Traditionally, the man needs to request permission before proposing. Engagement ring proposals can vary greatly from couple to couple. Some can be very traditional and others are much more memorable. You can find a lot of links for engagement stories on the internet that others have shared; and you can get ideas for your own proposal if you are unsure how you want to go about it.

Once a man decides to propose to his girlfriend, it is traditional for him to ask permission or request the blessing from her parents or guardians. This dates back to times when parents and guardians were solely responsible for marrying off their daughters regardless of who they preferred to marry. It was all about marrying their daughters into the best families - especially in the upper class and aristocracy. Now, however, it is more of an acknowledgement on the man's part that he includes the parents in on the engagement.

If you are looking for ideas or suggestions on how to propose there are a lot of resources available where couples have posted their personal engagement stories. Women love to brag about how they were proposed to and the stories vary from person to person; some are funny others are very straight-forward. You can find these stories that many have posted in blogs or forums by visiting:

• How I Got Engaged
• A Diamond is Forever
• Dear Sugar
• Wedding Channel
• Mill's Jewelers

When it comes to proposing you can get as creative as you want and be as personal or public as you wan to make it. Either way, the proposal will be very memorable to both parties involved. If you decide to make the proposal in a fun manner, you could set up a sort of scavenger hunt where your soon-to-be fiancée has to find the ring before you can propose to her. If you want to make a public proposal you have a lot of options available to you such as "advertising" your proposal on a billboard sign or at a sporting event over the PA system. And if you want a more personal proposal to plan you could consider a romantic dinner or a night at home.

There are a lot of traditions and clichés that revolve around proposals and engagements. It's traditional to first ask for permission from the parents and to ask while on bended knee. But you can be unique and propose in a manner that suits you and you are comfortable with. Anyway that you propose, you can be assured that the proposal will be memorable and talked about by your future fiancée.