The idea of getting down on one knee has always given men sweaty palms. Now, they can stop agonising as wedding planners turn proposal consultants for men who want to get creative about popping the question. Ask her in a limo,up in the air or have the four words spelt out in rose petals ...
The goons gagged her and drove her to an unknown destination. Then they got a bit rough,refusing Ayesha food and water and even slapping her for no reason.One of her abductors made ransom calls to her boyfriend who seemed to be in no mood to pay up.This went on for an agonising 12 hours during which the famished girl dissolved into tears, much like the helpless heroines in the Bollywood melodramas that she and her boyfriend were hooked to.
Her tears were interrupted by a sudden thud.Somebody had ripped through the door behind her.That the door was made of cardboard somehow did not take away from the bravado of the man who was standing in front of her,rose in hand.Her night-long disenchantment with him was replaced by an overwhelming sense of relief."The love of my life came to my rescue and beat up the villains much to my delight," Ayesha later told her friends in an email.That wasn't all. Once he was through with the goons, he went down on one knee,extended the rose,and proposed.
Like the movies,this drama too had a happy ending. "She was surprised,of course,and wept a great deal,but she really liked the idea," recalls a representative of the Santa Cruz-based personal occasion management company Mygenie.com,that had helped the boyfriend orchestrate the entire chain of events in much the same manner as they had taken shape in his "filmy" mind.
"We took her family into confidence as she was to be missing through the night," the representative who likes to call himself "the invisible genie" adds, about the proposal that had set the film buff back by about Rs 7,000 to Rs 8,000 - a small price for the priceless expression on the face of the girl who is now his fiancee.
It's not just weddings that are becoming longer and more extravagant,the proposals are getting creative too.Popping the question is now a pre-meditated event choreographed by invisible (it spoils the romance if the girl finds out) professionals.So if you want to engineer a fake kidnapping,shower flowers from a helicopter,propose in a limo or serenade your brideto-be,there's an event manager or wedding planner at your service.These proposal consultants get into the act of helping men - and it's still overwhelmingly they who do the asking - to manufacture fairytale scenarios that the wife (and eventual grandkids) will be enchanted by.
"For one client,we decorated a 100 by 100 feet open space by the beach with rose petals that had the words 'Will you marry me' spelt with white petals," remembers the 'invisible genie'.The event,which also saw the couple travel to the seaside spot in a helicopter charter,cost about Rs 56,000.
While some prefer luxurious experiences (yacht rides or air charter services,which range from Rs 60,000 to Rs 3.5 lakh per hour),others are content with relatively inexpensive options (singing telegrams) marking their offbeat Dday.
Recently,one of the clients of Marry Me wedding planners in Mumbai,for instance,took his girlfriend (at the time) to a nightclub along with their friends.It was also her birthday that day.Suddenly,when they were on the dance floor,the music stopped and a video flashed across the big screen.This special video (created by the wedding planners) had the boyfriend talk about their relationship and wish her a happy birthday.It ended with him asking her the all-important question - "Will you marry me?" "It turned out to be a beautiful proposal,with their close friends around and,of course,she said yes," recalls Candice Pereira,the creative head.
Dhawal Oza of Dreamz,too,recalls arranging a similar proposal."We had booked a private mini theatre for the couple,screened the girl's favourite movie and flashed the famous four-word question onscreen," he says.Others prefer open air,trees and waterfalls instead of dining tables and scented candles.
Mumbai's Caher Balasinorwala,whose American girlfriend is visiting India this week,has requested Aparna Dalal of lamhe.co.in,a gift registry website,to arrange for a stay at an organic farm near Thane."My girlfriend and I are both fond of nature.So I thought I'll take her to this offbeat hideout while she's here and pop the question when she least expects it," says Balasinorwala,who has also been pleading to the rain gods to help his green,romantic cause.
Often,though,wedding planners have to dismiss some requests as "non-feasible".Once,a boy approached Mygenie.com with a rather quirky plan.He wanted to propose to his girlfriend who worked on the 14th floor of a skyscraper in suburban Mumbai by climbing down a harness and hanging outside her window.Though the company had all the equipment in place,the building refused permission for safety reasons.
Wedding planner Dhawal Oza remembers an even more ambitious request."I received a call from a guy who wanted to propose while sky-diving or bungee-jumping," says Oza who,of course,refused politely.After all,if something went wrong,the only proposal that the girlfriend would be left considering is "Will you carry me?"
Some names have been changed
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