Another Top 10 Movie Marriage Proposals

What better way to show your love than with a midflight serenade? Adam Sandler shows us his softer side as wedding singer Robbie in this classic 80s throwback, as he falls for the equally sweet waitress Julia, played by Drew Barrymore. When Julia boards a plane to reluctanly marry her awful fiancé Glenn, Robbie puts together an impromptu performance, with the help of a few sympathetic passengers (Billy Idol). While he never officially pops the question, it’s clear from the lyrics of Robbie’s song, and the tears in Julia’s eyes, that they’re pretty much engaged at that point, and the next scene is the happy couple walking down the aisle.

Charlotte Brontë’s 1847 novel “Jane Eyre” is one of the most highly regarded works of English literature in history, and also contains a unique and heartrending romantic storyline. This classic tale has been retold on-screen countless times, but the 2011 film starring Mia Wasikowska and Michael Fassbender as Jane and Mr. Rochester perfectly adapts the book’s proposal scene. The script takes many lines from the book word for word, including Rochester’s monologue about the string in his chest binding him to Jane. Their love story may not be a conventional one, but it is certainly one for the ages, building up to an unforgettable proposal.

This underrated film from the director of “Love Actually” tells the story of a young man who learns that he has the ability to travel through time - or at least through his own lifetime. That means he can fix mistakes that he has made by going back and reliving moments again. Tim, played by Domhnall Gleeson, uses this power to make sure his proposal to the woman of his dreams, Mary, is just right - though their ensuing wedding is practically perfect in just how terribly it goes.

Audrey Niffenegger’s hit novel, “The Time Traveler's Wife,” features one of the most bittersweet love stories we’ve ever read. When we found out it was being turned into a movie, we knew it was going to be a tear jerker. The story is about a man, Henry, who unwillingly time travels, and his relationship with the woman who will eventually become his wife. Henry sweetly slips a diamond ring onto her finger and her initial reaction is to blurt out “no,” just to prove that she even can, though her life is already predestined.

This creative retelling of the well-worn Cinderella story is one of our favorite 90s romances, featuring one of our favorite movie proposals. Drew Barrymore plays Danielle in “Ever After,” and takes on the role of a real world Cinderella. This proposal is great because at this point in the story Danielle thinks that she has disappointed her prince by hiding her real identity from him, so she is just as surprised as the audience is when he gets down on one knee and tenderly places her shoe on her foot, asking for her hand in marriage.

This movie stands out on our list for not being a conventionally romantic movie, and definitely not being a conventional proposal. 2016’s “Deadpool” is above all else an action film, but behind all the witty jokes and special effects is a simple romance between Wade and Vanessa. These two are far from sappy, so we could have guessed that there wouldn’t be a standard scene where someone gets down on one knee with a diamond ring. The alternative is laugh out loud funny, and definitely not PG.

Jane Austen adaptations abound in cinema and television, and while the “Pride & Prejudice” proposal scene may more well known (it was listed as #1 on our original list), there is something magical about the sweet simplicity of this scene from “Emma.” Gwyneth Paltrow plays the titular character who is a proud matchmaker that spends much of the story arranging love connections for those around her. It takes her until the end of the movie to realize who it is that she wants to be with, but when she does the timing is just right.

Most of the proposals on our list take place between a film’s two romantic leads, but even though this one features “the other guy,” it’s so cute that it had to have a place. Sarah and Jonathan are meant to be together, but while fate is keeping them apart, Sarah has a relationship with Lars, a new-age musician. While his character is pretty cringe-worthy for much of the film, he manages to surprise Sarah with a proposal that anyone would be jealous of. Even though they didn’t end up together, we still think of this one fondly.

Even though “Leap Year” is a movie all about the concept of women having a chance to propose to men, it still manages to give us a traditional proposal at the end. After Anna travels around Ireland hoping to propose to her longtime boyfriend on Leap Day, she realizes that maybe they weren’t meant to be after all. She ultimately decides that she wants to be with Declan, the man who helped her while she was there. She goes back to his pub to ask him to be together, and he doesn’t give her an answer. He finds her later on, though, and offers her his mother’s Claddagh ring, and his hand in marriage.

Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.
I Know What Love Is
“Forrest Gump” (1994)

Casual Proposal
“High Fidelity” (2000)

2003’s “Big Fish” is all about parsing the difference between fantasy and reality, so it goes without saying that the proposal in this film is the stuff of dreams. Edward falls in love with a woman he barely knows, and proposes to her several times to no avail. After finding out that her favorite flowers are daffodils, he collects thousands and thousands of them and places them all outside her house. This grand romantic gesture seals the deal and convinces her to break off her engagement with her fiancé.