*Maybe you are both major foodies, or you had your first date in a pizza parlor or Mexican café. Whatever the reason, you are ready to pop the question to your beloved, and you want to do it in a restaurant.
While proposing in a restaurant can be a romantic and memorable place to ask your favorite person to marry you, it can also go wrong—really wrong. From rushed meals and distracted wait staff to your sweetie accidentally swallowing the ring, there are plenty of ways that a restaurant proposal can result in a less-than-ideal ending. Fortunately, with some planning, it’s very possible to pull off the perfect restaurant proposal.
Pick the right place
Ideally, the place where you pop the question should be a special dining spot for you and your sweetie. At the same time, you probably want to propose at a place that’s a bit fancier than a local fast food joint. Check out the Michelin Star Restaurant Guide for your city; this will give you some ideas for beautiful restaurants with the perfect combination of delicious food, romantic ambiance and overall decorum that will match well with the ultimate romantic evening.
Another idea is to choose a restaurant that you have been to several times and where the management and wait staff already know you. This can help make it easier to pull off a surprise proposal.
Plan ahead
Once you have selected the restaurant, call ahead and ask what types of amenities they offer for proposals. Most managers will be happy to help you plan your evening, in part because if you get engaged at their restaurant, chances are good you’ll want to return there again and again. At the very least, the manager can help ensure that you’ll have a private table off to the side waiting for you, and he or she may also help with ideas on where and how to hide the ring, and ideas for how the wait staff might help pop the question.
Ask the question early on
Knowing that you are going to ask your sweetie one of the most important questions ever can turn even cool cats into Nervous Nellies. To be able to enjoy your meal as much as possible, pop the question early on during the meal. Consider asking your beloved to marry you during the first course; this will allow both of you to actually eat the meal and enjoy the moment.
Don’t get cutesy with the ring and food
While many romantic suitors think it will be clever to hide the ring in a dessert or another part of the meal, too often the person will miss it entirely or will choke on it. Or, if the wait staff is having an off night, the ring might not end up being hidden as planned or—gasp—could be delivered to the wrong table. Ask the manager for ideas for how to present the ring; it can be tucked inside the bill at the end of the meal or brought out on a specially decorated plate.
Ask ahead about photos
While you’ll probably want some photos of your memorable moment, you will have enough on your mind without having to worry about remembering to pull out your smartphone or camera. This is another way the waitstaff can help out; ask them ahead of time if they will snap some shots of the proposal and the happy acceptance.
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