For the guys (or girls) out there who are planning a proposal or wedding! Sharing our proposal story and some creative ideas to personalise your event.
Our Proposal Story
Janan's proposal wasn't a surprise because we picked out the ring together, and I took leave that day to go for it HAHA. Here's the engagement ring we picked out together: Aquamarine and rose gold from Etsy.
Proposal setup by Janan's friend from Yours Fetefully.
So I took leave on the day that Janan asked me to (07.05.18), and Janan met me at my house all dressed up. He gave me Running man missions to do, with the first one being to a call a friend and get them to say a specific phrase. The second was solving an equation related to us as a couple (e.g. year we got together divided by number of years together or something like that), and then spending that exact amount at my favourite shopping place (Bugis Street). This was a great idea because I could purchase my own outfit for the proposal, which is the white dress I ended up wearing. Our last stop was Changi beach, where his friend had done the setup and his other friend Vincent took photos/videos of us. The sunset there was really gorgeous! He had me doing a fake mission (searching for something in the sand) while he knelt down to propose. You can check out the video I put it together above ^
Tips on Surprising Your Partner
From the people who have failed at surprises too many times
1. Plan early - the earlier you plan, the easier it'll be to surprise him/her because it won't seem so out-of-the-blue if you suddenly ask them to dress up. And you can ask questions about what they like early on, so that they (hopefully) forget about it by the time you're ready to propose!
2. Come up with a fake event - this solves a few problems, like making sure your partner is free that day and ensuring he/she dresses up nicely (if that's what you want). You can suggest something random like checking out a new place that just opened. The more details you come up with for the fake event, the more believable it'll seem.
3. Enlist their friends help - if you want to completely avoid them suspecting anything, get a friend to book them on that day to go somewhere. Then be the one to turn up instead.
4. Prepare an outfit - if you are going to surprise him/her and bring them to the place, you can go the extra mile to prepare a nice outfit so they don't have to be in shorts and T-shirt when you propose. You should take note of the brands and size they usually use before that, another reason to plan early. The other option is to do what Janan did, which is incorporating the outfit shopping into your plans.
5. Consider engaging a photographer if you think that's what your partner would like so that you have nice memories of that day. Plus you can use it for your wedding later on.
Also don't tell your partner you are planning a surprise! This seems quite self-explanatory, but when Janan told me he was planning a surprise for our first anniversary I became too suspicious/curious. I checked his e-mail the day before, and thus spoilt the surprise he spent a month planning.
Making it Yours
A lot of weddings and proposals can feel generic and impersonal, like the usual hotel weddings or hotel room proposals. Here are some ways in which to make it more personal:
1. Through your Stories & Memories
For the proposal, you can consider re-enacting your first date, going on a trail of date places you normally go together, or having them solve clues related to your relationship to move on. Like my second mission mentioned above. There was also a crossword puzzle, which Janan forgot to bring (and turned out to have a lot of wrong answers lol).
For the wedding, there are many ways to weave your story in. For ours, it was through our couple scrapbook and the table stories we did. You can also consider different formats like: a comic strip, a magazine or a video. One way to involve your friends is to have them contribute their favourite memories of you as individuals/a couple, and flashing the funniest or most touching answers on screen. Wedding favours are also a great way to tell your story. I considered getting mini nutella jars because our friends came up with the line "janella, sweeter than nutella" when we were in university.
2. Through your Interests
For the proposal, it can be related to your partner's interest. e.g. for mine, Janan went with Running Man since I like watching it. Another idea I gave him was that since I love miniature stuff, he could build a miniature house and propose with that (the "let's build a home together" idea which was done in the Wedding Planner movie). The more you customize it to the person's likes and interests, the more personal it'll feel.
One thing that I seriously considered for our wedding was having board games for guests to borrow and play at their tables. I gave up on that due to the logistics involved. But depending on your interests as a couple, it can be something fun and special to do at your wedding! Another idea was having an ice-cream uncle since we both love ice-cream, which I would have wanted if we had our wedding at somewhere like Wheeler Estate. One of our friends had a doughnut bar where you could choose your favourite flavour and bag it home as your wedding favour, while another friend had a crafts station for guests to customise their own environmentally-friendly tote bag.
3. With Your Friends
If their friends are very important to them, roping their friends in can make the proposal more enjoyable for your partner. It can be an experience that everyone has together, like going to Escape room together and proposing at the last stage (our friend did that with VR). There are also packages you can rent, like yacht parties or glamping tents with movies and picnics.
During the wedding, you can make the programme more interactive and fun by involving your friends. An interesting way I saw was printing out childhood/unglam photos of your friends, and having them find their photos to find their seats (of course, this is only if you have time to stalk all your friends on Facebook). A lot of people also use quiz games these days, so friends can contribute answers to questions that are then shown on screen. I had the idea of having mini table games/activities related to the stories to keep guests entertained. Some of the ideas I came up with:
Our first memory of each other: guests write or draw their first memory of us.
Our first movie Big Hero 6: guests decorate their own Baymax drawing.
Janan's love for claw machines: Mini claw machine for friends to play, and they can keep the prizes they win.
Proposal/Running man theme: having a mini pirate roulette for guests to play.
My friends/coordinators also had the idea of getting guests to re-enact our photoshoot poses and submit their entries. The best photo would get a prize. Another idea was to have 3 open-ended questions on us, and guests with the most creative answer would win. For our own wedding, we decided not to go ahead with these activities, since the programme was quite packed already.
Hope this helps sparks your own creativity for your proposal/wedding. Whatever it is, have fun planning with your partner and making your own memories :)
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