Though Hollywood romances can often be emotional roller coasters, there are few things sweeter than hearing a good celebrity proposal story — especially when it's unique. Though traditionally, when it comes to opposite-sex couples, the man is expected to be the one to shell out the cash for an engagement ring and pop the question, some women have chosen to do things a little differently and take the reins in this department, including some pretty famous ladies.
Stars such as Kristen Bell, Jennifer Hudson, and Pink were the ones who asked their men to marry them and all in totally different (and creative) ways. From getting social media involved to planning something in public, these celebrities have proven that a proposal doesn't have to be a man's job — women are pretty good at it too.
Read on to find out which female celebrities asked their partners to marry them. You might be surprised by some of the names on this list — and the ways that they chose to make the big moment so magical and romantic.
Britney Spears
Though their marriage ultimately didn't last, Britney Spears was the one who proposed to ex-husband Kevin Federline. According to what Britney told People, she popped the question when they were mid-flight to New York.
"All of a sudden I said, 'What if you want to get married?' And I kind of went from there to asking him if he would marry me," she said (via Entertainment Weekly).
"And I said no. I was taken by surprise. I thought the guy was supposed to ask the girl. So a couple of minutes went by, and then I asked her," Kevin added.
Gretchen Rossi
Gretchen Rossi not only asked Slade Smiley to marry her, but she did it on an episode of The Real Housewives of Orange County — and they both ended up getting down on one knee to seal the deal. So far, these two haven't tied the knot, even though they got engaged in 2013.
Haley Lu Richardson
Five Feet Apart star Haley Lu Richardson was the one who asked Brett Dier to marry her. As she said during a 2019 appearance on Busy Tonight, it was during a casual moment between the two of them that she decided to pop the question.
"Neither of us are like crazy romantic people, so nothing was planned. He was sitting there eating a pizza and he was telling me a joke that Shia LaBeouf had said in an interview, and he was like pretending to be Shia LaBeouf explaining this joke, and for some reason I just cut him off and was like, 'Wanna marry me?'" she said (via People).
Jodie Turner-Smith
Before Jodie Turner-Smith and Joshua Jackson became the married Hollywood power couple (and parents) they are today, she was the one who asked him to marry her during a trip to Nicaragua on New Year's Eve. How romantic!
"We were walking down the beach, and she asked me to marry her. There was, like, a preamble. There was a lead-up to it," he said during an appearance on The Tonight Show. "I did not know, but she was quite adamant, and she was right."
Pink
Going all the way back to 2005, Pink proposed to now-husband Carey Hart when he was competing in the Pro 250 Class Finals. As PopSugar reported, he was on his third lap in the race when she held up a sign that said, "Will you marry me?" When he didn't stop, she added "Serious" to the sign, and that got his attention — and he said yes.
Kristen Bell
Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard famously waited to get married until everyone, including same-sex couples, could get married, so as soon as marriage equality became legal, Kristen made her move. She asked Dax to marry her on Twitter, and of course, he said yes.
Sarah Snook
Succession star Sarah Snook found love in a pretty unexpected way. She and now-husband Dave Lawson ended up locking down together during the pandemic. When it began, they were friends — and eventually, it turned into more.
"We've been friends since 2014, lived together, traveled together, always excited to see each other, but totally platonic. We've just never been single at the same time," she told Vogue Australia. "I proposed, and we got married in February in my backyard."
Jennifer Hudson
After David Otunga popped the question to Jennifer Hudson, she decided to propose to him herself. In honor of his birthday, Jennifer presented him with a five-carat engagement ring of his own, according to People. The couple broke up in 2017.
Lindsey Vonn
Unfortunately, former Olympian Lindsey Vonn's engagement to PK Subban didn't ever lead to a marriage, but after he proposed to her in August 2019, she decided to turn the tables on him herself a few months later on Christmas. She even took to Twitter to share the news, showing off the ring she'd bought him.
Jenna Bush Hager
As Jenna mentioned on an episode of Today, she was the one who asked husband Henry Hager to marry her.
"After three months of dating — I might've had a Christmas cocktail — and we were dancing, and I said, 'This is it, I know it, let's just get married, what are we waiting for?'" she said on the show.
Henry said no, though — only to ask her himself five years later.
Elizabeth Taylor
According to her obituary in The Guardian, out of her eight marriages, Liz proposed to one of her husbands: Matthew Wilding. While she was working on Ivanhoe in England, she popped the question, but due in part to their 20-year age difference, their marriage wasn't destined to last.
Judge Judy
Given how in charge she is in the courtroom, is it any surprise that Judge Judy Sheindlin was the one who proposed to her husband, Jerry? The couple has been married to each other twice — they briefly divorced only to remarry the next year — and it was Judy who asked the second time around.
"I did propose to him. I said to him, 'Where is this relationship going?' And he tried to weasel out of it with his, 'Well, you know, why do we have to get married?' Whatever," she told DuJour.
Diane von Furstenberg
When designer Diane von Furstenberg asked Barry Diller to marry her, she kept it pretty casual.
"One year I didn't know what to give him for his birthday," she told O magazine, via E! News. "And I called him and said, 'You know, if you want, for your birthday I'll marry you.' And he said, 'Let me see if I can arrange it.'
"It's what he always says, and he always arranges it. A week later, we married at City Hall, and he gave me — this is so Barry — he gave me 26 wedding rings, for the 26 years we had not been married."