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 story that a single question cannot.
The Front Page format was designed around it: a newspaper front page with your headline, your photo on A1, and every milestone as a column story. The last block is the Big Question, 'Will you marry me?', with a Yes button that sets off the confetti and a No button that does not stay still. The reply box underneath catches the answer, in their words.
Decide what the page is for before you build it
There are three kinds of proposal page, and they need different blocks. The first is the keepsake: you ask in person, and the page is what you send that evening so the day has a permanent home, with the photos from the proposal itself added by you the next morning. The second is the lead-up: the page opens on the morning of, tells the story from the beginning, and ends with 'meet me at seven', while the actual question waits for dinner. The third is the ask itself, usually for couples separated by distance or circumstance, where the Big Question block is the question and the reply box is the answer. Pick one. A page that tries to be all three ends up asking twice.
Front Page format: your story as the news
In the Front Page format the header becomes the masthead, so name the paper: 'The Daily Us', 'The Riga Times', their surname and yours hyphenated. The header subtitle becomes the headline, and this is the line to spend time on. 'Local man finally asks' is funnier than 'Our Story'. Each block after that renders as a column story with its own small headline, so the timeline reads as a series of reports from the past: 'Two strangers share umbrella, sources say'. The gallery becomes the photo spread. Because newspaper layout expects text, this is the one format where longer captions and a longer letter look right rather than heavy. Date the paper with the day you are asking, and give it a price on the masthead, 'one yes', because the small details are what make the joke hold together.
Build the timeline like evidence
A proposal is a conclusion, and the timeline is the argument for it. Eight to twelve entries, each with a date, a photo, and one sentence about what that moment proved. Not 'first trip to Lisbon' but 'Lisbon: the first time we planned nothing and it was the best week'. Include at least one hard moment, handled honestly, because it shows the yes was earned rather than assumed. Put the counter block right after, so the total number of days sits beneath the evidence. If you have chat history, the chat insights block adds the numbers: messages sent, the hour you talk most, who says good night first. It is parsed on your device, and it reads as proof. Keep the last entry for today, with no photo yet, and add the photo afterwards.
The question block, set up properly
The Big Question block shows your question with Yes and No. When the No button is tapped it runs to a different spot; on the third attempt it shrinks and gives up. Yes triggers hearts and reveals the success text. For a proposal, write the success text as the first thing you would say after: 'I have the ring. Call me right now.' or 'Look outside.' If you are asking remotely, tell them in the header that you are serious, because the runaway button is a joke and the question is not; a line like 'This part is real' above the block takes care of it. Below the question sits the reply box, text or voice, so the answer arrives in your inbox in their words.
Password it, and keep the link forever
A proposal page is the one page you do not want anyone else opening by accident, so set a password when you publish. Something only they would know: the name of the cafe, the date in the wrong format. They enter it once, and the page remembers their device. After the day, you will want to add the photos of the actual moment, the ring, the phone call to parents; the edit link lets you do that for as long as the page exists, and there is no renewal to pay. Couples often keep the same page through the engagement and add a wedding block at the end, so the link they got on the day becomes the archive of the whole year.
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Related pages
Start with the Proposal template
A pre-filled page in the Front Page format. Change anything, add your photos, preview for free.
Start with this template