Love is in the air with Valentine’s Day just around the corner. All this love and affection has got to lead somewhere, usually ending in one of two places: heartbreak or marriage.

Since V-Day is upon us, let’s stick to the happier of the two. Let’s talk marriage, or more specifically, a proposal.

Proposing a life to someone else is a ridiculously scary thing to do, especially in college. But as they say, when you’re ready, you’re ready.

“I didn’t say a word”

When Jesse Lee-Brockhoff decided the time had come, his bride-to-be, Megan Hanson, was studying overseas, the perfect “absence makes the heart grow fonder” example.

“It was hard to keep it a secret, but it also helped a little bit that she wasn’t around,” Lee-Brockhoff said. “I was trying to pick a ring out and find a good way to ask her.”

Hanson was on her way back home when an idea struck Lee-Brockhoff. After rushing to an Office Max for supplies, he prepared the perfect welcome home surprise. He wrote his proposal on giant cards to display in the middle of a busy Kansas City International airport. The first of which simply read “STOP.”

“I didn’t say a word,” Lee-Brockhoff said. Hanson’s first impulse was to ignore the sign and kiss the man she had missed the most for the past three months, but she was patient and was ultimately rewarded. The two plan to marry in August 2015.

“I think she let her guard down”

When high school sweethearts Nathan Miller and Melissa Hudson decided the time was right, Miller pulled out a little trickery.

“Melissa had no idea this was coming,” Miller said. “I’d taken her on a surprise date the night before, and I think she suspected a proposal then. And when it didn’t happen, I think she let her guard down.”

Miller brought Hudson to their high school alma mater under the pretense that they were attending a fundraiser for the performing arts. Their old high school theatre teacher was in on the surprise. He convinced the pair to go backstage to check out scenery he was working on.

“He led us away from the fundraiser and onto the stage in the auditorium,” Hudson said. “He told us to sit on the piano bench center stage as he opened the curtain to reveal the ‘effect.’”

Miller had arranged for all of their closest friends and family to be in the auditorium.

“She didn’t notice me panicking,” Miller admitted. “I then told her how I felt and asked her to marry me. She did say yes, which really is the most important part.”

“Today, I find myself planning our December 2014 wedding,” Hudson said. “I’m still all smiles thinking about spending my life with my favorite person on the planet.”