How To Plan A Surprise Proposal

You and your partner have been together for a long enough time to know that they are the one for you. You’ve purchased a ring, you know you want to propose, and now it’s time to make the plan. Since you probably have never done this before, let me walk you through the best way to plan a surprise proposal for your partner.

Find The Local Photographer

First things first, you should reach out to a local professional photographer in your area to join you for the event and capture your partner’s reactions when you pop the question. So if you’re taking notes, step 1 on how to prepare and plan a surprise proposal is reaching out to a local photographer like myself in your area to procure their services for the day that you plan to pop the question.

Where To Have Your Engagement Photos Taken

The second thing to consider is your location for the big question! Consider places that you two love to go together, maybe where you first met or somewhere that you both love and find a lot of beauty in. If you’re trying to surprise your partner with the proposal, you want this location to feel natural and somewhere you would normally visit together on a regular day. You don’t want to tip them off to your surprise proposal plans, so consider locations outdoors that are both sentimental to you and natural for you to visit. Even if you’re on a trip with your partner, these same rules still apply!

The Coordination

Now you’ve hired your professional photographer and chosen a location for your surprise proposal. The next and final step is to plan out exactly how the whole proposal thing is going to go down. One of the biggest mistakes people make when figuring out how to plan a proposal is not taking into account the multiple moving parts for a surprise like this! You will need to coordinate with any friends or family you might be including in the day’s activities (like when to arrive at dinner post-proposal to celebrate with you and your new fiance), your engagement photographer so they arrived on time and can hide in the bushes like a top secret sniper to capture every reaction, and ensure you and your partner will arrive at this natural-to-you location on time and ready to get down on one knee!

If you are surprising your partner, I would suggest planning a specific location and time for you to pop the question so your photographer knows exactly where to be to capture all of the reactions. If the proposal is not as much of a surprise, you can easily inform your partner about the plans for your proposal and walk them through the plan you’ve made with your photographer.

The ‘Couple’s Session’ Surprise Proposal Plan

When it comes to photography and your proposal, there are two ways that you can plan this out. The first one is inviting your partner to join you for a small couple’s session for photos together. You can communicate with your engagement photographer prior to the session that you plan to propose midway through, and this will allow for you to to get great photos of you together as a couple, photos of your proposal, and ensure you and your partner are picture ready for when the time comes.

The ‘Top Secret Ninja’ Proposal Plan

If planning a small session with a photographer doesn’t feel natural to you or you think your partner might catch on to the proposal plan during that session, you can always pre plan an exact location that you plan to propose and let your photographer know when it will go down. This will allow your photographer to get into the bushes like a top-secret ninja and capture your partner’s natural and real reaction to the surprise of their proposal.

How To Plan A Surprise Proposal

There you have it! Just a few things to keep in mind when planning how to propose to your partner! Keep in mind the time of day you plan to propose, the location if it’s a surprise, and hiring a photographer for the event so you get great photos of this special moment.