It is pretty big here. I remember when a friend of mine asked another friend of mine. We left school early as a 9/11 memorial and went to her house where her mom left a key for us. We decked her room out in streamers and balloons and the location where he would be standing with the sign with a "?" On it. Followed out and tapped signs to hang from the ceiling reading "Will you go to homecoming with me" so that she would find them where she entered her house leading to her bedroom. Streamers and balloons all over the place.
The place where she parked her car under the carport we did streamers and balloons again with a huge ass sign that said "Happy Birthday" since 9/11 was her unfortunate birthday.
Drove to her school, she had recently been transferred into a Catholic school and was really upset about having to leave all of us that she grew up with because her parents wanted her to go to private school. Walked inaide, there was a pep rally going on for the 9/11 memorial, she saw us and ran over thrilled thinking us popping in is her birthday present. We left and said we were going to stop by her house to drop her car off then jump into mine and go to the movies. So off to her house we go. And then she pulled in. Saw the happy birth banner and cried. Our guy friend said he had to go to the bathroom and excused himself. After a sec it was my job to coax her inside, which...isn't hard, she wanted to change out of her uniform. Bam. The ceiling signs. She's follows them like a kid on Christmas and opens her bedroom door. Bam. Balloons streamers coming out of everywhere, him with he sign. She lost it crying. Said yes and it was honestly the cutest thing knowing how much she missed everyone and how this really showed we still care.
Of note, their relationship wasn't like boyfriend of girlfriend, she had a boyfriend at the private school if I am not mistaken and he and his ex just broke up. My current boyfriend at the time was in college (this was my friend's and i senior year) and he didn't want to go to homecoming because he felt it was too childish now that he was in college so all the pictures we have of that night is us three and it looked like he took two dates. Anyway, yeah, it is pretty big in america, but that I'd the only time I've seen or heard first hand of a big gesture like that. I'm sure now 7 years later it's much more common.
:( Man I miss them, we all moved away after college.