Recently here at Reason, we witnessed something beautiful. When Michael first approached us with his unconventional idea, we were shocked. We’ve had many events go down here; birthday celebrations, bachelor/bachelorette parties, retirement functions, to name a few. So when Michael asked us about proposing to his girlfriend Carine at Reason, we jumped at the opportunity to tackle on a new challenge. This of course meant months of planning, on-site visits, discrete communication, and cooperation from many people. Here’s our guide on proposing in an escape room!

To start out, we gave Michael a complete tour of our facility. Without revealing too much about our two rooms, we showed him around and walked through how the games would end. The decision at that point hinged on where he would propose. It all boils down to preference, but we had decided to not propose inside the room, and that our event space the best place for the proposal itself. The room was going to be reserved strictly for game time, after all, we still wanted them to have the full escape room experience. This also meant to not hide the ring inside the game. A tiny ring could easily get lost by all the game’s excitement. So we ran the game like any other.

We wanted to save the surprise for after their game, so when Michael and his team arrived, they were greeted by a totally plain event space with our staff pretending to meet Michael for the first time ever. The only difference were the subtle hints we dropped that were reflective of inside jokes the couple have. For instance, the number 28 is significant to them, so during their game we announced when 28 minutes had elapsed and when 28 minutes were left. Otherwise, we made sure it was a total surprise for Carine!

To achieve that, we needed total cooperation from everyone, friends, family, and the staff here at Reason. Michael and Carine’s friends in the game were absolutely in on the surprise. They played their parts perfectly, putting their energy into the game as though a life-changing surprise wasn’t waiting for them afterward. While the team was in the room, Michael and Carine’s family got the set-up ready in our event space. To ensure that there was time to celebrate and process, Michael had rented out our event space for an extra hour after their game.

Our staff was cruising because of how well prepared they were. To be cost-efficient, they made their own food and decorations, and had assigned family members to be the photographers and videographers. Our event space was almost unrecognizable. They brought themed balloons, customized signs, rose petals, champagne, and sushi. Michael even sent us his own personalized playlist to play while he proposed! It was quite the spectacle. Keeping the months of planning a secret however meant avoiding communication over text, and encouraging Michael to come meet in person so we could hash out every single detail, from the smallest to the biggest. And it paid off, big time.

So if this speaks to you in some way, here’s a quick recap of our how-to guide on escape room proposals;

Things that Went Well

Planned everything thoroughly with on-site meetings and discreet communication methods
Had total cooperation and help from friends, family, and staff
Non-customized game for authentic experience
Dropped subtle hints specific to the couples’ inside jokes
Rented the event space after the game for time to celebrate and party
Brought own food, drinks, decor, music, and had family members document the event

Things that We Avoided

Did not propose inside the escape room itself
Did not hide the ring inside the game room
Did not use high-budget productions or expensive rentals

So hopefully these tips could help you plan out your special day for you and your special someone. The details of course will change from case-to-case, but as long as your heart is in it, the outcome will be great! While it may seem crazy, reach out to an escape room you’re interested in or come pay us a visit here at Reason. We can officially say we’ve done it all! We’re extremely happy for Michael and Carine and what we could do for them, and we hope we can do the same for you!