These days the typical, on one knee, at dinner, proposal isn’t always what women are looking for. A more unorthodox approach is not only welcomed, but often expected. Here’s a look at some of the most outrageous marriage proposals that may help you rediscover what Michael Bolton truly meant when he graced us with his interpretation of “When a Man Loves a Woman.”

Baby, You Make Me Feel Weightless! Alexander & Graciela Loucopoulos Alex wanted to give his space cadet, soul mate Graciela a very special birthday gift, so he booked a Boeing 727 aircraft to take them on a zero-gravity adventure. The aircraft is designed to fly up to 35,000 feet and then nose dive to 24,000, giving thrill seekers a chance to experience a near-zero-gravity effect. As they floated around the cabin in weightless delight, Alex popped the question. He was worried that the ring might float away during the dive, but all went as planned. Graciela is possibly the only woman in the world who can say she got engaged at zero gravity. The couple plan on spending their ten year anniversary in orbit.

“If I Call You Cortana, Can I Be Your Masterchief?” Moviesign & Furtive Penguin On November 3, 2007 Moviesign (his username) made a Forge map in Halo® 3, and set up what his girlfriend of over two years (Furtive Penguin) thought was going to be a two-on-two match with his friends. After they started the game, Moviesign led Furtive Penguin to a spot where he claimed he’d left an energy sword. Instead there was a nice top-down view where he had spelled out a proposal using weapons. He then asked her to be his teammate for life. Furtive Penguin and Moviesign recently moved from Indianapolis to Chicago where she (Penguin) is a copyeditor and he (Movie) is a graphic designer. They haven’t set a wedding date yet. As Furtive Penguin said, “We’re waiting to see what the release date is for the next Halo game. We don’t want any conflicts.”

I Know You Love Writers, So I Wrote You a Book Cameron & Angie Kelly Cameron wrote and published a 113 page book, 50 Reasons Why You Should Marry Me and 51 Reasons Why I Should Marry You. The book included pictures and reasons such as, “I always clean the bathroom,” and “I’m a great spooner.” He gave her the book on Valentine’s Day while they enjoyed breakfast together. She said yes!

No Diamonds, Only Bejeweles Bernie Peng & Tammy Li Once Bernie and Tammy began discussing marriage, he became determined to find a creative way to propose. Tammy, who doesn’t consider herself a video game lover, happens to be a fan of Bejeweled. Bernie, a financial software programmer, spent a month reprogramming the popluar video game, Bejeweled, to propose to Tammy. On December 22, Bernie told Tammy he had found something for her and presented the game. She played the game until she hit a score that triggered a digital pink sapphire ring and a marriage proposal. Don’t worry, Bernie did give her an identical ring that she could actually wear. The makers of Bejeweled were so impressed by Bernie they offered to pay for part of the wedding. PopCap is providing over 200 copies of “Bejeweled 2 Deluxe” as wedding favors for the guests and are throwing in $1,000 for decorations to give the wedding a jewel theme. They are also flying the couple to Seattle for part of their honeymoon. She said yes!

Come on Baby Light My Fire Todd & Malissa Grannis Todd has some very interesting friends. One in particular was well-known stunt man Eric Barkley, who’s done many human-torch fire jumps. Todd devised a plan to not only entertain family and friends at their annual 4th of July family reunion, but to surprise his girlfriend, Malissa, with a red hot proposal. With Eric’s help, Todd set up a stunt to launch himself off a platform above a swimming pool while completely engulfed in flames. Eric dressed him in the appropriate fire-retardant attire, flaming cape and all. Todd’s family was in on his proposal plans and the entire event was kept secret until sunset. As Todd stood ready to jump, Eric lit his good friend on fire, and while engulfed in flames, Todd ran off the platform in a breathtaking fiery display of passion. As he lit up the night sky and soared through the air like Superman, he somehow prepared himself to pop the question. After an extinguishing splash, he surfaced and pulled off his hood, walked over to Malissa and got down on one knee. “Malissa, you make me hot. I want to get the point across that I’m on fire for you,” said Todd. Malissa was laughing from the excitement and insanity of the whole display. “I kept laughing, thinking he was so funny – why was he on his knees?” Then Todd pulled out the ring and popped the question. “Will you marry me, Malissa?” Todd placed the ring on her finger. “Yes!” she exclaimed. The couple had been dating for a year and had discussed marriage, but never seriously. Not surprisingly, they share a personal hero, Richard Branson as well as his adventurous, risk-taking personality.

