Daisy Amodio
Image: The Proposers
Image: The Proposers
Image: The Proposers
Image: The Proposers
Image: The Proposers
The Proposers team
The moment you become engaged is one of the most important in a couple’s life. It’s an occasion that you will remember forever, so we asked Daisy Amodio, founder of professional proposal planning company The Proposers, for her advice on how to plan and execute the perfect marriage proposal.
Daisy established The Proposers, Europe’s first-ever marriage proposal planning company, in 2011 after her brother asked for her help to propose to his girlfriend. Daisy fell in love with the process of making two people incredibly happy and, today, the company has helped over 4,500 couples become engaged.
The Proposers team has put together the proposals of many a footballer and his now-WAG, and arranged access to a private London garden so that Harry Lloyd (who played Viserys Targaryen in Game of Thrones) could propose to his now-wife in a bandstand.
Such high-profile proposals (the most elaborate proposal Daisy has worked on cost £850,000) organically lead to requests for Daisy and her team to plan the weddings of her engaged couples and, when we spoke to Daisy, she was in the midst of planning the three-day royal wedding in Lake Como, where a mega-star performer will be providing the entertainment.
Thoughtfully considered proposals will be in the spotlight this autumn when Daisy and The Proposers hit screens in a new three-part series on Channel Four that follows nine couples on their journey to getting engaged.
Until then, if you’re thinking of popping the question and want to make sure it’s a proposal that your beloved will cherish – and say “yes” to – read on for Daisy’s expert tips on how to make it a proposal to remember.
THINK ABOUT YOUR PARTNER’S TASTES
My best advice would be to just really think about the person and what they like because your proposal is a memory that’s going to last forever and you want it to be a nice story.
Your proposal should feel personal, tailored to your partner’s likes. What’s their vibe? Modern? Traditional? Bohemian? Romantic? What colours do they like? What do you like to do together in your relationship? These are all details that you can incorporate into your proposal.
If they love breakfast in bed, make them something special and personalised; if they love flowers, write ‘Marry me’ on the floor of your home in petals. It doesn’t need to be super elaborate or costly but it does need to be thoughtful.
LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION
Get the place right. Don’t just do it on a Friday night eating a curry in front of the TV. That’s not a particularly nice story – unless you love curry and you love watching TV.
Make sure that it’s in a great location. That could be in a suite at one of Chelsea’s romantic hotels, like The Cadogan, 11 Cadogan Gardens, Beaverbrook Town House or the Carlton Tower, a restaurant’s private room, a walk in a park or somewhere abroad. We’ve had couples do a wine tasting where the wine labels gradually change to be a story of their relationship, culminating in a label that says, ‘Marry me’.
HAVE A BACKUP PLAN
If your proposal will in any way be affected by the weather, make sure you have a backup plan. You’ve got enough to worry about saying, “Will you marry me?”, let alone worrying about the weather.
Near Sloane Street are two of the nicest places to propose in London. Battersea Park, with the bandstand as a wet-weather option, and Hyde Park, which is always lovely.
In Hyde Park are the Italian Gardens, which are believed to have been a gift from Prince Albert to his beloved Queen Victoria. You could go for a lovely stroll in the park and then ‘stumble’ across the Italian Gardens. It’s lovely to propose between the fountains with the Long Water behind you. I’ve never seen it too busy there, either.
And the Victorian Pump House in the Gardens is a great wet-weather option. We’ve done so many proposals in there. It’s just so lovely with the historic building and the backdrop of all the fountains and the lake. So it’s just in an incredible area to do it.
CAPTURE IT ON CAMERA
It’s really important to capture the moment you propose because it’s a once-in-a-lifetime occasion that will never happen again. You will never get that same reaction again, no matter how much you fake it or how good an actor you are.
You could even just prop your phone up in a corner to film the moment but I recommend that our clients book a photographer and videographer because they can post on Instagram straight away if they want, and they can show their friends and family. Sometimes the photos are used in the wedding invitations or the video is shown at the wedding itself.
KEEP IT SIMPLE; KEEP IT SHORT
Some people do write a speech for the proposal but, to be honest, once you are down on one knee or once you’ve walked into a room with 50,000 petals and a giant ‘Marry Me’ sign, your partner probably knows what’s going to happen. The game is up. So be heartfelt and genuine but you don’t need to overthink it.
Keep it short because otherwise they’re not going to remember.
CONSIDER AN I.O.U. RING
Some men are confident about the ring that their partner wants or they have been sent pictures of one to choose but, in about half of our proposals, people propose with an I.O.U. (I owe you) ring because they want to let their partner choose the ring that they will wear for the rest of their lives. If you get engaged on Sloane Street, you could go to Boodles, Cartier or Tiffany the next day to pick out a ring.
DON’T GET FAMILY INVOLVED
I think it’s best to keep that moment when you become engaged as a special moment that just the two of you share. And I don’t think you should ask for advice on how to propose from family members because before you know it, your judgement is clouded by everyone else’s opinion and your proposal stops being about you two.
If it’s an elaborate proposal, some people want to make the most of the musicians and decorations so they will invite some family and friends to celebrate with them immediately after the proposal, but the actual popping the question should be just the two of you.
ENCOURAGE HER TO GET HER NAILS DONE
There are always photographs of the ring and she’ll be so glad that she has had a manicure for that moment.
CAREFUL OF CLASH
If someone has paid for a beautiful setting, musicians and a photographer, the last thing they want is for her outfit to clash with the petals or décor, so we will give advice on what colours will work and, somehow, he’s usually able to convince her to wear something that coordinates with the setting.
DON’T CO-OPT ANY BIG DAYS
Don’t propose on an anniversary or a birthday or anything like Christmas. It diminishes the value of the engagement, which you should celebrate every year until you get married. You want to remember your engagement date for the special moment that it is – not because it’s her birthday.
CHOOSE MUSIC THAT’S UNIQUE TO YOU
There are about four go-to engagement songs that, unfortunately, too many people choose for the proposal. They are Ed Sheeran’s Thinking Out Loud or Perfect, John Legend’s All of Me and Marry You by Bruno Mars. That can make a proposal feel a bit generic, so choose music that’s special to your relationship. What do you sing along to in the car? What are your memories of dancing together?
You can make a Spotify playlist that’s about your relationship from when you first met to now and have that playing in the background.
THE PARENTAL BLESSING
So many couples live together before marriage, or have kids together, so asking the parents’ permission is a thing of the past but if you think that their family would appreciate the gesture, by all means, go ahead and ask. I think it’s more about having a moment with your future in-laws and letting them know that you’re planning to propose and asking for their support.
DON’T BE LATE
If you’ve booked something time-sensitive for your proposal, allow lots of extra time to get there because you might only have a very narrow window of time when you have access to the space, your musicians and your photographer. You don’t want your proposal to wind up in an argument because you’re stuck in traffic.
IT DOESN’T NEED TO BE A LEAP YEAR FOR WOMEN TO PROPOSE TO MEN
I’d say that 98% of people that come to us are men proposing to women but, honestly, so many more women are proposing to men these days, which is fantastic. And it’s a leap year in 2024 so, hopefully, there’ll be a lot more.
