Proposing on holiday; with or without ring?

FH proposed using his mom's ring (while we were in Hawaii) so that we could pick out my "dream ring" together. I thought that was awesome and it didn't make his proposal any less special. The proposal was more important than the ring though. After he proposed we got a stand-in ring that was significant to our trip. It was a simple plumeria ring that I wore until we got my e-ring. All of that to say that I think the answer to your question depends on your future fiance.

Women are more inclined to say no if you propose without a ring. I would have, because it just would have seemed fake. Just put in in your backpack to keep it safe.

Thanks for the responses everyone.

'8815Wedding' makes a good point that will be relevant to us as well; we always share bags when we go away, so having 'my' bag to hide the ring may be tricky. I would hate for her to discover it and mess up any plans I had for the proposal.

I quite like the idea of using a picture on my phone, something a bit different. As I will give her the ring as soon as we get back, she will still have it to show off to friends/family straight away. For that reason as well, a stand in will only be a stand in for less than two days, so I'm not sure if it is necessary. I don't think she will be disappointed not to have it straight away to be honest. Hopefully the proposal itself will be special enough!

As for the suggestion she would say no because I don't have the ring, I don't buy that at all to be honest. That shouldn't be the deciding factor, and frankly would say an awful lot about that girl if it was the defining reason for rejection!

Again thanks for all the tips, will give it some more thought.

I was proposed to without a ring and I am perfectly fine with that. Not having a ring doesn't make an engagement any less real. He wanted to buy a ring, but I said no since I see it as a waste of money. We're just going to buy a wedding set at a later date, it's much cheaper for us.

You could buy an inexpensive ring for now and you two could go pick out rings later on. I'm sure she'll say yes regardless and she will still be happy that you are asking her.

I'm on the "insure it and take it with you" team.

I say find a ring on the trip and buy it to give to her -- nothing fancy, maybe just something from a little shop or street vendor. And use that ... it'll be meaningful to her, be another piece of jewelry she can have, and can act as a stand in until the real ring gets there.

Personally, I wouldn't care if there was a ring at that moment. We'd be in Europe, in some amazing place, getting proposed to! And I'm one to say better safe than sorry as well and would completely understand why you didn't bring it. Maybe bring a picture so she can at least know what it looks like or have something to post online since that's what everyone seems to want to do immediately anyways? Just ideas.

I agree with everything Maltese said

Personally I would prefer a ring at a proposal , but you know her best of all. I'm also a bit of a lamo so if it were me I'd totally accept a ring pop in a ring box along with a printed pic in the top of the box in order for this to work though she'd have to have a good sense if humor. It will probably work in your best interest to have something that was premeditated with you so she knows it was not just a spur of the moment thing!

FH brought ours with him when he proposed on vacation. It was only in Hawaii rather than Europe, but still. I would have been really disappointed to not have the ring in hand to be honest. He insured it completely.

I got engaged in Europe and was given a substitute ring, which I now wear on my other hand. I was perfectly fine with it and we just got the actual ring when we got back. Looking back, I don't remember the ring at all but rather how he proposed and what he said.

My FH gave me a stand in ring and then proceeded to tell me it was a stand in ring in the same breath he asked me to marry him. He was so busy explaining to me that he wanted me to pick it out and that was why he was only giving me the stand in...and yada, yada, yada...that he never heard my response. He finally looked up at me and asked "did you say yes?" I did and I told him so. Bottom line of this story is that it really didn't matter and the next day when we purchased the ring, I got to show it off on Facebook. Had it been a week later, it wouldn't have mattered.

I was proposed to the first time without a ring and was totally cool with it! It was Greece, things were romantic, it was great! It's just...then it took like 3 years for FH to get the ring. So as long as you have it for soon after, it's great!! 48 hours is nothing.

The second time (yep, he re-proposed because he screwed it up so bad after waiting so long), he brought the ring on our holiday to Hawaii and I'm glad he did. I kept staring at it the whole trip.

SO, as long as you give it to her soon after I think it's fine. But it is TOTALLY embarrassing to talk to people when years go by and there is still no ring...so seriously, get it to her after the trip if you don't bring it on the trip.

If she says no because there's no ring in front of her then that's a really really bad sign!!

When I got proposed to the last thing I cared about or even looked at was the ring! You can do a substitute ring if you think she'll care that there is no ring but I like the idea of asking her with a picture of the ring on your phone. Like you said it's just 2 days and she'll have the ring on her finger for the rest of her life! Good luck and I must say I'm slightly jealous of your 2 week holiday in Europe!

Oh I like @Kaylene's idea! buy a little silver ring or something with a colorful stone (inexpensive one) there, and propose with that. This way she can have something special from the trip and wear it on her other hand after she gets the real ring. Either that or insure it and take it with you. I don't like the picture phone idea all that much. She should see the real thing in person, so she gets the wow factor.

I was proposed on holidays without a ring cause my fiance want it me to pick my own ring and i did find it a bit wired at first and i think it was because ppl would ask me for it.. and i got one half way to the trip anyway.

However, I have a really good story to tell my kids. we were going on holidays to his family in europe and he booked us to stop in thailand first (we live in australia) i had no idea..... he booked us on the same resort we went on our first trip, he proposed on one knew and he pull out a paper ring that he draw from the notepad of the room then he said "i couldnt proposed without diamonds" then pull out a box with pair of diamond earings yayyy

to finish the story half way throught the trip i was visiting my family in america and my aunt is a jeweller so she end up designing and making my ring for us before i moved in to the next location.

At the end was a very special ring with a nice story

i still have the paper ring he drew it is the cutest thing ever

My fiance brought the ring on our one month Asia adventure and it was super stressful for him, but I loved that I had a ring to wear. It would have felt weird to be engaged, but no ring. We have so many amazing pictures of the ring on all our adventures too which make it so much more special. (See profile pic. Mt Huashan Cliff walk.... well not the view, but of our love lock that we left up there). He however proposed within 3 days of getting there. Can you propose earlier in the trip and then the stress and worry will be over?

I vote for bringing the ring and asking at the beginning of the trip. I think getting the real ring and enjoying time in Europe as a engaged couple will make a much more special memory. but I wouldn't carry a ring around Europe loose, I'd be too worried about it getting lost.