Santa Monica Beach this past weekend where we had a nice bike ride

This last weekend Michele and I took advantage of the nice weather in Los Angeles and decided to rent some bikes and take a ride along the beach. It was really nice and we loved the time we got to spend together. Our nice ride got me thinking that there must be some people that would really enjoy proposal ideas that have to do with outdoors and adventure.

Though I wouldn’t consider a casual ride along Santa Monica beach very adventuresome, there could definitely be some ways to make it more thrilling. There are also some ways of making adventurous proposals more romantic. Below are some ways that you can do that.

Bike Ride to Surprise Location

This bike ride could be on a mountain trail or on the beach. The goal is to make it seem like that’s all you and are your partner are going to do. After enjoying a nice ride, you then stop off at a location where you setup a nice picnic. The picnic will have elements that are relevant to your relationship. At this surprise is where you will propose at.

Skydive Into Dinner for Two

I LOVE this idea because it’s very James Bond-ish. The idea is that you are your girl do something crazy adventurous like skydiving. You two jump out of the plane and have the time of your lives. But you don’t do just a simple sign at the bottom. Once you land, you have a nice table for two arranged to have a romantic dinner on the ground outdoors so you can propose. It will be an amazing blend of adventure and romance.

Sports Car Rental to Scenic Outlook

Similar to the skydive proposal, you can rent a sports car or motorcycle and take your sweetie for a thrilling ride along the coast or mountains. You two have a blast doing this. Right as you two are at the height of the moment, you pull off to a location where there is an amazing view and no one around. You enjoy the change of pace and propose to her.

Rockclimb to the Surprise Top

For those that love outdoors recreation this one is great. You setup some type of surprise like a picnic, scrapbook, or box at the top of a rockclimbing cliff. Your tell your partner that you really can’t wait to get to the top because it will be amazing up there. Once you reach it, she will find out why.

No matter what your personality is like, The Heart Bandits can help you with a customized proposal idea. Your idea will be unique to your partner and your relationship. Once your idea is set then we can do the marriage proposal planning as we are the best in the world at that. Contact us today to get starting on making your dream engagement come true!

Today The Heart Bandits-Proposal Planners are going to share this amazing New York proposal that we planned.  Lawrence came to us needing some help coordinating his marriage proposal.  You see, Lawrence lives in Australia and his girlfriend lives in Buffalo so it was really difficult for him to set up everything himself.  He also wanted a great proposal idea that would really melt his girlfriend’s heart. The way that we come up with unique proposal ideas is by interviewing our client and finding out details about him, his girlfriend, and their relationship.  What we uncovered about Lawrence is that he likes to draw and he used to draw cute little stick figures for his girlfriend when they were dating.  That became our proposal concept.  Lawrence drew out his love story with stick figures and then we had them printed on signs.  We rented out an art gallery and we had Lawrence tell his girlfriend that after dinner, they would be going to an art gallery to see an exhibit.  His girlfriend was completely shocked when she walked in and found that there was no one in the gallery.  She walked upstairs and the musicians we hired were playing “Turning Pages” by Sleeping at last which is her favorite song.  She saw a beautiful purple floral arrangement and 6 easels marked 1 through 6.  Lawrence had her uncover each easel one by one to uncover his artwork and messages.   He then proposed and she said yes.  If you are wondering how to propose, this should give you some great inspiration.  Check out these photos and leave your comments.

If you are looking for some help to plan the perfect proposal, contact The Heart Bandits. We specialize in creating unique and romantic marriage proposals. Contact us today!

Art Gallery and photos: ZGM Fine Art Gallery

Music: Kristen Puglisi

Flowers: Flowers Buffalo

We were recently introduced to an article from Everyday Health that spoke about the health benefits of marriage. I’m sharing the infogram from their article below so you can see that studies have shown that being married has nice health benefits. You can read the full article here.

This article got me thinking that I’ve personally seen a lot of benefits from people that have had great marriage proposals as well. Though I haven’t done a full scientific study, I thought that I would list some of the benefits that I have personally seen people have when they have an amazing proposal.

Raw Happy Emotion

When a couple gets engaged, the actual moment creates nothing but raw genuine emotion. It is pure happiness at its finest. This happiness can transcend itself into tears, laughter, or screaming but they’re always all good. I can see nothing but good that can come from creating such a positive emotion in someone.

Great Proposal Story to Share

Couples that have an amazing proposal are even happier after because they love sharing their unique engagement story. Nobody likes to say that they were proposed to the same way as a bunch of other people, so the couples that have a more unique story are prouder that they invested in it. They love sharing it now and are happy that they will be able to share it for years to come.