But Did You Know, that When it Snows Seal & Heidi Klum Many stars’ marriage proposals take place during romantic getaways. But music star Seal took the idea of a romantic getaway one step further when he popped the question to Heidi Klum. On December 23, 2004, the crooner flew the supermodel by helicopter to the top of a glacier in Whistler, British Columbia, and he proposed in an igloo that was built especially for the occasion. The couple married on a beach in Mexico on May 10, 2005, and since then, they have had two sons together.

Message in a Bottle Stephen & Kimberly Berg Stephen and Kimberly met while attending college in Florida. He thought he had no chance with such a beautiful girl and held off pursuing her, but when they finally started dating, it wasn’t long before they realized they were really onto something. Stephen wanted to find a one-of-a-kind way to start their life together, and Kimberly had recently planned a day trip for some girl time with a few of her girlfriends. He knew it was the perfect opportunity to propose, and began brainstorming fun ideas. A little mystery goes a long way in every romantic relationship, so Stephen set out to give his love a day in paradise she’d not soon forget. He chartered a boat for the day and worked in cahoots with the captain to plant his message in a bottle on a secluded island where he planned to pop the question. When Kimberly arrived at the docks expecting to take a day with the girls, who were a part of his plot, she was met by her beau who kidnapped her away for a day of fun on the open sea. The captain navigated his vessel to the location as planned and dropped the two off to explore. As they walked along the beach, Kimberly’s eyes caught sight of this bottle, and the two moved in to check out what they had “discovered”. As she read on her heart sank and she soon found herself in the arms of her fiancé. Of course she said yes!

When Abstract Hearts Collide George & Sara Aye Over a four day period (this is after all the planning was completed), George spent a total of 24 hours constructing what would soon become his engagement proposal to his beautiful girlfriend Sara. With plans to display an art piece at a gallery exhibit, industrial designer, George, took the opportunity to design the piece to also function as an elaborate and meaningful marriage proposal. So he sat down at his computer and designed the piece in a three dimensional program, then laser cut foam core to create different pieces forming the words, “Will You Marry Me.” To add a thoughtful twist, he named the art piece “My Early Muir Owl,” which is an anagram of “Will you marry me.” He even went to the trouble of hiring an actor, whom he dubbed “Serge Gandaora,” who played the part of the “artist” for the night. (“Serge Gandaora” is an anagram of “George and Sara”). When “Serge” asked Sara to view the art installation through a carefully placed frame, George dropped down to one knee beside her. As the words took shape before her eyes, she responded with a resounding “yes” and George placed the ring on her finger. Watch video of the construction and proposal here:

