Fireworks, sunsets, romantic music… No, the success of a marriage proposal does not depend on the size of the bouquet or the size of the budget. Far from it.
For years, we believed that to make your partner melt, you had to pull out all the stops: a deserted beach, a hidden photographer, a drone ready to immortalize the scene. But Destify, an agency specializing in weddings, decided to check whether these spectacular moments were the most effective. To do this, she analyzed thousands of engagement stories published on Reddit between 2020 and 2025. The objective: to understand which contexts most often gave rise to a positive response. Result: 23.7% of the happy engagement stories studied took place in a place that was both banal and essential.
This observation is consistent with a broader trend observed for several years: public marriage proposals are losing ground. According to researcher Lisa Hoplock “only 15% of women really want a public proposal”. She also points out that a marriage proposal made in front of witnesses is twice as likely to be rejected as a private proposal. However, in 2017, a survey by The Knot showed that 45% of proposals were still made in public, and a WeddingWire report indicated that 26% of suitors invited their significant others to witness the scene. This desire to make a spectacle of it seems to have lost its appeal, even its effectiveness.
Concretely, a successful marriage proposal does not need an unusual decor. It depends on the sincerity of the moment and the mutual knowledge of the two partners. Maybe after all, the perfect place is the one where we laugh without forcing ourselves, where we share an impromptu meal, where we talk about everything and nothing. The Destify study also confirms this statement, demonstrating that the most conducive place to say “yes” is none other than at home. In comparison, nature only comes in at 18.4%, the beach at 12.4%, the restaurant at 5.6% and the mountains at 3.9%.
Note that experts agree on one point: the best marriage proposals are those that arise from real complicity, not from a pre-written scenario. Before even thinking about the moment or the staging, couples would benefit from discussing how each one imagines this moment. This ensures that the intention is shared and that the gesture will be well received. And then, nothing prevents romance, even at home: a candlelit dinner, a beautiful speech that comes from the heart is enough to make this moment unique and unforgettable.