Happiness Shared By Friends and Family

Marriage proposals don’t just mean happiness for the couples involved. Family and friends also share in the joy. They’re happy that you two have found each other and are taking the next step. They want to celebrate with you. It’s almost funny that when you decide to make yourself happy by taking the next step with your partner, that you make other people happy as well.

If you would like Proposal Ideas from The Heart Bandits that will warm your heart, contact us. We will provide you with customized proposal ideas that are unique to your relationship that you will never be able to find on the internet. You will have an amazing proposal story that you will love to share for years to come.

If you are one of the lucky people heading to New Orleans for the Super Bowl this weekend, why not propose there?  New Orleans isn’t just a party town famous for Mardis Gras.  It has a lot of character and would make for an excellent engagement.  Here are some of our top choices for where you can propose to your girlfriend during Super Bowl weekend.

Horse Drawn Carriage in French Quarter

A horse drawn carriage is always romantic.  Add a Parisian like setting and you know it is bound to be romantic.  If you really want to impress her, add a saxophonist or a poem written by a professional poet to the mix.  The Heart Bandits can arrange all of that.

Faubourg Marigny

This is a hidden gem in New Orleans.  It is a historic neighborhood filled with charm and romance. Take your girlfriend out for a nice dinner and then go for a moonlit stroll through this area.  Find a quiet place and propose.

City Park

The City Park is filled with different areas you can propose.  The Sculpture Garden, Botanical Gardens, or Forest and Arboretum would all be great locations for your big moment.  This is especially true if she is a nature lover.

Mississippi River

Propose in true New Orleans fashion by doing so on the Mississippi River.  You could do it in a riverboat or ferry.  Either would be so romantic.  Just make sure to check the weather first!

If you are like most of us, you will be watching the Super Bowl from home.  Read our article on Huffington Post about how you can propose to your girlfriend on Super Bowl Sunday without missing the game.  If you want a truly memorable proposal story, contact Proposal Planners-The Heart Bandits. We will help you come up with a proposal idea and then execute your marriage proposal details.  Let us take the stress from you, you just enjoy your day.

If you were watching the news recently in Los Angeles, then you might have seen this marriage proposal that occurred recently. A group of about 300 bikers created an envoy and essentially shut down the 10 freeway for a small stretch. They completely stopped traffic in order for one guy to propose to his girlfriend. Talk about dramatic!

I can easily say that I have never seen anything like this before in my years of proposal planning. Though this proposal was certainly unique, it has good things and bad things about it. If you’re thinking about doing something like this, let me describe what you should and shouldn’t take from it.

The Good

Surprise Proposal

How can you not be surprised by coming to a complete stop on a freeway (unless you’re on the 405 anytime) and your boyfriend surprising you with a proposal? The element of surprise was really huge in this because none of it could have been expected at all.

Help from Friends

One thing that the proposer had going for him is that he had a lot of help. He would not have been able to stop in the freeway if he didn’t have the help of 300 of his biker friends. Having help just makes your job easier.

Documentation of Proposal

This proposal was captured on video and photo so now they will have something to look back on from years to come. This is something that we always recommend to our clients.

The Bad

Major Disruption of Public Utility

Though their thinking was good, the actual execution of it was not really. You really can’t just shut down a public utility such as a freeway and expect it to not be a big deal. Even if you know that it will be a big deal, then it still may not be a good idea because there could be a lot of harm that could come from it.

Potential of Something Going Wrong

Similar to the above point, there were a lot of things that could have gone wrong in this proposal. First of all, it was very dangerous to just completely stop on the freeway. Some of the cars may not have stopped so someone could have gotten hurt. Also, the police could have showed up at any moment and put a damper on their moment.

Illegal

The obvious thing that was wrong with their proposal was that it is illegal to stop traffic like that. The video was posted and viewed by many people and as a results, the people involved could potentially face legal citations.

Luckily for this couple, the moment turned out well but it could have gone really wrong. If you want to do something grand, there are many ways that you can do it without putting yourselves or others in danger.

The Proposal Planners at The Heart Bandits want to make sure you have nothing but good in your engagement story. You can still have all the surprise and personal aspects of a proposal such as this WITHOUT having the illegality that comes with it. We are experts at proposal planning and can make your proposal be amazing. Contact us today to get started!

At MIT, the January time frame was given to us as a vacation but the school still offered classes to students in various topics. These classes lasted from a day to a few weeks. One of the most popular classes that they have is Charm School. To commemorate the Charm School at MIT, I figured I would help those people that want to propose marriage and want to do it with charm. Below are some tips from your Marriage Proposal Planners at The Heart Bandits for doing exactly that.

