In centuries gone by, it traditionally involved the man going down on one knee and popping that most important of questions to his love one.
But these days anything goes when it comes to marriage proposals as Aaron Brand might tell you.
He secretly proposed to girlfriend Joanne Exley from the back of a roller coaster ride as she was screaming in terror.
As their cart passed an official camera on the Log Flume at Alton Towers, Aaron, 29, whipped off a red sweater he was wearing - to reveal a specially made T shirt saying ''Will you marry me.''
Joanne, 28, only twigged the marriage proposal afterwards when she scrolled through the visitor's souvenir pictures on the wall outside the ride and saw what Aaron was wearing. Naturally, she said yes.
Say-at-home mum, Joanne from Canvey Island, Essex said: “I couldn’t believe my eyes. I’d gone to the photo booth to see our picture. I was looking for the red sweater he’d been wearing and thought I was losing my marbles when I couldn’t see it on any of the screens.
''When I suddenly spotted the t-shirt I couldn’t believe it. I was in complete shock and thought I was dreaming. I turned to ask Aaron what was going on but, as I did, he was down on one knee holding the most beautiful diamond ring. It was a complete surprise, but a magical one.”
Aaron said: ''I persuaded her to sit up front, blagging that it was the driest spot in the carriage - I was pretty proud of my sneaky plan.''
Cavendish Press' coverage of the couple's wacky wedding proposal went in the Sun newspaper, New Day and a string of newspaper websites. If you have a story please contact us on 0161 237 1066 or email [email protected]. We'd like to hear from you.