Planning The Perfect Proposal Flash Mob

We get a lot of proposal enquiries here at Club Mob, and it’s one of our favourite types of flash mob. Surprising your partner with a special performance just before you pop the question is bound to be a fantastic memory and story to tell for the rest of your lives together, especially if the performance is tailored to the two of you. The blog this week is a case study of our latest successful surprise proposal to help inspire anyone who is thinking of popping the question!

So let’s simplify this. You need three things in order to create the perfect proposal flash mob. Venue, vision, and talent.

From the moment I first spoke to Simon, I liked him very much. He was passionate, direct and creative - literally the most perfect qualities you can have in a client. Over the next two and a half months, we developed together a plan that would turn out to be our most beautiful and elaborate performance so far. Here is an insight into our process...

The Dining Room at the Chewton Glen Hotel & Spa

THE VENUE

Simon had the perfect venue from the get go. The Chewton Glen Hotel & Spa is an absolute fairytale (check them out, you can book a TREEHOUSE suite) and they turned out to be wonderful partners in crime - if a little wary of our crazy plans at first, once they understood how classy and tasteful the performance was designed to be, they got completely behind it. When you’re planning a proposal flash mob, the WHERE is a huge factor. Inside, or outside? Public, or more private? If private, we can work with the venue to make sure they’re on board and helping us with those little details, so that we get away with whatever characters we are playing before we perform.

THE VISION

And then there’s the vision. How do you see the flash mob being performed? A romantic, customised piece to your favourite couple song? How about something more upbeat…or making her (or him, I should say, especially on a leap year!) think that the flash mob is for something completely different, and reveal at the end that it’s actually all for them? Did you want to join in with the mob and have it full of friends and family, or completely leave it to professionals until the moment where you get down on one knee? If you don’t really have a vision (or maybe it’s just a bit blurry!) talk to us. Our free phone consultations are designed to brainstorm some ideas to get you inspired and planning. 

Simon came to me with his vision - and it was centred around ‘Beneath Your Beautiful’ - their song. His initial enquiry requested a singing flash mob - being a singer myself, I knew we could provide this. But as dance is our speciality, I started to think about how we could bring the two mediums together. 

THE TALENT

So I began to think about the talent - and that’s where as a client you wouldn’t need to worry, as we definitely can take care of that. We have our varied team of handpicked, professional dancers with amazing credits in TV, film, and the West End - and a huge network of singers, musicians and specialist acts. For Simon I worked with the fantastic Pierrot Obi (of London City Soul, the most amazing soul trio) to be the Labryinth to my Emelie Sande, and got on board the incredibly talented Oktam Violin to add some live music into the mix. And then the showstopper - our amazing contemporary dancers, Jack Dyche and Heather Irving (here’s some of their other work), choreographed a bespoke piece to the song. They spent about 3 hours choreographing and half a day in the studio perfecting the dance performance, using a recording of myself and Pierrot singing the piece, just like we would on the day.

Remember, you know your partner more than anyone. You know how they might react to the unexpected, and the best ways to get by them without them suspecting! Another major part of our plan was how we surprised Shelley - she used to work in the events industry, and had seen surprise entertainers before, so it would have to be a really clever ruse to draw her in. Pierrot and I posed as waiters, waiting on the pair for their entire meal (we had training in silver service and borrowed uniforms from the Chewton Glen). As they started mains, a couple entered the restaurant and sat at a table nearby - our undercover contemporary dancers. We had the room rigged with some hidden cameras beforehand - and two videographers and a violinist sat on the third table, as Simon and Shelley were given dessert menus. The dessert menu was a beautiful idea of Simon’s - specially printed by the hotel just for Shelley a week before, it had all the regular desserts, and an additional ‘Beneath Your Beautiful’ option. 

As soon as Shelley saw it, she knew he’d done something - although still had no idea what! Pierrot waited patiently to take her order - she of course ordered the Beneath Your Beautiful. The music began (from a hidden speaker we'd place earlier) and we began to sing (Shelley began to cry almost straight away, and I must confess, my voice was shaky with emotion seeing that!). Midway through entered the violinist, and just after him, the dancers started to dance - and when it was all over, it was time for Simon to deliver the final surprise - a Tiffany’s engagement ring. Here’s the full video below…

It was a wonderfully rewarding experience being a part of Simon and Shelley’s engagement story, so much so that I felt I just had to share it. Here was some of Simon’s feedback about his experience with Club Mob:

‘I can’t even put into words how I feel about what you and your team have done for us. You and your team will stay in our memories forever and ever! Your understanding of what I wanted to achieve is incredible. You simply understood me and made my dream come true.’

It’s all about conveying your love to someone in your unique way - whether that’s with an element of humour, pure romance, or just plain fun.

So if you’re looking for the perfect surprise proposal that is customised to suit the pair of you, get in touch.