A San Francisco Surprise Proposal Story

Did you know that you could hire a surprise proposal planner? Asking somebody to marry you is scary enough, so we make it easier for you to put your best foot forward. From a simple setup to luxurious picnics, we create spaces to set the stage for romance. With our entire lives shared on social media, there’s extra pressure to make a proposal experience that will be sweet and heartwarming and that they’ll be proud to share with friends and family online. There are many ways to propose. While some are super casual and spur of the moment, based on the overwhelming urge to blurt out “Will you marry me?”, others are more akin to a movie script in their attention to detail with moment-by-moment sequences and steps already mapped out in advance. And for those folks, there’s the Proposal Planner.

When clients first contact me to let me know that they’re hoping to get engaged, they often have the whole thing figured out. If they do, then it’s my job to make their proposal vision a reality. More likely than not, they have no clue what they want and are looking to me to make suggestions based on their budget, what they think their soon-to-be fiance would find meaningful, and the elusive “wow” factor! We specialize in that.
Naveen contacted me and was somewhere in the middle of those two groups. We discussed his budget, my packages, and what kind of unique add-ons I offered to customize the experience. I also asked him if he had any special requests I could fulfill. He sure did! For one thing, he wasn’t interested in photography. He wanted an elaborate proposal video. We also offer inclusive wedding packages, so I already have a videographer in place for him. He also wanted to add a woodland, beach location, and colored smoke.

I sent him an online Proposal Look Book of images representing what I thought would be the best choices for their San Francisco engagement. At first, his choices were spread out across the city, and I suggested that we cluster his choices together for more shooting time and less driving. After discussion, he decided for his two-and-a-half-hour time frame, that he’d start at the Palace of Fine Arts to pop the question, then move to Lovers Lane in the Presidio for engagement photography, sunset nearby at East Beach with a view of the Golden Gate Bridge for his colored smoke scene and lastly loop back across the street to the Palace for a final scene with the majestic dome lit up…..and the sweetest crickets serenading them!
His plan was to take Heather on a trip and wrap up the last few days in San Francisco. They drove up from San Diego with both sets of parents. They had discussed getting married, but she didn’t suspect it would happen on this trip. Heather thought it was just a nice way for the families to get to know each other and bond, but that was all. I had mentioned to him ahead of time that he’d need to find a way to ensure that her nails were done for the closeup engagement ring shots and that we’d need to subtly make sure she wore something that she’d be happy to see in her surprise proposal video. Naveen sweetly took her dress shopping for the trip and, following my engagement outfit guide, bought her a beautiful rose-colored maxidress. It was perfect.

He chose a very dramatic and romantic proposal setup. We have a lot of props, and I’m always adding to my collection of items that set the stage for romance. We created a giant heart on the ground in front of the Palace Of Fine Arts lagoon, with more than fifty battery-operated votive candles and white light-up marquee letters that said: “Marry Me.” After researching online, Naveen found some photographs that inspired him and asked what I thought about lining the heart with fresh red rose petals. This took the design I had and amplified it to a next-level visual. The heart would be about six feet across, so that was a LOT of fresh rose petals. I won’t use anything environmentally unsafe for the local birds and bees, so fake flowers are never used, and we always leave no trace behind at any of our sessions.

To make a long story short, at the last minute, it was revealed that the world was having a red rose shortage due to storms in South America, where many commercial roses are grown. The company canceled the order I’d placed, and the local stores were low on inventory, but there was absolutely no way that the show wouldn’t go on. With the help of YouTube tutorials, my partner and I ended up making eight dozen rose petals by hand. Problem solved.

The day of the session felt excellent. I arrived about forty minutes early to start the setup process, and my assistant and I started laying out the large heart shape with the candles. It was a beautiful sunny Saturday, and we quickly drew an interested crowd and a lot of questions. Everyone was curious and asked a million questions about what was happening, whether they could take a picture of our hearts, and, most importantly, WHEN this all was going to go down.

We’d already given Naveen and both sets of parents a photograph of the area we’d set up for him to pop the question, which was circled in red. We had a huge bush for their parents to hide behind to view the proposal, and champagne chilled and waiting for them to congratulate the couple after his marriage proposal. Interestingly, the crowd was NOT going away! I realized I would have to take charge and give the fifty nearest people directions on how to act like they were enjoying the view and not eagerly awaiting the couple’s arrival.

The parents arrived and were tucked away. Naveen and Heather planned a little couples time for themselves before the family dinner that night, so she was just taking in the breathtaking beauty of the park. They took a lovely promenade around the lagoon, heading towards the awaiting set…..and then they came upon it. She thought it was there for somebody else, and it wasn’t until he steered her directly into the heart and dropped to one knee that she understood. At that exact moment, a crowd of about a hundred onlookers also ROARED their approval!
They were both momentarily stunned by this vast outpouring of support, but he composed himself, asked, got his YES, and swept her into his arms for a kiss to seal the deal.