by A woman’s best friend convinced her to take a “girls trip” to Paris, but she realized it was a ruse when her boyfriend showed up to propose.
Alli Sims, 26, was in cahoots with her friend Freya Mohr’s current boyfriend, Caleb Kemp, 22, to prepare a surprise proposal in the French capital.
Alli has convinced two of her friends to join them, under the guise of a Christmas weekend.
But they surprised Freya, 23, when her boyfriend, Caleb, a content and community executive, suddenly appeared on the Pont Neuf bridge and got down on one knee to propose.
Alli had all the tricks up her sleeve and convinced Freya that the reason they were buying a bigger AirbnB was because the smaller one had flooded and they were getting a free upgrade.
When in reality they needed a bigger place to accommodate Caleb and his friends as well.
After a day of touring the city and some casual chat about propositions, everything was set for Caleb to pop the question in the evening.
Alli told Freya they were crossing a bridge to go to a bar, but Caleb caught her midway – where he proposed to her, and she said yes.
Alli, a fashion designer originally from Nashville, Tennessee, USA who now lives in Kensington, London, said: “It was really good.
“When Caleb surprised Freya, she was so shocked. She couldn’t believe I let her down so much.
“We had a really great weekend partying afterwards.
“It’s adorable because they’re also from the US and we all live in London. Caleb flew his two best friends from the US as well. It was very sweet.
“We also went to a coffee shop during the day, and she was telling me how frustrated she was that he hadn’t proposed yet.”
Alli and her friends first visited Paris in the summer, where they got color-matched tattoos and decided they’d come back to visit as often as they could.
Caleb – who was living in Paris with Freya – got in touch with Alli and planned the surprise proposal.
“I was talking to Freya’s boyfriend because he and she lived in Paris, and he wanted to surprise her there for the proposal,” Alli said.
“So, he said ‘why don’t we pretend you bought tickets to Paris as an early Christmas present?’
“Then I texted her and my other friend saying ‘oh my gosh I got tickets to Paris this weekend – can you go?’ Luckily they could.
“I had a few small hurdles that we had to overcome to convince her that I was booking an Airbnb for three people instead of the eight we needed.
“Three days before we left, I said ‘the Airbnb flooded so we were given a nicer one that accommodates more people’ as an excuse to get into the bigger one.
“We girls got there at 9 in the morning and then the boys all got there at 9 in the day.”
Alli and her friends spent the day sightseeing before heading back to the hotel to prep for the proposal, with Freya blissfully unaware.
“We three girls travel a lot together and we usually don’t go back to the hotel until the evening when we leave,” Alli said.
“But I said maybe we should go back and put something nicer on it.
“Freya wasn’t sure she wanted to wear anything prettier and I had to really work to get her to wear this dress.”
With perfect timing, Alli chose a restaurant near the bridge where Caleb was going to propose and suggested they go for a drink at a bar across the bridge.
He said, “Did I say ‘let’s go to a bar across the bridge?’ to try and get her on deck but had to think of a random bar.
“So, I quickly whipped out my phone and pointed to a random bar on the other side.
“Then we started crossing and all of a sudden he caught her. She was crying, completely shocked and so happy. I think it was the last thing she expected.”
Caleb first approached Alli in August with his idea of proposing to Freya, and the two later hatched their own secret plan.
“I was super nervous but very excited,” Caleb said.
“Once I had the ring in my hands a few days earlier, I was calm, but then the day I had the feeling that I was going over the hill on a roller coaster.”
Freya added: ‘It was crazy, I thought he might propose soon but I was absolutely certain it wasn’t going to be that weekend.
“When Alli said we were going to a bar across the bridge, I wanted to know exactly where the bar was because it didn’t feel right, but I didn’t record anything.”
Caleb said, “I’m feeling super super excited right now. The transition of the engagement I found easy, but now we have to plan a wedding.
“I feel the same, but there’s a little more affirmation because the commitment is very solid now.”
“When I pictured getting engaged, I thought I was going to be nervous and excited, which I was, but it was also peaceful. True peace. We are super happy,” Freya added.
