The Cutest Christmas and New Year's Proposals Ever

Brides shared their holiday proposal stories with us, and each one beautifully represents the spirit of the season. If you're thinking of proposing this season, get inspired by the adorable engagements that made these couples' holidays even brighter!

Kirsten and Jordan
"When I first walked into our apartment, I noticed that all of the lights were off and there were candles all over the apartment illuminating an aisle of red rose petals leading towards our Christmas tree. Jordan was standing by the tree with glasses of Champagne for me and him. He said that he knew we had a lot of holiday events that we had to attend over the next few days and he wanted to make sure that we got a few minutes to enjoy the Christmas holiday, and he wanted to give me my present early. He then proceeded to hand me a present, which I unwrapped and noticed that it was an ornament box. I opened the box and saw that it was an engagement ring ornament with the words, 'Will you marry me,' and on top was my grandmother’s wedding ring. Obviously, I started crying and noticed that Jordan was already on his knee. He grabbed my hand and told me how much he loved me and always wanted to wake up and go to sleep by my side. From there, we went to my parents' house where I was surprised with a mini-engagement party with our two families. It was such an amazing night."

Laura and Jeremy
"We had just returned from a Caribbean cruise and went to pick our Christmas tree from a lot. Jeremy kept leading me around asking what I thought of each tree, but it had started to rain, and I just wanted to get the first tree I saw! I said, ‘Can’t we just get this one?’ and he said, ‘We should see how it looks with an ornament on it.’ He pulled out a wooden decoration in the shape of a ring box that said, ‘Will you marry me?’ And then he knelt down in the mud and proposed.”

Stephanie and Carey
"It was the day after Christmas 2011. My mother had been a bit under the weather during Christmas the day before, so we decided to give gifts on the 26th. As my mother and I sat downstairs eating and chatting, in saunters Carey. He was wearing his 'fancy jeans' along with a white button-down shirt, a navy V-neck sweater, and a fresh shave. My mother and I both looked at him as though to say, 'Where are you off to this morning, Fancy Guy?' Needless to say, he looked a lot more put together for gift opening than my mother and me!

We decided to congregate in the lounge to exchange gifts. As I was standing by the back garden door, I noticed Carey starting to rise from his perch on the ottoman nearby. He cleared his throat several times and began with, 'I actually have one more gift for you… one that I’ve kept hidden.' I was thinking in my head that he had gotten me the bracelet I wanted. Even as he pulled the ring box out of his pocket and proceeded to lower down onto one knee, I still kept thinking, That’s a pretty small box for a bracelet. It wasn’t until he opened the box and started with his prepared speech (which I can’t remember a word of) that I truly figured out what was happening. At that point I lost all concept of reality. It’s strange how being proposed to can turn even the most snarky, sarcastic individuals into romantic lumps of mush. Once I tuned back in from my hyper-romantic fish bowl moment where nothing seemed real, all I could hear was my mother’s voice screaming, 'Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God!' All I could think was, Oh my God, what is my mother doing here?! It was a very heartfelt and intimate moment for the three of us!"

Mara and Mark 
"Mark proposed on December 31, 2009. We were on a plane flying from the U.S. to Montreal for the holiday and as the plane crossed the U.S./Canada border, Mark got down on one knee in the aisle! When we landed, a limo picked us up and took us to our hotel where our parents had also flown in to meet us for dinner – I had no idea!"

Megan and Dan
"[While vacationing in Park City, Utah], we arrived at the Stein Eriksen Lodge early for a New Year's Eve dinner reservation and had a glass of wine in the beautiful lobby. Danny looked outside and noticed that they were running beautiful sleigh rides up the mountain. He suggested that we take one. So we hopped on the one-horse open sleigh and rode up the mountain. It was so beautiful and festive, and I thought it was my best New Year's ever. Then on the way back down the mountain, the sleigh driver stopped the sleigh and said that if we walked to the side of the mountain we could get a good view for a picture with the city in the background. So we did. Then all of a sudden, Danny was down on one knee asking me to marry him! We laughed and cried in the snow for about 15 minutes. When we came back to the sleigh, the driver pulled out a bottle of Champagne! Everyone was in on it except me!"

Tiffany and Derek 
"It was New Year’s Eve and we had plans to go to dinner with our friends. Derek insisted that we be ready well before our scheduled double date. I could sense that Derek was serious this time about my usual getting-ready dalliances, so I decided to prove him wrong and was in fact ready at the requested time. While wrapping up my glamour routine, I went to the bathroom to grab something. When I returned, on our dining room table was a very elegantly wrapped shopping bag and present. I looked at the lovely gift, unwrapped the layers of wrapping, ribbon, and tissue paper and was surprised to see a very inviting-looking clutch. So inviting that I had to open the purse and to my surprise, found an engagement ring! So with New Year’s Eve with Carson Daly on in the background, I said yes and we were engaged!"

Caroline and Robert
"It was Christmas Eve and we just had our son the month before. Robert is very adamant about not opening gifts until Christmas morning, but for some reason he took our son and me to the tree and made me open a few gifts – the last one being the ring. At first I had assumed he was just presenting me with jewelry; then, he took our son and asked me to marry them."

Devon and Randy
"On New Year's 2013, we had some friends over for a party. Right after we rang in the New Year, Randy gathered everyone outside and proposed to me on the bench on our back porch – the same bench where he first told me he loved me. It was so perfect and romantic, and I loved that all our friends were there and they all filmed it for us!"

Samantha and Nate
"It took place December 23, 2006 on the rooftop of Stella’s Fish Café and Prestige Oyster Bar in Uptown Minneapolis. Nate decided to propose around Christmastime, since Christmas is my favorite holiday and time of year. Not to mention, I love snow! He had the restaurant open the rooftop for the proposal – and had cleared a path in the snow, lined with candles. There was a table set up in the corner of the rooftop (a bar in the warm months), set with a white linen tablecloth, one rose, and a candle. The table overlooked the area where Beer Fest had been held (where we first met!) and all the Christmas lights adorning the trees in Uptown."

For more engagement stories, discover how these grooms asked permission to propose, read these heart-melting proposal stories from our Facebook followers, and see how these grooms decided to pop the question! Shopping for an engagement ring? Read this first.