Planning A Surprise Proposal Alone Can Feel Like Walking On Eggshells. We’re Here To Help.

We all know that planning a surprise proposal is so stressful. You are afraid your girlfriend is going to find out and ruin the surprise. This leads to you overthinking constantly, always checking over your shoulder, and losing sleep.

There is something you aren’t even thinking about that can ruin your surprise. More than anything or anyone else, and we are going to let you in on that secret.

It is your technology.

It is time to forget everything you know about your phone, laptop, iPad, etc. They are no longer the helpful tools you previously thought they were. Modern technology, while useful most often, is not on your side when it comes to planning a surprise proposal. Let me tell you why.

Whether it is your browser history, curated advertisements, or search suggestions your phone is likely to spoil the surprise one way or another. Let’s get into how to outsmart your phone to keep the proposal a surprise.

Your Phone is Always Listening

Have you ever had an ad show up on your phone about something you were just discussing with your friends or co-workers? Is it a mere coincidence or are our phones really listening? Well, nope, it’s no coincidence. Your smartphone is definitely listening to everything you say.

Our phones routinely collect our voice data, store it in a distant server, and use it for marketing purposes. For those looking to propose, this is your worst nightmare. 

Picture this, you are sitting on the couch with your girlfriend, scrolling through your phone. Suddenly a ring ad pops on screen. Women have a radar when it comes to these things, and that ad is sure to raise some suspicion. 

Your girlfriend will always be hyper-aware of anything wedding or engagement-related. And any little thing may tip her off about the proposal.

To avoid this exact situation from ever coming to pass it is time to start being very aware of what is said around your phone.

For example, if you are at the jeweler looking for your girlfriend’s ring. Or maybe you are meeting with a planner to help you with your surprise proposal. Turn your phone off. Simple as that. If you do not absolutely need it at the moment, turn it off and put it in your pocket. Take notes the old fashion way. 

This may seem like an inconvenience, but we promise it will all be worth it when you see the surprise on your girlfriend’s face when you pop the question.

Private Browser is Now Your Best Friend

I know you probably associate private browsers with all things sketchy and unsavory, but this is your best asset moving forward with your proposal planning. 

There will be times that you will absolutely need to use your phone or laptop when planning your proposal. And if this is the case you need to become comfortable with using your private browser. This is your best chance at your girlfriend not accidentally coming across previous searches for rings, locations, or inspiration you have been looking at. 

Private browsing modes won’t store your temporary browsing data, browsing history, and search history. This means that even if you and your girlfriend are using the same computer you won’t get a search suggestion or ad for anything proposal-related. 

If you want to go the extra mile there is an amazing tool called a VPN. What a VPN does is mask your online activity. This is so absolutely no one can track it or see your history. This is a great extra step you can take that will ensure your surprise proposal will not be ruined by search suggestions or custom advertisements.

To really ensure sure tech won’t ruin your surprise, planning on your free time at work is foolproof. 

Most of the time your work computer will end up staying at work and so it is the perfect opportunity to plan your proposal. Because more likely than not, your girlfriend will not have access to that computer. Also, most of your work tech will not be connected to the tech you use in your personal life. This gets rid of the risk of an ad popping up on your cellphone or personal laptop. It is the perfect way to be able to research and plan your proposal online and knowing that it will not get back to your girlfriend and ruin the surprise.

Technology is Your Enemy From Now Until You Pop the Question

You may think you are in the clear because you are taking precautions with your phone and laptop, well you aren’t in the clear just yet. There is a good chance you have something tucked away in a corner of your apartment or house and you might even have a few in different rooms. It’s a smart home, and it is always listening to you. 

Your Google Home or Alexa is probably something you look over every day and sometimes forget it’s even there. That is because these smart homes have been designed to be helpful while being out of sight and out of mind. The whole point of them is to not be noticed. Which is not great for a man planning a surprise. 

Your smart home listens to you the same way your phone does and can lead to a ruined surprise if you don’t take precautions. 

You need to treat your smart home like you do your phone when you are talking about your surprise proposal. Unplug it or put it in another room. Whatever you need to do to keep it from hearing you talk about rings or practicing your proposal speech. 

This can prove to be difficult because like we said, in many cases, you forget it is even there. Try moving it to a spot more out in the open where you are more likely to see it. This way when it does come time to unplugging it and hiding it away, you remember that it’s there and listening.

The Less Who Know The Better

You are probably ready to shout out off the rooftops “I’m going to propose!”. We understand completely. This is one of the most exciting and special things you will do in your life, and it only makes sense that you want to share it with everyone who will listen. But trust us, keep the number of people who know at a bare minimum. The fewer friends or family know, the better.

Tech is still an issue here. Even though you are so excited to tell your girlfriend’s friends and family about the surprise, you still need to think about how tech will play into everything.

If you are texting or calling a friend or family member of your girlfriend’s, your phone and their phone will log all of the information you are talking about. Ads will start popping up on both of your phones. The same concept we talked about earlier with making sure your phone cant hear about the proposal applies to this situation. Make sure that if you are going to tell someone about the surprise both phones are not involved. Better yet, they are turned off.

If you are one to stick to tradition and are going to ask for your girlfriend’s family’s blessing, make sure they know upfront that it is 100% hush-hush. 

Most of the time you will find that their family is happy to be on board, and they will be excited to see the event unfold. They will be just as eager as you are to make this surprise a success.

Just Act Natural 

We get it, planning a surprise proposal is not easy, and you are making it even harder on yourself and you don’t even know it. You probably are acting unnatural and don’t realize how obvious you are being.

You are going through all of the work of making sure your phone isn’t listening and unplugging your smart home or doing things at certain times so your girlfriend doesn’t catch on. This needs to be done in a way that is natural. When you are going through all the work of protecting the surprise the last thing you want is your behavior to give away the proposal.

When your behavior starts to shift your girlfriend will pick up on those subtle changes in your personality. So just take a deep breath, and make sure that you aren’t having all of those nervous jitters, just play it cool. 

If you really want your proposal to stay a surprise, tech is not the only thing to concerned with. You need to act naturally, while you are going through these changes in your routine that may be caused by having to sidestep around technology to plan your surprise. 

Try your hardest to be natural, it is your best weapon against all of these jitters, just be yourself.

I know it’s hard, you are so excited and nervous, and just want everything to be perfect. We promise you that if you take our advice in this blog and you stay calm and collected, you will have the best chance of success with your surprise proposal.

Tech is Smart but Now You’re Smarter

With the tips and tricks we have given you in this post, you can now go forward and make your surprise proposal is a success. No more running yourself ragged worrying if your girlfriend will see something and spoil the big surprise.

If you want to take the extra step to make sure your proposal is as perfect as it can be check out our Propose Like a Pro program.