How shaky hands, an accidental kick in the face ruined these marriage proposals

• Jill and James sitting on a tree. K.I.S.S.I.N.G. First comes love, then comes engagement...
• But hold on. Not every couple in love ends up with a happily ever after. Sometimes it's due to serious issues.
• Other times, it might be a good proposal idea gone wrong. So, we must ask, can a proposal ever go 'wrong'?
• The internet says, yes, and we have put together a compilation of the times that it did.

For many young people, marriage is still the ideal, and they dream of the day that someone they've fallen in love with will ask for their hand in marriage and pledge lifelong commitment.

On social media, picturesque, romantic, witty and downright marshmallowy proposals are just a click away. 

What we don't often see is a proposal gone wrong or someone simply missing the mark when it comes to their grand gesture. 

We searched out some of the most eye-raising, goosebump-inducing and incredibly off-target proposal stories that should have never happened.

READ MORE | From the Wall of Love to Tuileries Garden: An easy how-to for the perfect proposal in Paris

YOU'LL BE NERVOUS, AND YOU'LL DROP THE RING

The most commonly seen proposal fail is one where the proposer drops the ring. Here is an example of shaky hands betraying a man on his knees.

DON'T ASK GRANDPA TO FILM

If you want to have a lasting record of your special moment, ensure you have a reliable person behind the camera. One couple learnt this the hard way when they asked their grandpa to record the proposal. The jovial elder accidentally recorded himself - while his reaction is heartwarmingly adorable, the couple would have rather had themselves on camera. 

FALL IN LOVE, NOT IN THE LAKE

Flat, steady and on land is the best policy for a proposal. One couple's romantic proposal on his and her matching boats ended in disaster when the woman accidentally fell, kicking the man and knocking him into the lake. 

READ MORE | Viral video of woman getting engaged at sister's wedding divides the internet

NOT QUITE A PROPOSAL

A member of Bad Dates Melbourne on Facebook, only referred to as Ali, shared a hilarious 'proposal' that wasn't quite what he ordered at a hotel in Bali. 

He shared: "I'd messaged the hotel before we got there to try and bag some free [stuff] or upgrades, as I usually do, making up fake birthdays, anniversaries, etc. My email just said that we had been dating for a while, but I wanted to make this trip extra special as one day I'd like to marry this woman.

"So, a few months later, we got to the hotel and, when we checked in and gave our names, the person who checked us in eyes' lit up and smiled at me. He didn't wink as such - but he did everything but. 

"He insists that he will come with us to the room. He opens the room door, and he goes in first and rushes to the other side of the bed, and stands with his hands on hips looking at me and my girlfriend with a huge smile on his face."

What confronted them was a bed with a pair of towels shaped into kissing swans and red rose petals spelling out 'Will you marry me' on the bed. The couple just stood there feeling weird, especially since the hotel staffer was there.

"If this was 'the moment' it's not how either of us would have wanted it to have played out... with a random stranger there and a concierge carrying bags behind us. I say, 'Thanks, that's awesome', and usher him out of the room as he skips off, thinking he's nailed his assignment. Once we are alone, we both just p*** ourselves laughing, knowing this is not a proposal. I explain and show my girlfriend the email I sent - and, to this day, we have no idea how he interpreted what I said as 'Please organise a marriage proposal'."

When Ali went downstairs to check the pool area, his girlfriend changed the message with the rose petals to "You are a ****."

The reader shared that his girlfriend made him go out and get her a gross, cheap, awful ring to wear to make the hotel staff believe they got engaged on the back of their handy work. The 'groom' had to spend the week getting hi-fives from the hotel staff, who all thought he'd popped the question.

A year later, the couple married after a real romantic proposal and have three kids now.

READ MORE | Diamonds aren't for everyone - New survey reveals metal and tattoo rings are in the running

BONUS

These are the times when proposals went incredibly well.

On Quora, Jessica Du shares: "My fiancé modified my favourite video game to make the levels look exactly like our house. I played through the levels and found "an engagement ring" in our room. I went up to our room in real life, and there it was! I asked him how he did it, and he said 'NetHack is an open source'."

SOMETIMES PROPOSALS ARE PART OF EVERYDAY CONVERSATION

Sarah Hendricks shares on Quora how her happy marriage of 50 years started with a random question, with no theatrics or ring in sight. She shares: "We were sitting in his car, and he looked at me and said, 'Do you want to get married?' I delightedly said, 'Yes!' He thought about it for a minute and added… 'I mean to ME.' He thought I might have imagined he was just asking a general question, such as if I had considered whether I would want to marry somebody someday vs his actually proposing marriage between the two of us. I thought it was adorable, and I still do 50 years later!"

READ MORE | Couple engaged at Adele's concert tie the knot - The bride's brothers walked her down the aisle

LASTLY

Have you been trying to find love and are far from getting a proposal? If Tinder has left you high and dry and Bumble has given you only heartache. Do not despair. You have one more try. You could try the Lizzy Fenton way. She did it professionally. She mailed a PowerPoint presentation to her crush and asked him for a date. The first slide read: Why you should date me. By: Lizzy Fenton.

She included photos and graphs on subsequent slides, titled: Sick of your family nagging you to get a serious girlfriend? Look no further; Monogamy, not your style? No problem; My boobs exhibit steady growth over time; I'm financially stable. Lastly, she even included hilarious recommendations on the last slide, including one from her mom. 

Lizzy later posted her presentation on Twitter and Facebook, and it became a huge hit.