Occasion
Make a proposal website, with a Yes button
A proposal website is not a replacement for asking in person. It is the thing you hand them afterwards, or the thing you put on their phone the morning of, or, for long distance couples, the way you ask when you cannot be in the same room. It holds the part a single question cannot.
The Question template opens as an envelope that bursts into flowers, then asks 'Will you marry me?' with a Yes button and a No button that runs away from their thumb. You add up to three photos and a short note. When they tap Yes, a heart of flowers fills the screen and you get an email.
Decide what the page is for before you build it
There are three honest uses. One: the page is the proposal, for a couple who are apart. Two: the page is the moment, sent just before you ask in person, so they walk in already smiling. Three: the page is the keepsake, opened afterwards, with the photos from the day. Each wants a slightly different note. If it is the proposal itself, say everything you would have said. If it is the moment, say very little. If it is the keepsake, write it for the version of them who is reading it in ten years.
Choose your three photos like evidence
The page holds up to three photos, which forces the right kind of editing. Pick one from early on, when you were still working each other out. Pick one from somewhere in the middle, an ordinary day that turned out to matter. And pick one from recently, when you knew. They do not need to be good photos. They need to be yours. Three photos and a few words in the note read as a story; thirty would read as a slideshow.
The question, set up properly
'Will you marry me?' is one of the ready-made questions, and you can write your own, up to 80 characters. After Yes they see one more line, up to 60 characters. This is the line to spend time on, because it is the first thing they read as someone who has just said yes. 'See you at the airport at 6' or 'Look out of the window' beats 'You made me the happiest'. The No button runs away on its own, so you do not have to explain the joke. It is a gag about asking, not a trick: if the answer is no, they just do not press Yes.
Write the note you will want to have said
The note is short, a few lines, so write the part that matters and trust the photos with the rest. Say when you knew. Say one specific thing you want to keep doing together. Say it plainly, the way you would if you were sitting on the couch, not the way you would on a stage. Read it out loud: if your voice goes tight in a good way, keep it. If it sounds like a card, cut it down to the one sentence that does not. They read it after the heart of flowers, so you do not need to hurry to the point.
What happens when they say yes
When they tap Yes, a heart of flowers fills their screen, and you get an email at once, wherever you are. You do not have to watch their phone. At the end of the page is a reply box, so they can write something back in their own time, and you get an email for that too. Preview the whole thing on your own phone first, since it is free. Publishing is $9.99, once, and the link works forever, so the page you asked on is the page you can both open on your anniversary.
Questions
Related pages
Start with The Question
Starts as The Question, filled in for you. Add your photos and words, preview it for free.
Start with this template