I'm finding it really hard to think of a perfect way to propose to my girlfriend. She is a nature kind of girl – she loves hiking, flowers and animals. Does anyone have ANY good ideas please?

I'll let you in on my own proposal, which turned out to be a huge success. Like your girlfriend, mine also loves nature and flowers (actually I don't know a girl who doesn't), and presenting her with a diamond ring in a normal, standard way, just wouldn't cut it. So I decided to do a flower themed kind of proposal. I went to one of our local nurseries and spoke to the manager beforehand. I told him I wanted to make it extra special for her and we came up with a wonderful idea. With his amazing help, we arranged to have potted red flowers that actually spelled out the words "Lucy, will you marry me?". We placed these arranged pots in the middle of the nursery, and threw some random yellow and white petals to disguise them (not to spoil the element of surprise). On the day of the proposal, I casually took Lucy for the nursery as we were in need of some new flowers for our garden. I've previously arranged with the manager so that we'll be alone when we walked in. There was soft romantic music playing in the background and the magical ambiance of the nursery really set the tone. On my cue, the fans were turned on to blow away the yellow petals and reveal the center arrangement of the red flowers. She was literally blown away when she saw what those flowered spelled out, and began to cry enthusiastically. I reached out for the diamond ring and presented it to her. She said yes and the rest belongs to history, as they say… Even today, she still talks about it and how special my proposal was. Honestly, I've never heard of anyone else proposing at a nursery so if you are looking for a romantic and original way to propose, this might be it my friend. I'm sure your girlfriend will like it because she loves nature and flowers! Good luck with everything.

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You say she loves animals, so maybe try to incorporate that into your wedding proposal to make it a bit more personal. I once saw someone pulling out his diamond engagement ring and proposing at a zoo, but I'm not sure it's the more romantic kind of option. Maybe you could take her to a rescued animal shelter to look at some puppies and point out at the most adorable puppy there. When she'll hold the puppy up to pet him, she'll realize that her diamond engagement ring is attached to the puppy's collar, and you could get down on one knee and propose like that. If you two actually own a pet of your own, then get your pet involved with your proposal! You could tie the diamond ring onto your pet's collar, or custom make a collar spelling out the words "will you marry me?". It will be cute to even get your pet a special sweater spelling out those words as well. If you have a fish bowl, then that's even better. You could throw a miniature chest in there and randomly ask her to fish it out and see what it is. When she'll open the chest she'll notice a note saying "from all the fish in the sea, you're the one and only for me!" and a diamond engagement ring attached. I'm sure that will do the trick!

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It will be really nice to propose to your girlfriend at the summit of a mountain you just climbed, because from what you described, she loves the outdoors and hiking. This way you could employ the help of some of God's most beautiful natural creations and enjoy an awe-inspiring view. Still, you have to make this proposal very romantic and you should prepare something special for her. Just off the top of my head, I'm thinking something like having 11 roses perfectly placed along your hiking trail at different points leading to the peak of the mountain. This way, when you reach the top of the mountain she'll want to know where is the last and 12th rose. At that precise moment, you should reach for your pocket and pull out the last rose, with your diamond engagement ring attached, drop down to one knee and ask her to marry you. She'll be absolutely thrilled and this will certainly be a story worth telling!

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