Vaughan used the decoy of a Christmas photo shoot to explain why he had their photographer friends over. “I heard a song playing from a place I didn’t even realize we had a speaker and Jaymes told me to just listen," Bennett told People. It was Jaymes’s voice singing the most beautiful song I had ever heard, a song about our relationship.”

Idris Elba and Sabrina Dhowre

Valentine's Day came early for Sabrina Dhowre when Idris Elba proposed just five days shy of the holiday. The actor decided to pop the question at the Rio Cinema movie theater in London, just before a screening of his directorial debut Yardie.

Of course, the proposal was a shock to Dhowre and everyone else in the audience. He dropped to one knee, Dhowre said yes, the couple embrace, and the crowd cheered! An onlooker even captured the entire proposal on camera, which in turn caused the lovely moment to go viral.

Paris Hilton and Carter Reum

Carter Reum took it upon himself to hijack Paris Hilton's 40th birthday bash and give everybody a whole new reason to celebrate. Hilton shared the proposal on Instagram, writing that Reum planned a special trip to a tropical paradise for her birthday.

She captioned her announcement post, "When you find your soulmate, you don’t just know it. You feel it. 💫 My love & I have been together since our first date, and for my birthday, he arranged a special trip to tropical paradise. 🏝️ As we walked to dinner along the beach, Carter led us to a cabana adorned with flowers and dropped to one knee. 💍 I said yes, yes to forever ❤️ There’s no one I’d rather spend forever with. ✨ To see more photos of my birthday dream come true, visit ParisHilton.com. Here's to Love - the Forever Kind 💋 #Engaged #SheSaidYes"

George and Amal Clooney

George Clooney's proposal to Amal turned into a romantic comedy of sorts when he couldn't get his sweetheart to sit still long enough for him to pop the question. When he finally caught Amal's attention, Clooney instructed his about-to-be-fiancée to light a candle with the box of matches sitting behind her.

"She reaches around, pulls out the box, and I've got just the ring sitting in there," he explained on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. "She pulls it out and she looks at it, and she's like, 'It's a ring'—like as if somebody had left it there some other time!"

Eva Longoria and José Antonio Bastón

José Bastón swept Eva Longoria off her feet with a dazzling desert proposal while traveling in Dubai. The television executive crafted a romantic lounge of patterned pillows and Persian rugs right in the middle of the desert sand dunes, where he proposed to Longoria with a jaw-dropping ruby ring fit for a queen.

Will and Jada Pinkett Smith

Will Smith's proposal was shockingly low-key, but that only made it all the more romantic. "We were just lying there, going to sleep. I looked over at her, and I said, 'Hey, we might be real good married. Wassup? You wanna marry me?' Unplanned. No ring. Not the classic proposal. She said yes," he told People of how he popped the question to Jada. "It's really weird when you live the kind of lifestyle that we live: Simplicity becomes the jewel."

Giuliana and Bill Rancic

Giuliana spends her days interviewing celebs on the red carpet, so it makes total sense that her proposal story is just as glamorous. To pop the question, her husband surprised Giuliana with a helicopter ride over Chicago, complete with Champagne and her favorite deep-dish pizza. (You had us at pizza, Bill!) When they were high above, looking down at the romantic Chicago skyline all lit up, Bill popped the question.

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry

The recipe for the royal lovebirds' casual proposal was an actual recipe: Ina Garten's classic roast chicken, to be exact. In their first joint interview after announcing their engagement, Meghan and Harry revealed they'd been cooking dinner together when Harry, unable to wait until they'd sat down to eat, surprised his co-chef by getting down on one knee and presenting her with that gorgeous custom sparkler.

Joe Manganiello and Sofia Vergara

The Magic Mike star incorporated his bride-to-be's Colombian roots into his proposal. "I had a big speech in Spanish, and that's what I was nervous about," he revealed during an appearance on Live! With Kelly and Michael. "The last thing you want to do is like mess up the Spanish on the proposal to the Colombian woman."

Manganiello explained that he told Vergara "Eres mi todo", which translates to "You are my everything," in English. He may have been nervous, but with their newlywed status as proof, the proposal must have been a hit.

Neil Patrick Harris and David Burtka

In 2007, David Burtka asked Neil Patrick Harris to marry him with a sweet and simple proposal that proved that thoughtful, intimate moments can be the most special. On the way home from an event, Burtka asked their limo driver to pull over on the exact street where the pair had first met, and he got down on one knee and proposed right then and there.

Emmy Rossum and Sam Esmail

The Mr. Robot director's proposal to his actress wife was something straight out of a kooky rom-com: He had their love story printed in a faux version of the New York Times's "Modern Love" section, which they read together every weekend. But when Esmail asked Rossum to read it to him, it didn't go quite as well as he'd planned.

"I said, 'I'm having a back spasm. I'm actually going to take a bath and have a glass of wine, but if you really want to hear it, I'll read it to you from the bathtub,'" Rossum told Vogue. "When I realized what it was and that the proposal was happening, I somehow thought, 'Well, the story can't be that I was in the bathtub when it happened.' So I got out of the bathtub wrapped in a towel, got cold, and then got back in the bathtub because the stories are quite long. And then by the time I finished the story, he was down on a knee in the bathroom, with me in the tub."