Include Sentimental Items

When you include cute things in your proposal that are sentimental to your relationship, then that is very charming. The fact that you took the time to be thoughtful and add it in says a lot. It doesn’t have to be anything over the top either. Say for example if your girlfriend loves those little “Love Is…” cartoons. If you include a lot of those into your proposal then that will go a long ways and will make your proposal very memorable… not to mention charming.

Propose at a Romantic But Fun Location

Proposals are usually romantic and the location that you choose for it plays a large role. If you choose a location that is both romantic and fun, then that will equal a charming place. If your partner is fun loving and playful, then you can choose a place that is romantic and maybe has a swing or a slide so you two can use after she says yes. Again, this shows that you’re thinking ahead.

Involve Children or Cute Pets

One surefire way to make a proposal charming is to involve children or pets, just be extra careful if you’re involving pets because you never know what they’re going to do. If you’re involving children, it makes the proposal adorable and very charming. Say your girlfriend is a school teacher. One great way to propose in a charming way is to have her students hold up signs asking her to marry you when she’s not looking and then surprise her.

Make Your Partner Smile

When you think about what is charming, then the answer really lies in what makes your partner smile. If you know your partner well, then there are things that will just make her smile and warm her heart. I’m not talking about laughing, but just something genuine and good-natured. If you incorporate something that does that into your proposal then it will be perfect.

If you want your very own charming proposal ideas from The Heart Bandits, then you can be sure that your proposal will be memorable, thoughtful, and unique. We are engagement experts and can help you with anything marriage proposal related. Contact us today to get started on creating a charming proposal.

The Heart Bandits – Wedding Proposal Planners are sometimes astonished at some of the proposal ideas we read about, hear about, and are even asked to arrange.  Here are our top 5 proposal ideas you should never attempt.

Faking Your Own Death

We all heard about the proposal where a Russian man asked his girlfriend to meet him somewhere.  When she arrived she saw mangled cars, an ambulance, and her boyfriend who appeared to be bleeding from everywhere.  He actually arranged for the paramedic to tell her that he was dead but then he was like “Ha Ha, just kidding! Will you marry me?”  This is a terrible idea.  Why would you want to make your girlfriend’s heart break before you propose?  Which leads me to my horrible proposal idea….

Scaring Her Before You Propose

This one I just don’t understand the logic behind.  I have had several people call me to ask me to hire police to chase their girlfriends down or to chase them around in front of their girlfriend so that she gets all scared and then relieved when she finds out it is really a proposal.  I understand that you want a surprise proposal, but what value is added by scaring your girlfriend before the big moment?  A proposal should be pleasant from start to finish.

Jumbo-tron Proposal

I never get tired of addressing the ever so played out jumbo-tron proposal.  It is such a bad idea because it is cheesy and also because it makes the girl feel like she can’t even say no, even if she wanted to.  Besides, it has been done a million times………unfortunately.

Cliché Proposal Ideas

If you find a proposal idea many times on the Internet, chances are it is cliché.  Do not propose to your girlfriend by hiding the ring in a box of chocolates or having the waiter bring out your ring on a dessert tray.  Please don’t propose by dropping the ring in a champagne glass or by hanging the ring on a Christmas tree.  Your girlfriend deserves her own, custom proposal idea that was created just for her.

Put the Ring Somewhere Crazy

You probably heard about the guy who buried his engagement ring in the sand and then couldn’t find it when he went to propose.  Please don’t do anything like that.  Don’t put the ring in your adorable puppies mouth, don’t bury it, and don’t do anything silly with such a huge investment.

For creative and custom proposal ideas, hire The Heart Bandits.  We will interview you to find out details about you, your girlfriend, and your relationship, and then we will come up with original proposal ideas for you.  You can hire us to plan every detail so you can be sure nothing goes wrong.  Contact us today.

Like it or not, Valentine’s Day is a little over 3 weeks away. If you’re a guy’s guy then this day may scare you off a bit. But if you’re thinking of proposing marriage on Valentine’s Day then you need to start planning NOW. A lot of places book up fast for that day and if you want a super romantic proposal idea, then you need to think outside the usual little teddy bear they sell at every 7-Eleven. To help, here are some proposal ideas for Valentine’s Day that are super romantic that you can start planning now.

Write Her a Song

You don’t have to be a professional song writer to do this either because it’s the thought and effort that counts. I did this for Michele a few years back and there’s NO WAY you can sounds worse than me. 🙂 The fact that I put the effort into making something like that meant everything to her. Now imagine doing that for a proposal?

Get A Professional Poem

If you have trouble putting your feelings into words, then we have a great professional poet that can help create proposal poetry for you. She actually helped out with Gary’s romantic poetry proposal which we will be featuring soon. You can check out his marriage proposal video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNekQ915DRQ.

