About
The Reddit proposal was a marriage proposal made over the popular social news site Reddit using artwork commissioned through 21 artists found via DeviantART.1,3 It was created by the user SirTechnocracy (Malcolm Collins), to his girlfriend of 18 months user LadyTechnocracy (Simone Collins [she changed her name soon after the proposal from Simone H Smith]).13
The proposal included a panoply of nerd culture references including commissioned art themed around Adventure Time, various anime styles, Studio Ghibli, Disney, a Magic the Gathering card, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, StarCraft, 8-bit gaming, Avatar the Last Airbender, pirates, and chibi style. The image macros included in the proposal include
Actual Advice Mallard, Conspiracy Keanu, And it’s Gone, Good Guy Greg, One Does Not Simply Walk into Mordor, Confession Bear, Popular Opinion Bear, Most Interesting Man In the World,
Imminent Ned, Zoidberg, and an Ancient Aliens meme featuring a Xenomorph.
Origin
The proposal was first posted at 7:00am on 5/8/2013 to both the r/pics subreddit and the r/adviceanimals subedit simultaneously.
In interviews, SirTechnocracy has stated that, while the commissioned art aspect of the proposal had been planned for months, the advice animals were created only a few hours before the proposal took place. This was done out of fear that mods on r/pics would take down the proposal, as it was targeted at a specific individual, which is against the rules of the subreddit. By referencing the “actual” proposal in /r/AdviceAnimals from /r/pics, Malcolm hoped he could prevent the /r/pics thread from being removed. “I should note that the memes were never intended to be a part of the post. I added them last second so I could place the post on r/AdviceAnimals, making it more likely that Simone [his fiancée] would see at least one post and less likely that the r/pics post would be deleted.” 3
Spread
Within an hour of the initial post, the adviceanimals version of the proposal had made it to the front page of reddit (the r/pics version made the front page later that day: 8/5/2013). The story quickly spread across the internet and was featured in Yahoo! News, Mashable, CNET, Business Insider, BetaBeat, the Daily Dot, PC Magazine, Huffington Post Weddings, Huffington Post Tech, The SF Chronicle, The Herald Sun, HLN TV, Canada.com, Neatorama, The Mary Sue, Laughing Squid, and Kotaku.
Reaction from LadyTechnocracy
Soon after the post reached the front page, LadyTechnocracy posted a socially awesome penguin image macro accepting the proposal. 
Her in person reaction was described in the thread and in follow up interviews by SirTechnocracy: “She just ran up and hugged me almost in tears for like a minute (which seemed like forever). Then I had to remind her that she was supposed to say yes or no.”4
She later replied. "Understandably, a lot of people are giving SirTechnocracy grief about this. I understand that the concept of a Reddit proposal is … unconventional (hell, I’d never think of it), but this is honestly the most romantic thing someone has ever done for me. The advice animals crack me up, and the commissions are amazing.”
While the method of the proposal was a surprise the answer was not, as LadyTechnocracy played a part in deciding the engagement ring’s design. “In truth this proposal was just to make her happy; she was with me when we commissioned the ring. She wanted my actual proposal to her to be a surprise, something we would remember forever and that showed real commitment and understanding.”
The Commissions
In total there are 21 art pieces by 18 different artists.2 The Mashable interview quoted SirTechnocracy as saying “I was hoping to create something of a tribute to that culture; something that would both epitomize and celebrate it.”
Each of the original posts linked to a different imgur gallery with a slightly different set of images. This was done to stay within subreddit rules (the photomanipulated image is not included in the r/adviceanimals post and the Magic The Gathering card was not included in the r/pics post). A complete gallery with full size images and artist citations can be found here (this gallery contains a commissioned My Little Pony comic not included in either of the proposal posts, bringing the total number of artists involved up to 21.)
Aftermath
After the proposal, Malcolm Collins published a piece in the Huffington Post elaborating on his decision to propose over Reddit.9
Shortly after Simone Collins published a piece in which she announced she was changing her name from Simone H Smith to Simone Collins immediately after the proposal, also stating that no marriage date was set.13
External Refrences
1. Sole, Ellise (6/8/2013). “Reddit Marriage Proposal: She Said ‘Yes,’ Commenters Said ‘No’”. Yahoo News.
2. Alfonso III, Gernando (5/8/2013). “Redditor uses memes to propose to his girlfriend”. The Daily Dot.
3. Bergado, Gabe (6/8/2013). “A Meme Made in Heaven: Redditor Proposal Woos the Internet”. Mashable.
4. Poeter, Damon (5/8/2013). “Man Proposes to Girlfriend on Reddit Advice Animals Thread”. PC Magazine.
5. MacManus, Christopher (5/8/2013). “Man proposes to woman on Reddit, uses memes and art”. CNET.
6. Taylor, Jordyn (5/8/2013).“Love Is Dead: Non-Neckbeard Stanford Student Proposes to Girlfriend Over Reddit, Via Memes”.
7. Willett, Megan (5/8/2013). “Redditor Proposes To His Girlfriend Using Memes In The Ultimate Reddit Post”. Business Insider.
8. “Reddit Proposal Uses Memes, Draws Controversial Response”. Huffington Post. 5/8/2013.
9. Collins, Malcolm (6/8/2013) “How I proposed to my girlfriend on Reddit” Huffington Post
10. “A meme engagement: Redditor SirTechnocracy’s romantic proposal”. Herald Sun. 6/8/2013.
11. Pahle, Rebecca (6/8/2013). “BOYFRIENDPROPOSES ON REDDITUSINGMEMESANDSPECIALLY-COMMISSIONEDART”. The Mary Sue.
12. Willingham, AJ (6/8/2013). “Online proposal is sweet/geeky/crazy/amazing”. HlnTV.
13. Collins, Simone (20/8/2013), Why Shed Your Maiden Name in the Digital Age? Huffington Post
14. SirTechnocracies Imgur Album
15. A complete gallery with full size images and artist citations