Public Display of Affection Rand & Geraldine Fishkin Rand dated Geraldine for about five years before the time had come for him to pop the question. He wanted to propose in a genuine, unique and romantic way, equal to the love he felt for Geraldine. Die-hard NFL fan that he is, Rand began to play with the idea of proposing via Super Bowl commercial. Obviously, the task would be monumental, but luckily Rand works within an industry that lends itself well to the task. Rand works in search marketing, specializing in search engine optimization and online viral marketing. Rand put his idea into action in late August of 2006. He constructed a website and started working his magic, quickly drawing a lot of attention online. He posted his game plan on his website, described the hurdles that lay ahead, and explained everything he needed to execute his epic Super Bowl proposal. Rand discovered that in order to purchase ad space during the 2007 Super Bowl, he would have to raise approximately $2.5 million. He put up a good chunk of his own cash and patiently waited for the donations to pour in. On February 1, just three days prior to the Super Bowl, he’d only collected $85,000. Though this eased his mind regarding those costly wedding invitations, it wasn’t nearly enough for the Super Bowl ad space he’d set out to attain, though his proposal gained the attention of Entertainment Tonight, MSNBC, Good Morning America, and Fox News. Despite his many efforts, CBS was unwilling to part with such valuable advertising time for a mere $85 G’s, so he carried out his contingency plan and purchased a local ad time slot during Geraldine’s favorite television show, “Veronica Mars”. On February 6 at 9:23 p.m., Geraldine was caught completely off guard as Rand appeared on screen, and in a valiant public display of affection, he expressed his undying love for her, and popped the question. As most of us were hoping, she said yes! As a charitable gesture, Rand donated the remaining money to the Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital. View video of the commercial and Geraldine’s response here: http://mysuperproposal.com/?page_id=2

Baby, You and I are on the Same Frequency Bryson & Christne Katzel Radio conversation with air traffic control typically moves quickly, using the official 300-odd word vocabulary given to ATC. When the frequency is not so busy, there’s a bit of chat, some jokes and personal greetings. Bryson, an air traffic controller, took advantage of radio down-time to propose to his girlfriend, Christine. Bryson asked the pilot of the plane if he could propose to his girlfriend, a passenger on the plane. The pilot switched Bryson onto speaker so the entire plane could listen to his proposal. Listen to Bryson’s proposal here: (There is a few seconds of air traffic control chat before you hear Bryson) http://airplanepilot.blogspot.com/2006/04/marriage-proposal.html

Looney Tunes Jeffrey & Natasha Paul Jeffrey Paul teaches 3D animation at the Art Institute of California. He assembled a team of twenty co-workers and students to create a cartoon entitled “Love Letters” for his girlfriend, Natasha. The entire process took three months. A team from The Learning Channel arranged for Natasha to be brought to a theatre under the pretense that she’d won a prize. Roughly one hundred friends and family members were already in the darkened theater when the cartoon was shown. Natasha’s reaction was recorded for the TV show “A Perfect Proposal.” Jeff and Natasha were married on June 30, 2006. They used another cartoon to invite the wedding guests. Watch the Cartoon here:

You Just Won The Super Bowl, Will You Marry Me? Tom Brady & Ines Gomez Ines Gomez Mont, an entertainment reporter for Mexico based TV Azteca, proposed to New England Patriots quarterback, Tom Brady, in front of an entire room of reporters after the Super Bowl. “Would you marry me, Tom?” she asked. Of course, Tom Brady declined the offer with a comment about being a “one-woman” man. Ms. Gomez Mont was attired in a skimpy white wedding gown that has been described as looking like something from the Britney Spears collection. After Tom Brady’s rejection, Gomez Mont made the rounds, starting with New York Giant’s quarterback, Eli Manning. She told Eli Manning she was in love with him. Upon Eli’s brush-off, Gomez Mont basically made a pass at virtually all the players for both teams. Watch this hilarious video:

A Sign of True Love David & Kelly Tan For this Valentine’s Day, businesswoman Kelly Tan E Li received an unexpected marriage proposal. “This is the biggest surprise of my life. And, the whole thing started as a very normal Wednesday. We went out for dinner and my boyfriend David Tan insisted on sending me home.” Kelly said, “The date ended very late, close to midnight. We got talking in the car and as we drove along the LDP in Kelana Jaya, he got excited and asked me to look at an “interesting” billboard by the side of the road.” As David was working in an advertising firm, Kelly assumed he wanted to show her some fancy new advertisements. “I looked and was stunned. David’s picture was on the board! And beside his picture, were the magic words ‘Kelly Tan E Li, will you marry me?’ “I was so shocked and could not speak for about ten minutes. He finally smiled when I told him ‘yes’.”