Picture it: You’re scrolling social media and see a happy couple against a dreamy backdrop celebrating their engagement. You immediately make up a scenario in your head, predicting how surprised the other partner was based on their body language, outfit, and manicure status. On a scale from “absolutely no clue this was happening” to “they helped plan it themselves,” you decide it was somewhere in the “had a hunch but couldn’t confirm” range and wait (not so) patiently for them to share more.
Though your craving for all the juicy details may never be quelled (unless, of course, you know the couple intimately), one thing you can safely assume is that the proposer didn’t make it happen alone: One in five proposers recruit others to help, from family to friends to hotel concierge teams. That last one is the latest in a slew of ever-growing post-pandemic travel trends. And with one in three proposers popping the question on a planned trip, it makes perfect sense that hospitality experts are being called upon to help out.
Depending on the hotel or resort, these love doctors may be dubbed “Proposal Butlers,” “Romantic Personal Assistants,” or something similar. Their objective? Making romance happen at any destination. Tasked with important, occasionally wild, responsibilities, they’ll take on as little or as much as you need to bring a dream proposal to life.
For the Proposal Butler—a dedicated butler selected for you from the hotel’s Proposal Concierge team—at Windjammer Landing Resort & Residences, the wildest request came from a guest who wanted a flower-filled proposal atop St. Lucia’s most iconic mountain, the more than 2,400-foot-tall Petit Piton. The challenging climb to the top takes approximately four hours and requires a guide who knows the trails—think fixed ropes and 100-foot drop-offs.
“We sourced a local guide to transport the flowers and non-alcoholic Champagne to the top of the mountain where they hid them,” Tamisha Eleibox, sales and events manager for Windjammer Landing Resort & Residences, says. “The groom had been documenting the hike with a GoPro camera on his forehead and then when the couple reached the summit, the groom passed it to the guide who took over capturing the special moment.”