As you are planning a wedding on a budget, you may be thinking about some unconventional wedding or proposal ¬ideas to save money or to express your personality. It turns out that you are not alone. Three couples have recently become YouTube sensations as a result of their unusual surprise proposals and weddings. (Warning for grooms-to-be: most women will agree that a surprise proposal is an exciting prospect. Many women would not be as happy about a surprise wedding.)

1. Surprise Proposal

A Georgia man created a video of himself asking his girlfriend’s dad for her hand in marriage, and he arranged to have the video played during the previews when his girlfriend went to the movies. At the end of the trailer, he ran into the movie theater and surprised her with a proposal in front of the entire theater, which included many of her family and friends hiding in the back. This video has now gone viral on YouTube. Not all women would be excited about such a public proposal, but if you are planning a wedding on a budget and have a shy bride-to-be, you could easily modify this idea to use your own home video equipment and play a similar film for her on your own television as a creative and inexpensive surprise.

2. Surprise Wedding 1

A Canadian man who was planning to elope with his girlfriend to Las Vegas instead orchestrated a surprise budget wedding for his bride-to-be behind their favorite restaurant with the help of friends and family. By carefully taking note of her preferences over the course of a year, he was able to create a wedding that was very similar to what she might have planned herself. When she showed up at the restaurant ready for a meal, he led her to her wedding dress instead. Many women would prefer to plan their own budget wedding, but this groom was very careful to create a special day that matched his bride’s taste. If you decide to use this idea, keeping it small and simple is probably the best strategy.

3. Surprise Wedding 2

An unconventional Massachusetts couple recently decided to plan a surprise budget wedding together. However, the surprise was not for one of them but instead for bystanders at a shopping mall. They chose to organize a “flash mob” wedding. In their invitations to family and friends, they printed simple dance moves and instructions for participating in their public wedding. When the wedding started all of a sudden in the middle of the mall, both invited guests and unknown shoppers participated in their special day. This is a creative idea that could save a lot of money on such things as venue and decorations, but it takes a lot of planning (and special permission from the owners of the mall).

What other unconventional wedding or proposal ideas have you heard about?

Photo Credit: Alex Indigo (Flickr: alexindigo)