Top 40 best celebrity proposals

Celebs have cash, lots of support and are sometimes crazy so why not go all out on a proposal!

A normal person proposes to their partner: chooses a meaningful location, plays a romantic playlist, gets down on one knee, says a few sentences about how in love they are, and opens a ring box.
Celebrities proposing to their partners include: Charters a private jet, rents an entire island, commissions a drone (obviously for ring delivery), finds an elephant who would prefer to be removed from this story, and engages in some ritualistic blood drinking.

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All of these things have occurred during celebrity proposals, which are a truly unbeatable combination of dreamy, over-the-top, and, in some cases, slightly deranged.

Honestly, the only thing more extra than a celebrity wedding is a celebrity proposal, which is why we’ve rounded up 40 of our faves. Some are simple and sweet, a bunch were caught on camera for us to live through vicariously, several of them happened on stage in public, and at least half of them involve writing the words “will you marry me?” in sand due to the aforementioned private island of it all. Okay, that’s a slight exaggeration. But click through for our fave celebrity proposal moments from the likes of Kim and Kanye, Barack and Michelle, Orlando and Katy, Russell and Katy, Tom and Katie, Joshua and Jodie, and Kourtney and Travis. And obviously, we went ahead and included the most iconic proposal in recent memory: Megan Fox and Machine Gun Kelly, who drank each other’s blood, as ya do.

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1 Keleigh Sperry and Miles Teller

Miles proposed to Keleigh while they were on a fancy safari in Africa, which is already pretty iconic. But there was obviously a ~twist~.

Miles opened up about the moment during Live with Kelly and Ryan, saying, “I had our game guide early in the morning tie a rose to a tree, walked up to this nice scenic vista having coffee. She looked over and saw a rose and thought somebody had died. Which, whatever. I had the guy write a little note on there and it was the day that we first started dating, May 11, 2013, and then the day that it was that day. And I said, ‘This is the day you became my girlfriend and today was the last day you woke up as my girlfriend.'”

2 Ashley Greene and Paul Khoury

Paul proposed to legendary Twilight vampire Ashley Greene during a waterfall hike while they were on vacation in Australia and New Zealand, and the footage is beyond sweet. Thank the celebrity gods for Instagram.

3 Meghan Trainor and Daryl Sabara

Daryl proposed to Meghan on her 24th birthday “under a tunnel of beautiful Christmas lights” with all her family and friends around, and naturally it was all captured on video for us to watch on repeat.

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4 Megan Fox and Machine Gun Kelly

In July of 2020, these two sat under this banyan tree. They asked for magic, oblivious to the pain they would face together in such a short, frenetic period of time. Unaware of the work and sacrifices the relationship would require from them but intoxicated off of the love. And the karma.

Anyway, yeah, she said yes and then they drank each other’s blood, the end.

5 Ludacris and Eudoxie Agnan

Ludacris took Eudoxie on a private jet and legit projected “Eudoxie Will You Marry Me?” in blue lights on the ground. Like!!! BEYOND!!!!! As Luda put it, “She didn’t say yes, she said HELL YES.”

6 Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan Markle

Prince Harry proposed to Meghan in the sweetest, most laid back way, getting down on one knee during a cozy evening making chicken at their house (by which I mean palace cottage).

“It was just an amazing surprise. It was so sweet and natural and very romantic. He got on one knee,” Meghan said during a post-engagement interview. “As a matter of fact, I could barely let you finish proposing. I said, ‘Can I say yes now?'”

Harry also noted that it was just the two of them—but don’t worry, they did an official photo call to show off Meghan’s gorgeous ring, see?

7 Orlando Bloom and Katy Perry

Orlando, or as I still call him, Legolas, surprised Katy with a proposal on Valentine’s Day 2019, though apparently the moment didn’t go down flawlessly. Katy told Jimmy Kimmel that Orly tried to distract Katy with a note so he could grab the ring from his pocket.

