Destination proposals are becoming increasingly more popular. As most of you know, I proposed to Alex in Positano back in September. As we plan our wedding, I’ve been thinking back a lot on our engagement and have come up with a number of tips that I wanted to share with you guys. Here are a few tips for proposing abroad.
The #1 thing you should not do is put the ring in your checked bag. Bags are lost on a daily basis. Don’t let your ring be in a bag that gets lost (or delayed). This will really put a rut in your plans. Oh, and more importantly, you’d be entirely shit out of luck. Jewelry is generally not covered by travel insurance or credit card lost baggage insurance.
***I put the ring in a box that had a note on top “Please be discreet” so that TSA/security don’t take the ring out and expose it to Alex. I figured it was unlikely, but I also wouldn’t trust TSA with anything..***
When traveling, things go awry. The day you choose to propose will likely be no different. It all goes back to Murphy’s Law: If something can go wrong, it will. When I chose to propose to Alex, I had the details planned to a T (details which will follow in this blog as suggestions).
I’m not going to tell the entire story, but I’ll provide a brief anecdote of our engagement:
Alex and I were staying a couple nights in Amalfi, and I wanted to propose in Positano (which is one of our favorite places in the world). As such, we had to take a 30-40 minute bus from Amalfi to Positano. Things were planned out, but of course, not everything went as planned. We missed the bus we intended to take and had to wait 30 minutes for the next one. Ultimately this meant we would be REALLY pressing it close for sunset. To make things more stressful, on the way to Positano our bus hit a Vespa driver head on around a corner. In typical Italian fashion, they laughed it off, exchanged information, and moved on after 10 minutes or so. Regardless, my stress was about at its maximum. When we arrived in Positano we had to sprint to the beach to make last light, and just before it got dark, I got down on one knee still half out of breath. So yeah, plan things out and expect shit to not go 100% as planned. Add room for error and you’ll be set. Or just accept you might have a funny story to tell surrounding your amazing moment. Our story makes me smile and laugh every time I think of it.
You should absolutely hire a photographer or have a family member/friend prepared to play photographer (should one be traveling with you). This is hopefully the one time you propose in your lifetime, and if you don’t care about having pictures of the moment, I’d bet your soon to be fiancé would.
My good friend TJ actually proposed to his fiancé in Italy on a trip with her and her family. As such, he informed one of the family members he was going to propose and told them to have their camera ready. This is a really solid strategy as well.
I hired a photographer from Foto Aminta in Positano. They’re regarded as the best wedding photographers on the Amalfi Coast, and they sure did a damn good job with our engagement pictures.
Things will happen as they’re meant to happen. Just do your due diligence. Plan things out, secure the ring, hire a photographer, and make sure the moment is the once in a lifetime moment it’s supposed to be.
Good luck gents!
2 Comments
I like to visit Paragu how can I ?
Buy a flight and go