Planning a proposal can be a stressful, albeit magical experience at the best of times, let alone when you want to pop the question abroad. Luckily it’s something we feel privileged to have seen plenty of times during our trips! European Travel Director Lasse, who has witnessed – and assisted with – countless proposals in his years on the road (as, he assures me, every Travel Director has), tells us everything you need to know if you’re planning to propose on vacation. Spoiler alert: a Travel Director is your greatest wingman.
What is the first thing anyone should know before they propose on vacation?
“Always tell the Travel Director as early as possible – that is the number one thing. Just grab them aside on the first night to say, ‘I’m planning a proposal. If you have a spot in mind, I’d love to hear it.’ The earlier you do that, the more chances you have throughout the trip. We send out a welcome email a week before the trip, so the person proposing can reply to that. Just make sure to delete the email after!
“Every trip has numerous options, and you can time it with the weather – you don’t want to do it in the pouring rain. If you have blue skies one day and overcast the other, then you might need to change yours plans if you want that picture–perfect moment.”
What can a Travel Director do to help?
“Guests come with an idea of how they want to propose on vacation, and we work around it. I had someone on tour many years ago and, instead of them going on a gondola ride with everyone, I organized for the couple to have their own – just the two of them. I just pretended the numbers didn’t add up, then when I called up for everyone to get on the boat I just said, ‘Oh, there’s two people left – you go in this one,’ like it was the most normal thing.
“We’re good at playing it cool – all Travel Directors are. It’s fun for us too, because it’s something a little different.
“A Travel Director always has a little budget to help out with a bottle of something when it’s done, and I typically always tell the hotels – they love to chip in for honeymoons or newly engaged couples.”
Any tips on what to do, or what not to do?
“Don’t do it without having told your Travel Director you’re planning to. That has actually happened to me – someone came back and said, ‘Oh, we’re engaged.’ I was like, ‘What! Why didn’t you tell me?’ We can always help.
“As for bringing the ring, if you’re not comfortable putting it in your big checked suitcase, you need to make sure you have space. There’s a better opportunity of hiding it in your own suitcase, definitely not in a shared carry–on. But the percentage chance of your checked suitcase getting lost is around 0.001%. On one big three-month trip, I traveled around with a ring for about a month in checked luggage. Trust the process!
“Some people have asked if they could store the ring on the bus, as we have a safe. The drivers say no as they don’t want to take responsibility for that, which I understand.”
What are the ways you as a Travel Director help the process go smoothly?
“The big thing is communicating with the person who is proposing without the other partner being there – that’s typically the hard one. You have to sneak it short, quick messages throughout the day. Maybe she’s in the bathroom and he runs over to say, ‘What are we thinking?’ That’s definitely the hardest part, but it’s also what makes it fun – a little secrecy. You’re instantly on the same page. You have that little secret and you’ll work it out. I’m basically saying: trust me, I’ll come to you when the time is right. I’ll give the person proposing a couple of days’ notice – especially working in Scandinavia the weather can be stunning and beautiful one day and ten minutes later it’s snowing – and it’s July.
“It depends on the individual too. Some people want to do propose on vacation in a public spot, some want something a little more private. I had one once in Paris on the last day of the tour – he’d been carrying the ring around the whole day. There’s a place in Paris called the Wall of Love in Montmartre. I told him, ‘Don’t do anything that day. Rent a bike and go around here,’ and gave him a little map with a circle on it. I gave the guests free time and said, ‘Make sure you’re here at this time.’ Then I went to the spot and waited in the bushes, and when he popped the question I came out with a bottle of champagne.”
Do you really love those moments?
“Absolutely. They come back and share all the pictures. People ask, ‘Who took that?’ and they’re like, ‘Lasse organized it all.'”
What’s your favorite proposal story?
“There was a proposal in Switzerland, on top of a mountain. The guy came to me early and just said, ‘Tell me where to do it.’
“We kept waiting. It could have happened on a gondola in Venice, at the Colosseum in Rome, there were so many places – but the weather just wasn’t good. Then Switzerland looked like a good day, so I swapped things around so we could go up the mountain. On the back of that mountain there are little caves you can walk down with holes in the rock where you look out. I let them walk down first, then waited around the back with his parents who stopped anyone coming through, so they’d have a private moment. We could just about see them. He knelt down, popped the question, she said yes, and we came around filming it. It took a village. A lot of people knew because his dad couldn’t keep quiet about it, and afterwards all the other guests were congratulating and hugging. It is like a little family. The further you wait into a tour, the more people want to be part of it.”
Any final tips on choosing the right trip?
“Every trip is individual, but choose a trip that has something scenic – something iconic, the Eiffel Tower, a Swiss mountain, Norwegian fjords. If you want something a little out of the ordinary, I definitely think Scandinavia is a hidden gem. A lot of people don’t realize the mountains and fjords there are literally some of the most beautiful parts of the world. I’m biased – I live in Copenhagen and run trips through Denmark, Norway, and Sweden all the time – but there are so many viewpoints and photo stops that if you have bad weather for seven days, there’s still an eighth day. It can be done somewhere.
“Try to choose an itinerary where you’re not dead set on just one place. And if you want something out of the ordinary – the Eiffel Tower, Swiss mountains, gondolas in front of the Colosseum, those iconic spots – everyone’s done those. If you got it done in a Norwegian fjord, that’s almost a better story for these times. People want something different when they propose on vacation, something linked to a unique story.”