“So I’m reading it, but I’m hearing like the champagne is broken, the bottle’s everywhere and I’m still looking at the note because he’s pulling at this box that’s too big for his coat pocket and rips his coat pocket, and his elbow goes into the champagne,” she said. “And I’m like, ‘No, I’m just reading the note. I know you’re not doing anything.'”

Perfect moment imho, and speaking of perfect THAT. RING.

8 Kat Dennings and Andrew W.K.

This one is extra cute because they both proposed at the exact same time. Kat told Drew Barrymore, “We had a special moment that makes me believe in magic. We were doing kissing, and we had, like, a shared feeling. I felt this intense…thing that I was like, ‘This is my person. This is it. I can’t live without him. This is the man I’m supposed to be with.’ And we looked at each other, and we both proposed at the same time.”

Yeah, that would have me believing in magic too.

9 David and Victoria Beckham

Posh and Becks checked into a hotel where Victoria was 1) given 30 roses, 2) taken to a room decorated with £200 worth of lilies, and 3) presented with room service and champagne. Which is when David popped the question. As Victoria put it during the press conference right after (lol), “I am the happiest girl on the world today. I’m with the man I know I’m going to grow old and wrinkly with.”

And she was right! (Minus the wrinkles.)

10 Jodie Turner-Smith and Joshua Jackson

Jodie proposed to Joshua during a trip to Nicaragua on New Year’s Eve. As Joshua told Refinery29, it was a “beautiful moonlit night” and the moment “could not possibly have been more romantic.” Dreamyyyyy.

11 Ariana Grande and Pete Davidson

Pete and Ariana had a truly wild romance, but Pete’s proposal was actually pretty chill. “We were in bed hanging, after watching a movie,” he told Variety. “I was like, ‘Will you marry me?’ It was really dope. I’m still convinced she’s blind or hit her head really hard. Something is going to happen, and she’s going to be like, ‘What the fuck is this thing doing around?'”

12 John Krasinski and Emily Blunt

These two aren’t exactly the type to put their engagement on Instagram (or to, like, even use Instagram), but we still know their proposal story! And it involved lots of tears.

“We were here in L.A. And there were unicorns and oceans and clouds,” John joked to Access Hollywood, adding “She said yes! It was very casual.”

“I was nervous and the whole nine yards,” he added. “She did cry after I cried and we cried and then everyone around us was crying. Then, I think people weren’t really sure what was going on, but they were crying because we were crying. But it was great. At the end of the day she said yes which is great. It’s a big part of this whole thing.”

13 Eva Longoria and José Bastón

José popped the question in the middle of the desert while they were visiting Dubai, and as you can tell from this picture, it was completely magical.

While talking about her wedding plans on Today, Eva said, “I’m still in the glow of engagement, and it was such a surprise. It was in Dubai and it was in the desert. We’re still absorbing that moment. I’m still applauding him for how beautiful and amazing it was, and then we’ll talk about the big fat Mexican wedding.”

14 Josh Duhamel and Audra Mari

Dude literally put a message in a bottle and had her find it. Can’t beat it.

15 Michelle and Barack Obama

Ever wonder how Barack proposed to Michelle? Prepare your emotions, because she wrote about it in her book and ummmm….It’s best described as perfection.

These two were at their fave Chicago restaurant when Barack said “he still didn’t really see the point” of marriage. Michelle was unimpressed, and they had a full blown back and forth about it until Barack surprised her with a ring.

“Eventually, our waiter came around holding a dessert plate, covered by a silver lid. He slid it in front of me and lifted the cover,” Michelle said. “I was almost too miffed to even look down, but when I did, I saw a dark velvet box where the chocolate cake was supposed to be. Inside was a diamond ring.”

“Barack looked at me playfully,” she added. “He’d baited me. It had all been a ruse. It took me a second to dismantle my anger and slide into joyful shock. He’d riled me up because this was the very last time he would invoke his inane marriage argument, ever again, as long as we both should live.” Then he dropped to one knee and proposed.

