Tying the knot is one of those unique occasions that is planned out to the finest detail, from the flavor of icing on the cake to number of flower petals in each bridesmaid’s hair.  Okay, some folks plan a little too many details, but regardless, weddings are typically one of the most highly coordinated events in human nature.

Thus, it would come to no surprise that the Age of Information has prompted brides & grooms to hop online to plan what could be the biggest day of their entire lives. Particularly in the United States, where individualism & independence run strong, calling on a wedding planner or an agency to take care of all the details has fallen on the wayside.   Thanks to the web, planning a wedding doesn’t have to be an outsourced job anymore.

These days, the wealth of information available on the Internet has brides-to-be eagerly surfing for their wedding planning needs.  Every vendor is out there trying to reach out to potential customers, but with the resources so vast, it can be really difficult to find the ideal wedding vendor for your needs.

That’s where Strictly Weddings, a new site for Dallas weddings, takes a different approach to online wedding planning, by simplifying the search.  At Strictly Weddings they use a long list of specific criteria and tap into local wedding experts to pick the top three vendors for each of the 21 categories on the site.  The end result is an easier site to navigate and pick vendors, a vast difference from competitors like TheKnot.com & MyWedding.com, which feature hundreds of vendors all dying for your attention.   Strictly Weddings will soon open in Chicago, New York and LA, bringing its unique approach to a national scale.

Being that approximately $75 billion dollars are spent on weddings alone each year in the States, this is an industry that is certainly alive and well.  Plus, with the 21st century’s total embrace with social marketing, sharing ideas and advice has never been easier.  Wedding planning is no exception, and sites like Strictly Weddings show through their blog and “ask us” section that the online discussion between brides is a highly valued resource for coordinating a wedding.  After all, the best way to plan an event as important as a wedding is to learn from other’s mistakes, and hope for the best.

So the day is coming, you are preparing yourself to ask that one special person to be your partner for life. This is it! This is the moment they will remember forever when they think back on their marriage; the all important proposal! You want this to be a special, magical and romantic marriage proposal. So what are the options? How can you make this day one to remember and blow her away with your ingenuity and charm? Well looking through lists of other peoples romantic marriage proposals is not going to give you something original and unique is it. You need to go deeper than that and create something special for just the two of you and using these 5 marriage proposal tips you can find that perfect idea!1. Know your partner!

This should be obvious but it seems so many people completely ignore who their partner is and what drives them. If you are going to be married you need to know this person deeply. Doing something clichéd, inappropriate or too left field is just not going to be memorable. Some great ideas can still be great ideas but they might be for a different person not your partner to be! Make sure this is for your partner … not for you!2. Money is not that important!

While an elaborate schemes and expensive settings can involve vast sums of money that is not what is important. Just hiring limos, paying for expensive meals or something along those lines will not impress a woman as much as something that comes from the heart and is original and has meaning between the two of you. While your proposal might involve lots of money make sure it is money spent doing the right things and remember that a great proposal can be done very cheaply!3. Be unique!

While most things under the sun have been done it is best not to do something so overdone it is now a cliché like the ring in the champagne glass or something similar. Also do not copy something that your partner will know has been done before that is just common sense. Even if you do want something traditional or are using an idea you have read about make sure there is a twist in it to set it apart and always remember rule number one!4. Be creative!

Remember when you were a kid and you made that card for your mother out of stuff from around the house and it was the best damned card she ever got and keeps reminding you of it? That is not just a mothers love it is a genuine show of appreciation for making something with your own talents and most of all with your love. The same can apply to your marriage proposal because something that you have created be it a situation or something solid the fact you created it just for them from your own wits and hands is more important.5. Don’t get carried away!

There is a temptation in all this to go so overboard with ideas that the entire affair can be just too much. Also the more complicated something is the more chance things will go wrong. Just as money is not the most important thing neither is complexity! A simple idea done well and with love can be much more effective than an amazing theatrical show!

So there are the 5 tips to make a great romantic marriage proposal! Were you expecting great stories of romantic marriage proposals you could get inspiration from maybe? Well there are plenty of sites that do that but if you really want to impress your significant other you need to make sure the core of your idea follows these 5 steps! Good luck!