Buy Her a Pet She Wants And Incorporate Proposal

If your partner loves pets, a great proposal idea would be to get her the pet she wants while incorporating your proposal into it. You would need to lead up into the proposal by adding elements that she loves though. But as the culmination when you present the pet, the pet could be wearing a cute outfit asking her to marry you. Your new family addition will be symbolic of how you see a future with your partner.

Valentine’s Day Vacation

One of the best ways to create a surprise and be super romantic is to whisk away your partner for a romantic vacation on Valentine’s Day. If you do this, you don’t have to have your actual proposal be as involved as you can propose at a scenic location when you’re just taking a walk and the whole weekend will be considered romantic. Some very romantic places to take trips to would be New York, Paris, Cabo San Lucas, Las Vegas, Napa, or Venice.

Proposing on Valentine’s Day is the epitome of doing something romantic. It’s difficult to have a solid plan on this day unless you start early or get some help. We are proposal experts and are the best in the world at planning marriage proposals so we can definitely help you. Contact us today to get started on creating your Valentine’s Proposal!

Dave contacted The Heart Bandits to plan his marriage proposal and he had one must-have criteria; it had to be a private proposal.  He didn’t want some flashy public proposal where people he didn’t know would stand around watching his private event.  To come up with the tailored proposal idea, we interviewed Dave and one thing he said really stood out to us.  He said that one of his best moments with Susie was a night in Hawaii when they danced under the stars.  We decided this would be the perfect proposal idea.  We rented out a theater so he had the whole place to himself and on the day of, he told Susie that he wanted to take her to a play there.  Susie was in absolute shock when she walked in to a completely empty theater.  Watch the video below and see the whole thing.  There were stars hanging from the theater roof to symbolize dancing under the stars, a sign with her nickname on it, Hawaiian flowers, hula dancers, and a guitarist singing their song.

We worked with some amazing vendors on this proposal.  A huge thanks goes out to Butterfly Floral & Design, Maya Meyers Photography (photos coming soon), Bella Films, Bright Entertainment, and Karla Moxley.  If you are looking for a heartwarming proposal idea that stands out from the rest, contact The Heart Bandits.  We will guide you to your perfect proposal idea and then plan it all for you.

To some people it may seem sad, to others kind of funny, but to me I see it as an opportunity. What I’m talking about is the story of how we started and why I decided to become a marriage proposal planner at The Heart Bandits. The story usually starts with how I proposed marriage to Michele and she didn’t really like it.

My Engagement day to Michele

She Said Yes…. But

I was the happiest guy in the world when she said yes, but I soon came to realize that I didn’t have a good proposal. I took Michele to what I thought would be a romantic evening by taking her on a sunset cruise in Marina Del Rey. The problem is that she isn’t big into boats. It was a nice night but it wasn’t as impactful as it could have been and it didn’t have anything relevant to our relationship.

Lack of Proposal Resources

When I had been strategizing my proposal plan, I had done a ton of research into marriage proposals but all the information out there wasn’t very helpful in getting me to a point where I created something relevant to my relationship. There weren’t really any resources for guys in my position. What I thought were creative proposal ideas were really just boring and unimaginative ideas that had been done before (hence me choosing the boat idea).

Support Team Resource

After our proposal, Michele came to me and said that she really thought it would have been great if there were a company that provided photography of guys proposing. I thought that this was a really good idea. The more we got to talking the more we realized that this company could help guys in all aspects of wedding proposal planning.

We decided to create The Heart Bandits and my reasoning for being a proposal planner was that other guys in my same situation could truly benefit. I had NO idea what made a good proposal when I proposed. If I had been able to have a proposal planning team help me I would have been set. I thought that maybe I could help those guys that have nothing but good intentions but somehow think that JumboTrons proposals are good.

All Questions & Concerns Answered

The biggest reason I became a proposal planner though is that I could help guys with any questions or concerns they have about their proposal because I was in their shoes. A lot of guys get nervous before their proposal and they often call me beforehand and ask what they should say for their proposal speech.

I enjoy giving them words of encouragement because I get to help calm them down and help them see that their engagement will be amazing. I help them see that they should enjoy their moment and not stress about the details, especially since we are taking care of them. They have no reason to be nervous at all. For this reason, I became a proposal planner and I love this job. 🙂

If you would like Michele and I to be on your team and help you with proposal ideas and planning, then you will have an awesome proposal. We have done hundreds of proposals and will help you create a marriage proposal story that is unique and amazing. You can click here to see some examples of our work. Contact us today to get started on creating a dream proposal!