16 Marc Jacobs and Char Defrancesco

Important: Marc Jacobs proposed to Char Defrancesco in a Chipotle with a flash mob dancing to Prince. That! Is! ALL!

17 Jordan Rodgers and JoJo Fletcher

Jordan Rodgers proposed to former Bachelorette JoJo Fletcher for the second time, just the two of them (as in, no ABC cameras!), and after a ton of things went wrong—his flight was delayed, the ring almost didn’t show up, ya known, the usual drama—she said yes! Then they got what might be the cutest video of all time?

18 Devon Windsor and Johnny Dex

Johnny pulled out alllllll the stops for this one, taking Devon on a private plane ride with a view of “Marry Me?” written on the sand. Naturally, she said yes, writing on Insta at the time “When you think you’re flying into a photoshoot and then you look down and see this…. This was the best day of my life and I cannot wait to marry the best person in the whole universe! I’m the luckiest woman in the world!”

Honestly, my biggest takeaway from this is I need a beach vacation. That view!

19 Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck

Ben proposed to J.Lo (for the second time!) while she was having a relaxing bubble bath at home.

“Did you ever imagine your biggest dream could come true?” she wrote on her blog. “Saturday night while at my favorite place on earth (in the bubble bath), my beautiful love got on one knee and proposed. I was taken totally off guard and just looked in his eyes smiling and crying at the same time trying hard to get my head around the fact that after 20 years, this was happening all over again. I was quite literally speechless and he said, ‘Is that a yes?’ I said, ‘YES, of course that’s a YES.'”

Kay but when are they gonna make another music video together?

20 Serena Williams and Alexis Ohanian

Serena actually announced the news of her engagement via a poem on her verified Reddit account, and yes, we found it:

“I came home / A little late / Someone had a bag packed for me / And a carriage awaited / Destination: Rome / To escort me to my very own “charming” / Back to where our stars first collided / And now it was full circle / At the same table we first met by chance / This time he made it not by chance / But by choice / Down on one knee / He said 4 words And r/isaidyes”

SHAKESPEARE WHO? Never heard of him.

21 Wells Adams and Sarah Hyland

Wells and Sarah had a romantic beach proposal straight outta Bachelor in Paradise, and, naturally, Wells had a camera there to capture it. I mean, you don’t work for Bachelor Nation and not walk away with a PhD in Content Creation. Watch the video to see Wells get down on one knee during the couples’ tropical vacation.

22 Neil Patrick Harris and David Burtka

Gonna go ahead and let NPH tell the story, because not sure anything tops his own words from Out magazine:

“David first proposed to me five years ago on the actual street corner where we met. We were on our way to an event at an Indian casino 45 minutes out of town in a limousine, and David wanted to stop for some reason that I didn’t quite get. I thought he wanted to get some booze or something. And then he got on one knee and proposed, and I was so freaked out by it that I said, ‘Yes,’ but I didn’t know what it meant. Then I got the ring and loved it, and a year later, on Valentine’s Day, I proposed to him in Santa Monica. That was four years ago.”

23 George and Amal Clooney

This one happened behind closed doors, but, thankfully, George told the entire story during an interview. And it all started with a pasta dinner, as every good story does.

“Over champagne, after dinner, I told her there was a lighter to light the candle in the drawer, and she reached back and pulled out a ring,”. “And I did all the stuff, got down on my knee and did all the things you’re supposed to do.” But it took Amal a moment to say yes, and according to George “she just kept staring at the ring, going, ‘Oh, my God.’ It was 20 minutes of me on my knee, waiting for her to say yes, because she was so shocked.”

Literally would have taken me two seconds, but okay!

24 Heidi Klum and Seal

Seal legit had an an entire igloo made for Heidi in the Canadian Rockies, and proposed to her inside it. “[Seal] took me by helicopter,”. “He had an igloo built there, and they’d brought up everything: a bed with sheets inside the igloo, rose petals everywhere, candles. Very, very romantic! There was food and champagne, and then the helicopter left. It was a little scary, too, because you’re so cut off from the world. No trees, nothing—it was hardcore. But I was ecstatic.”

