When we talk about destination marriage proposals, most of us imagine a perfect proposal setting somewhere exotic, by sunset and with a candlelight romantic dinner. Some of us, however, choose a meaningful destination. One of the most important parts of planning your wedding proposal is the location that you choose. If Italy is her favorite country in the world then why not to surprise her with a trip to this beautiful country.
In fact, Raj couldn’t choose a better place to surprise his sweet and talented make-up lover Heral. She studied abroad in Florence during university for six months and fondly remembers her time there. Raj’s idea was to walk through “memory lane” – 10 or so photos printed and displayed on easels, with roses and candles all around. At the end of this line of photos, he wanted 1 easel with a large decorative question mark, which we actually changed into a huge romantic ‘Will You Marry Me?’ backdrop. Once arrived in front of this flower wall, his only task was to get down on one knee and ask her to marry him.
To make this dream come true we had to:
- Find a perfect location in Florence
- Work on the ‘memory lane‘
- Decide for the best backdrop and decoration
- Look for the best vendors to realize our plans
- Create an itinerary for the surprise
As always, we started to look for an ideal proposal spot. Our mission was to find an intimate, extremely romantic and as Raj wrote to me: “the bigger the better” location. I proposed some venues in Tuscany to Raj and he opted for a 5 star resort – Villa Cora – located in a 19th century mansion with a large park, bordering the gardens along viale dei Colli, within walking distance from Boboli and Oltrarno and considered the “grand lady” of Florence southern hills.
The second task was to create the memory lane. Raj sent me some pictures of him and Heral. Personalized canvas prints were displayed on easels and each picture represented the reason why Raj loves Heral. To add a personal and unique touch, the reasons were hand-written by a calligrapher on small tags which we attached to a rose and put under each canvas print.
The last but not least, the final task was to surprise Heral with that all-important question which we highlighted and personalized on the flower backdrop. During all this, there was a quartet playing their favorite songs. After the proposal, they had a private candlelight dinner together.
Giving that Heral is crazy about makeup (look at her beauty Instagram @mirroredlooks and a YouTube channel), all Raj knew was that we had to come up with a convincing lie on the day of the proposal so that she could do her make up really well! And we did. Once Heral and Raj checked-in to Villa Cora, they got into their room and had to get ready for a high-level wine tasting tour of Tuscany. Heral was told to dress nicely and get pretty for the occasion. She had no clue at all that she was actually getting ready for a new chapter in her life.
I met the couple at the lobby pretending to be their tour guide and when we all were ready to surprise Heral, I opened the door to something truly extraordinary. Heral’s reaction was speechless. Raj started to walk down memory lane till they stopped in front of the flower backdrop where he got down on one knee and proposed.
He asked and Heral said: YES! to this fairytale marriage proposal.
CONGRATULATIONS to a newly engaged couple!
Heral & Raj, your love is truly extraordinary. May it only grow greater with the passing of time.
After the proposal Heral and Raj had a romantic candlelight dinner in the Mirror Room till late night. They enjoyed the evening sharing the experience with family and friends showing off that ‘big & shiny’ engagement ring.
Oh yes. I cannot forget that we did some extra photo shoot around the villa. We just couldn’t miss that lovely sunset from the terrace of Villa Cora overlooking such a romantic city as Florence.
Special thanks:
Villa Cora // Location
Floralia // Flower decoration
DRCreations // Photographers
Cinemaduel Entertainment // Video
Quartetto Sharareh // Quartet
Claudia Villa Fonte Nuova // Calligrapher
Firenze Convention Bureau // Destination Promoter
Tuscany for Weddings // Destination Promoter
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