This is my second ever surprise proposal! I am so thankful to have gotten to do two in the past several months. The proposal that took place early February was very different from the first one. I thought it would be fun today to discuss some tips to help you have the best experience possible!

So things did not go according to plan. First, the weather turned on us a little. It became cloudy, windy, and a little rainy on what started as an unseasonably warm day at 50+ degrees and sunny in February. So the first thing that changed was the sign Peter had. It blew over in the wind and the “Y” broke on “Marry Me”. Since it was just thick paper from amazon they weren’t salvageable in time.

Managing expectations is huge. As unforeseen things can happen. You truly don’t know. No matter how much you plan- ie he drove up early on Thursday to deliver the signs (an extra 3 hours of driving for him). So the show must go on as they say. The red carpet, faux candles and flower petals were still there. So once that was set up he went to change and her best friend, Samantha, went to get Yeshe.

Another thing to keep in mind with things like this is timing and excuses. She was asleep on the couch when they went to go get her. Since Yeshe truly had no idea, she was just living her normal life- that meant not being ready. So her best friend had to kind of let the cat out of the bag and tell her she needs to get ready RIGHT NOW. Rushing started and she had a strong idea of what was going down.

During this I was making small talk with Peter, helping as best as I can during this moment. He had thoughts of what is taking so long, worried about timing with the sun. And wanting to get it over with as he had spent so much time planning and lying to her about the plans. He wanted to just ask her already. I was just along for the ride and tried to keep things light.

To avoid this: come up with fake dinner plans- say we are all dressing up and going to dinner at 4pm. You must be ready and we are going to take cute pics for the gram. Girls love this stuff and if it is coming from her best friend then it is even less of a suspicion. Make it about the best friend wanting them and if it isn’t something you normally do then pitch it as something fun and different.

So after 20-30 minutes of waiting, Yeshe got there and had to walk down the snow covered path. She got her moment and was proposed to- the moment still happened. Was it exactly according to the vision? No, but it was exactly how it was supposed to happen. Life is rarely perfect and without a hitch. What makes it perfect is the people you are with and living in the moment itself, fully present.

So we had a good laugh about the mishaps, the ring being too big, her wearing jeans and not a dress, the signs falling over, her rushing around, and so on. I loved Samantha saying she tried to get her to bring a dress. There is only so much you can do without giving it all away. Part of it being a surprise is the unexpectedness which means not being fully dressed up.

We then had fun on the frozen ice taking pictures of them, her friend and her sharing engagement season, and their dog. It was a sweet time. Oh also did I mention that it got cold all of a sudden? Yeah, I was dressed for 50 degree weather and sunny. LOL never again. I also had to pee. Haha. But I did have a rain cover for my camera I thankfully did not end up needing.

Moral of the story? Plan. But know that your plans may not work out. So just let go and live in the moment. It is these things that create the best stories. I definitely wish I did this for my own wedding. But that is a story for another day. Thank you for reading. Check out another blog.