Ring Bell for Magic: Bo and Emily’s Cinematic City Park Proposal
2024 was actually a big year for High School/College sweethearts to propose and Hunter “Bo” and Emily were one of the cutest couples in that category. While their New Orleans proposal might have seemed simple to a casual observer, it was filled with deep and meaningful touches that plucked Emily’s heartstrings just right. When a couple has been together for years the way that Emily and Bo have, they know each other on a level that allows for some real creativity in a proposal plan. Bo wanted something that would be a complete surprise for Emily and include personal elements that would only make sense to her- once she put the pieces together after the big reveal, that is! This one turned out to be one for the books! Keep reading to see how we created this magical moment for Bo and Emily’s proposal in New Orleans City Park.
The Romantic Leads
Both originally from New Orleans, they met when Emily’s all-girls High School lost the male lead for an upcoming theater production. Bo stepped in from his all-boys school and as luck would have it he ended up playing Emily’s romantic counterpart. The rest, as they say, is history.
Now in med school all the way down in Grenada, Bo was ready to pop the question when he came home for Christmas break. He wanted something that was going to really catch her by surprise and feel just a little bit over-the-top- in a location meaningful to them. Bo is a true romantic, much like myself, and we had a great time coming up with the perfect way to personalize their proposal. Both Emily and Bo were performing in the Nutcracker during his break so I figured adding some theatrics would be welcomed.
The Stage Direction
We picked a beautiful Live Oak tree in City Park as one of their first dates was not far from there. Then we hired a string trio to perform one of Emily’s favorite songs, “Turning the Page” by Sleeping at Last (Emily is a bit of a Twihard and while Bo is not, including a song from the Twilight series was a very sweet way to show he loves every aspect of her, even the ones he likes to tease her about).
The plan was for the couple and 2 of their friends to take a stroll through the park. We would have 2 of the musicians staged at various places that they would walk by. Once the group passed each musician, the musician would sneak over to the tree to be ready for the proposal. It was a bit of foreshadowing along the walk that Emily wouldn’t put together in the moment but afterwards she’d get to enjoy multiple “ah ha!” moments.
Then before arriving at the proposal location, the group would pass 3 Christmas carolers singing a song that had couple’s future shared last name in the title. The musicians would head to the tree to await the couple and the carolers would follow behind them. At the tree, the couple would encounter a table with a sign that says “ring bell for magic!” next to a custom box with a silver bell in it. Emily would ring the bell, the Trio would start to play, and just as Emily is recognizing the song, the 3 carolers would sprinkle rose petals around the couple before scampering away. Bo would take a knee and pull out the ring!
The Props Master
Bo really wanted to incorporate one of my signature keepsake elements of surprise for his proposal. My favorite thing to make has become custom engraved boxes that hide some sort of signal that the proposal is about to start. It adds an interactive element that also doubles as a one-of-a-kind memento from a one-of-a-kind moment. But for this couple, no basic box would do.
Since Emily is a librarian (and avid reader), the box I ended up creating was shaped like a book. Bo had his grandmother hand draw a family crest for the family Bo and Emily would be starting with their marriage. Bo liked the look of engraving on glass more than wood so I cut out a window in the front of the book box, engraved it on glass, and built a custom frame inside the box to hold it all together. To give it a femme touch, I added a dappled pink paper behind the glass piece. I just pummeled through that description so fast it sounds like this took no time at all. But that couldn’t be further from the truth! Many hours of care went into creating this beautiful work of art for Emily.
And because I am the most extra and one keepsake couldn’t possibly be enough, I turned what could have been a simple paper sign into a custom wooden lightbox wall hanging that they can display in their first home together.
Technical Difficulties
We couldn’t have asked for better weather on the day of the proposal. Which provided us with a problem- another proposal was setting up within eyeshot of our location! And I’m talking big “Marry Me” marquee letters that they would have to walk right by. I had to think fast and modify the plan. I nixed the musicians stationed around the park, just keeping them at the end so I could change the couple’s walking route (which would shorten it by a lot and have the musicians too far away to get to the tree in time). I also shifted Bo’s mark a hair so when he popped the question, the tree would be in between her and the big letters. There was no way I was going to let another couple’s moment distract her from her own (or their distract the other couple, for that matter)!
Standing Ovation
I sent Bo texts with the new route quickly scribbled on a map and a photo of how I labeled his mark on the ground so he’d know where to land. I shifted the position of the table slightly so they hopefully wouldn’t spot the marquee letters at all. Then I held my breath and hoped for success!
And you know what? It worked! She didn’t see it at all and everything went off flawlessly. The moment went down like something straight out of a movie. Her reaction was exactly what Bo was hoping for and she was 100% surprised.
My only wish is that I could have gotten to hear the carolers when the couple walked by! But I was waiting at the finish line, cameras at the ready, to capture the magic when they reached the tree. But even though I couldn’t see their performance, I hire the absolute best performers in New Orleans and I wasn’t even the least bit worried that they’d deliver.
Curtain Call
The Oak trees lit up with christmas lights shortly after the proposal for the Celebration in the Oaks experience. So I ventured into the park as the sun finished setting to get some truly magical engagement photos. As twilight lingered, I had the couple nestle under a particularly beautiful live Oak and fired away while they cuddled and cracked jokes. They were an absolute delight and I really could’ve spent all night taking photos with this couple! But, alas, a chill moved in as night fell on the park and I bid the sweet lovebirds goodbye.
Emily and Bo’s proposal is proof that the devil really is in the details. If it wasn’t for careful planning and quick thinking, Bo’s thunder could have been stolen by another proposal. It wouldn’t have ruined the moment; but it wasn’t the experience we had spent months carefully curating for her. I am so glad I was able to make the right changes happen so that she could live the moment that Bo wanted her to have.
This is what you get when you work with an experienced proposal planner in New Orleans! Quick thinking to navigate any snafus, creativity to make the moment truly exceptional, and a team of skilled artisans to help bring the vision to life.
Ready to give your partner the best proposal experience NOLA has to offer?