Maksim Chmerkovskiy and Peta Murgatroyd

What better place for the Dancing With the Stars pro to propose to his pirouetting princess than onstage? Maksim Chmerkovskiy got down on one knee and proposed to Peta Murgatroyd during a dance performance, surprising both his bride-to-be and the audience.

Pink and Carey Hart

The unconventional pop star decided to forgo tradition when she proposed to the motocross racer Carey Hart herself. During one of Hart's competitions, Pink stood on the sidelines with a whiteboard reading, "Will you marry me?" as Hart raced past. On his second lap around the track, he sped right up to Pink and dropped out of the race to kiss his future wife!

Kate Middleton and Prince William

The royals always go big, especially with their proposals. Prince William asked the future Duchess of Cambridge to marry him during a 10-day African safari in Kenya. "It was very romantic," Middleton told reporters of the moment, which included the late Princess Diana's sapphire and diamond engagement ring.

John Stamos and Caitlin McHugh

Caitlin McHugh is a Disney superfan, so there were only a few real options for where John Stamos would propose: Disneyland, Disney World, Disneyland Paris, and Tokyo Disneyland (you get the idea). Stamos chose the original Disneyland and created a montage of romantic scenes from Disney movies, ending with The Little Mermaid's "Kiss the Girl," at which point he got down on one knee and, probably, took Sebastian's very smart advice.

Ciara and Russell Wilson

Russell Wilson's proposal was filled with surprise after surprise for Ciara. First, he whisked her away on "travel roulette," giving her a list of 30 possible places they could be going, before eventually landing at an exclusive resort in the Seychelles (the same one where Will and Kate honeymooned!). But the biggest surprise of all came when he got down on one knee at the private Honeymoon Beach in front of a blazing campfire and a gorgeous sunset. Not surprising at all, Ciara said yes right away.

Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank

Princess Eugenie rang in a new year the best way possible—with a proposal! Jack Brooksbank proposed to the princess on January 1, 2018. The couple was enjoying a picturesque sunset overlooking a lake in Nicaragua. "We had a beautiful volcano, [the] sun was setting, birds were flying," revealed Brooksbank in a joint interview with BBC.

"The lake was so beautiful," added Eugenie. "The light was just a special light that I've never seen. I actually said, 'This is an incredible moment,' and then he popped the question." We can only imagine how beautiful Princess Eugenie's rare sapphire engagement ring looked against that sunset!

Katy Perry and Orlando Bloom

While Katy Perry loved Orlando Bloom's marriage proposal, the romantic gesture didn't exactly go according to plan. The couple began their Valentine's Day celebrations with dinner at an Italian restaurant. Perry recalled to English radio host Roman Kemp, "So I get there and, I mean, he’s like clean-shaven. He’s not wearing tennis shoes. I’m like 'Ah something is going down!' We were ordering everything, and I was like 'Who is this person?'"

After dinner, Bloom whisked Perry away on a helicopter ride. He had a love note and a ring box in his coat pocket, and as he struggled to take out the large ring box, he ripped his jacket and knocked over a bottle of Champagne! Of course, the singer said yes, and when the newly engaged couple landed, they were greeted by family and friends!

Hilary Duff and Matthew Koma

Hilary Duff and Matthew Koma's proposal story was straight out of a storybook—literally. “I came home from work on a random Tuesday, and he’s like ‘Let’s go for a walk. Let’s go check out this park,’" recalled the actress on CBS's The Talk. "We were living in Williamsburg, and I was like ‘I’m so tired.’ We just started [watching] Game of Thrones, and I just wanted to eat dinner in bed and watch Game of Thrones. And he’s like ‘No, no, let’s go on a walk.’"

Duff told Koma that the only way she would go for a walk was if she put her sweatpants on, so after a quick outfit change the couple headed to the park. There, Koma handed Duff a book outlining their relationship. When she flipped to the last page, she found a little compartment storing a gorgeous ring. "He got down on one knee, and he’s like 'I forget everything I’m supposed to say, but you’re my best friend.' It was so sweet."

JoJo Fletcher and Jordan Rodgers

While JoJo Fletcher and Jordan Rodgers first got engaged during the series finale of The Bachelorette in 2016, Rodgers knew he wanted to re-propose without cameras, producers, and, well, drama. In the midst of looking at potential wedding venues (they are planning a 2020 ceremony), Rodgers got down on one knee and presented Fletcher with a new ring: a custom five-carat, oval-cut diamond ring. 

Jenny Slate and Ben Shattuck

Ben Shattuck proposed to actress Jenny Slate in the sweetest, simplest, and most romantic way possible. It occurred in an abandoned castle in southern France. The art curator organized a picnic for Slate and asked her to marry him. "I screamed yes," revealed Slate in an Instagram post, claiming the moment made her feel "happy and free."