Pretty sure nothing tops this one, but we still have a bunch left to get through.

25 Kris Humphries and Kim Kardashian

Kris proposed to Kim in her bedroom because he wanted it to be simple ~ like their love ~ but get this. Legend has it she made him re-do the proposal to get a better reaction for cameras.

“I remember, like, Kim—she didn’t know he was going to propose at that moment, and she came in and she was completely surprised, and I think she had a bad reaction or something and she was embarrassed,” a show producer revealed. “So she said can we just, like, have me come back in one more time and be, like, really surprised. Because she had no idea it was going to happen. It was in her bedroom.”

26 Kim Kardashian and Kanye West

Kim was also proposed to by Kanye West, who closed down AT&T Park in San Francisco and popped the question in front of Kim’s entire family with a full blown orchestra playing her favorite Lana Del Rey song. Amazingly, this isn’t even the most OTT romantic thing he did during their ‘ship.

Pink proposed to her husband Carey Hart at the Pro 250 finals by holding up a sign that said “Will You Marry Me?” as he entered his third lap. Naturally, he pulled over and said yes!

27 Offset and Cardi B

Offset proposed to Cardi B while they were on stage performing together in a moment that was (thankfully bc cute) caught on camera. Literally never seen someone more excited than Cardi in this moment!

28 Pink and Carey Hart

Pink proposed to her husband Carey Hart at the Pro 250 finals by holding up a sign that said “Will You Marry Me?” as he entered his third lap. Naturally, he pulled over and said yes!

29 Kourtney Kardashian and Travis Barker

In a moment straight out of a horny Hot Topic-themed romance novel, Travis took Kourtney to her favorite beachside hotel in Montecito, where they stood in the middle of heart-shaped roses and he proposed. The only thing more romantic? Their Italian wedding.

30 Idris Elba and Sabrina Dhowre

Idris proposed to Sabrina in public at a movie screening!

“It was like two days before Valentine’s and I had this ring in my pocket, it was burning a hole,” he told Ellen. “And then Valentine’s came and she had to fly somewhere, so there was a likelihood I wasn’t going to see her on Valentine’s Day. So I made this movie, and Sab was on the set every day. She knew the whole crew. So at the screening, it was a private screening for the cast and crew, and I just dropped to one knee. It was very nerve-wracking.”

Don’t worry there’s a video in case you’re in the mood to tear up right now.

31 Judge Judy and Jerry Sheindlin

Judge Judy asked her husband Jerry Sheindlin to marry her after he initially wouldn’t commit. As Judy told DuJour, she pulled out her date book and “cornered him.”

“I did propose to him,” Judy told the magazine. “I said to him, ‘Where is this relationship going?’ And he tried to weasel out of it, with his, ‘Well, you know, why do we have to get married?’ Whatever. He finally capitulated. I told him to pick a date. He picked Flag Day.”

32 Sophia Bush and Grant Hughes

I mean…Can’t beat a proposal on a boat in the middle of Lake Como, huh?

33 Katy Perry and Russell Brand

Russell proposed to Katy while they were on holiday in India, and he went all out. “He had organized a special dining experience. We set a table in a garden with candles everywhere,” a hotel staffer said. “They arrived in a horse and carriage with a glass of champagne and we served them dinner.”

But wait, there’s more: “At midnight they enjoyed fireworks while sitting on an elephant, which Mr. Brand specially requested. Then they were taken to the Mughal Garden — which was decorated by flowers and candlelight.”

34 Sofia Vergara and Joe Manganiello

Joe proposed to Sofia over Christmas while vacationing in Hawaii, and it ended up being perfect—despite not going according to plan.

“I had to do it indoors because the island was infested with paparazzi,” Joe revealed. “I wanted to do it on the beach but I couldn’t; I had to do it inside, which was fine. We had this big bay window and the sun was going down pink over the mountains and over the bay, and I had this ring. I had looked at every ring in the world, and this is the ring that I wanted. I had a whole speech prepared in Spanish. I proposed to her on one knee in Spanish with the sun going down. It was awesome.”

