It’s a big moment in any man’s life – the moment he decides to ask his lady to be his wife. But, what exactly runs through his head in the lead up? I’ve caught up with some menfolk to spill the beans on their own proposal stories. First cab off the rank will be hard to beat as Ben shares his story of asking Dashelle to marry him:

Planning a proposal is HUGE – what initial ideas did you have about how you would propose?

I had decided early on that I wanted to do something that was obviously memorable and also creative. I’m not the bended-knee-at-dinner type of guy and consider myself a bit of a creative thinker so I wanted to make sure I came up with something that she wasn’t expecting!

After picking my brains for a while I remembered that she had always wanted to go on a hot air balloon ride so that naturally seemed to me to be a perfect means for proposing. I had also always wanted the proposal to be a complete surprise and didn’t want her to be suspecting it in the slightest, which is harder said than done! To help keep it a secret I timed the proposal to coincide with our dating anniversary so that once I surprised her with the hot air balloon ride I could also convince her that it was simply just a present to celebrate our 3 year anniversary as a dating couple and nothing else…

How were you feeling leading up to the big question?

I was really excited about the proposal and couldn’t wait to finally do it since I had had the ring for quite a few months already. The only thing I was nervous about was making sure everything came together perfectly so that all my planning and scheming would actually amount to something!

I had chosen our favourite beach and favourite spot to hang out in Byron Bay as the location, but since we live in Brisbane it meant that we had to travel 150km to get there and also meant I only had one shot at the surprise element. Although, little did I know before planning the proposal that balloon rides are very precarious events and a successful launch can only be made on the day if conditions are perfect, this was not helping my nerves!

Please spill on all the proposal details – we want to know how it played out, any hiccups along the way, and if she was surprised!

So I woke Dashelle up at the crack of dawn around 3am telling her I had a surprise for her and that she had to get dressed in warm clothes and be ready to go ASAP. We were then picked up by a limousine and driven to our ‘mystery location’ and she was totally oblivious to what was going on until we finally pulled up at the launch site and she saw the balloon. I then convinced her that it was a present for our anniversary to which she was so excited and still none the wiser as to just how excited she was going to be in about an hour’s time!

Luckily it was a perfect day for ballooning, so we were up and away and the first part of my plan had ran smoothly. But of course, that wasn’t the hard part… The key to the whole plan coming together was my mates and one of the balloon company employees on the ground with a massive banner with the words, “MARRY ME DASHELLE” painted on it. Since the balloon can’t be steered and must simply just go wherever the wind blows it, there had to be constant (and secretive!) communication between the balloon operator and my mates down below so that they would be in just the right place in our flight path so that we could glide effortlessly over them.

The boys on the ground did a stellar job and were in position at the perfect time meaning that I could even get a photo of Dashelle, unbeknown to her, with the banner off in the distance as we approached it. Once we were over top I got her to turn around and pointed it out, she was overwhelmed and shocked and by the time she had turned back to me I was down on one knee with the ring out awaiting her answer… After a bit of sobbing and excitement it was a yes!

Do you have any tips or advice for future grooms planning to propose?

My advice is to keep it original and try personalise the proposal by thinking outside the box making it a memorable and special event. The main thing is that the proposal reflects you and your future wife, if you make it an expression of your love for each other you really can’t go wrong!

Also, I might be a bit old-fashioned but I say don’t be lazy and keep it a secret. Surprise your woman and make it a habit to keep surprising her as your marriage goes on, don’t lose that romantic spice!