Just say yes to viewing flash-mob proposals

What is it about these elaborate, group-assisted gestures that hook me? The romance? The surprise? The huge effort some man has put into impressing his girlfriend? Yes, yes and yes.

I’ve shared how my own husband kept it simple. He got down on one knee in front of my dog, three-legged cat and five chickens to pop the question. I loved it. Did I also maybe peer around the corner of the backyard in hopes of a marching band or choir showing up? Uh, maybe. None did. Really, honey, that’s fine. It was perfect.

Still, I am that woman who can spend a few too many moments whiling away on YouTube watching proposal after proposal. I always wonder about the guys who go to such incredible effort. They must be the most romantic, incredible boyfriends in the world, right?

That’s why I got a little giddy when a friend sent around a link to a video where a friend of a friend of hers organized a flash mob to propose to his girlfriend at a pub in London. Can you say, “Brush with fame?”

I grabbed the chance to chat with flash-mob proposal creator Jez Phillips, and it felt like talking to Don Juan, Romeo and Casanova all rolled up into one. “I don’t believe in love at first sight on our first date,” he told me via email. “But, it was pretty darn close when Katty and I met two years ago. I was blown away. When I got home I told my roommate that I thought I’d found my future wife.”

I was swooning over his story already! Surely, this has been the most romantic two years any couple in London has ever seen.

“Not at all,” Jez burst my bubble. You know that sound of a record scratching? You can cue it here. “I actually forgot cards for two Valentines. I rarely buy Katty flowers and am terrible at giving compliments even though I think she looks great all the time.”

It turns out the guy I’d built up as other worldly romantic, was just, well, a guy. Like most of our guys. And this flash mob idea? “It was my way of making up for my many failures as a boyfriend,” he confessed. No wonder Katty Elayassi never saw it coming.

You can see what he came up with by looking for “flash mob proposal BuzzTones” on YouTube: starting with how Jez came to sit down in this pub with Katty and a friend. Moments later Jez excuses himself. Before he comes back, a fake waiter breaks into the song “It Must Be Love” only to be joined in perfect harmony by other guys sprinkled throughout the pub.

As Katty begins to realize what’s going on, Jez shows up again, this time donning a tuxedo! “It felt great,” Jez shared. “I had managed to get in position without tripping over and by the look on her face I knew she was going to say yes.”

Indeed, that’s just what Katty did as three of the singers flashed signs reading, “Will you marry me?”

“So have you redeemed yourself as not such a romantic guy?” I wanted to know?

“I hope so!” Jez replied. “However Katty is now of the opinion that the proposal is a benchmark that I now need to keep.”

Before any of you not-so-romantic guys start thinking, “See! No good romantic gesture goes unpunished!” Jez shares that the higher bar setting is worth it. “It made her feel loved, appreciated and most importantly I got a ‘yes,’ so I’d say however you want to do it, showing your lady you care enough to put a bit of effort in is worth it.”

A newly hatched romantic. I love it. That’s a video I could play over and over again.