35 Russell Wilson and Ciara

Russell surprised Ciara with a game of “travel roulette” (how do I sign up) and they ended up at an exclusive resort in the Seychelles. He then proposed on (aptly-named) Honeymoon Beach, and as you can tell from this cute video, she was thrilled.

36 Samira Wiley and Lauren Morelli

Lauren proposed to Samira during a vacation in Palm Springs, and it was a total surprise.

“We’d planned this weekend in Palm Springs. I’m pretty laid-back; if it’s five in the afternoon and Lauren wants to beat the traffic, I’m just hanging around,” Samira told The Knot. “That day, I wanted to be good and get my packing done. She got home and was just not ready to go, and I was confused.”

Lauren ended up pulling out a ring hidden behind the couch. “I was crying uncontrollably and kept backing away from her. I asked her after, ‘Who knows about this?’ and she said, ‘Oh, everyone. Your parents know.'”

37 Jasmine Tookes and Juan David Borrero

You are not ready for this story. First, Juan surprised Jasmine with a surprise trip and her fave food. “He knows me so well that he had Popeye’s catered—I was in heaven!—so we ate chicken tenders and drank champagne until we landed in Page, Arizona,” she told Vogue. “Then we hopped on a helicopter which flew us to the most beautiful, otherworldly-like secluded place in the middle of the desert rocks in Utah. It was just us.”

But wait it gets better: “Shortly after that, he escorted me to a lookout above where we were sitting and on the ground was a bunch of rocks which spelled out WYMM? At first glance, I didn’t know what this meant, but it immediately dawned on me that it meant ‘Will you marry me?'”

!!!!!! But wait, not done yet:

“As I was processing this, I heard a drone flying from above which had a string hanging from it with a small black pouch below. This is how the ring was delivered to him. As the drone approached, he reached into the pouch pulled out the box and went on one knee. I was in complete disbelief and immediately burst into tears because this was something I did not expect. After lots of happy tears, I obviously said yes, and this was honestly the best day I could’ve ever imagined. We are very excited and looking forward to a future filled with lots of love and happiness.”

Kay, sorry Seal, this might actually be the most over-the-top celeb proposal of all time.

38 Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes

Tom popped the question to Katie at the Eiffel Tower after midnight, and then did what any normal person would do: held a press conference! “Yes, I proposed to her.… It was early this morning at the Eiffel Tower, so I haven’t slept at all,” Tom mused. “Today is a magnificent day for me, I’m engaged to a magnificent woman.”

39 Diane von Furstenberg and Barry Diller

Prepare for a truly legendary story. DVF turned down Barry multiple times over the years, but it all changed one day when they saw an old couple crossing the street. “The man was protecting his wife as they walked,” she told Oprah. “And we both thought the same thing: that we wanted to be that couple someday. We said it to each other right then.”

DVF added that, “One year I didn’t know what to give him for his birthday, and I called him and said, ‘You know, if you want, for your birthday I’ll marry you.'” His response? “Let me see if I can arrange it.”

They got married a week later at City Hall and he gave her 26 rings—one for each year they weren’t married. 😳

40 Matthew McConaughey and Camila Alves

Another Christmas proposal coming atcha. Only, Camila almost didn’t say yes!

“At Christmastime, we go around our family and everyone takes turns opening presents,” Matthew told Jay Leno re his proposal. “So I had wrapped the engagement ring in about eight different boxes deep, so she would keep opening boxes to get with it. We finally got to her, and I’m calling my family over … She gets to it, she opens it up, her eyes go wide. I take a knee and I ask her, ‘Will you marry me and take my name?’ The first words out of her mouth were not yes. I’m not gonna say what it was. But I did say, ‘Look, I’m down on a knee. I’ll stay here awhile. I will outlast you.’ And I did! She conceded.”

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