7 Ways to Get Your Girlfriend to Dress Up for Your Proposal

7 Ways to Get Your Partner to Dress Up for Your Proposal (without them knowing you’re going to propose)!

If you’re having your proposal photographed, you’ll want to look your best. Even if you’re not having the moment photographed, you’ll want to feel your best. Wear whatever you feel most confident in; that outfit that makes you want to wink at yourself in the mirror. If you do plan on a having a photographer, you’ll want to look at the images without cringing over your outfit twenty years from now. Stick to the classics and opt for neutral or primary colors. For men, a blazer and subtly printed shirt with nice pants or jeans works great. For women, a white, black, or red dress makes a statement. Some of the most flattering outfit choices for women in photographs are solid colors versus prints.

Whether you love dressing up or you prefer rocking athleticwear or jeans, choosing what to wear to your proposal can be a challenge. It’s an even trickier challenge if you plan on having the moment photographed and you want your future fiancé to be what is npp pleased with what they’re wearing in photographs that will last a lifetime.

So how do you get your partner to dress for a proposal? Take them to brunch, dinner, a work event, or even a wedding if you think they would want to be at their most elegant. Hopefully, you have a sense of what your partner feels best in, so create your proposal plan based on how dressy you think he or she would like to feel. Think about what matters most to them. Is she crazy about her hair looking good? Does she love formal attire?

Many guys tell me their girlfriends would kill them if they had their proposal photographed and they weren’t dressed up. But how do you get your partner to dress up without ruining the surprise? Here are my top seven tips:

1. Tell your her you’re going to a formal work event and they have to meet you there.

2. Say you made a reservation for a restaurant or bar with a strict dress code!

3. Propose on a day you know she’ll already be dressed up—like after a graduation party, work event or friend’s birthday!

4. Tell your partner you booked a special couple’s photo shoot for the two of you so she or he will wear what they feel best in.

5. Tell her an old friend from college is having a black-tie wedding if you want your partner to be dressed super formal.

6. Buy a nice outfit for your partner as a gift in advance, tell them how great they look in it and then ask them to wear it for a special night out!

7. Mention an outfit of theirs that you know they love and tell her you’d love them to wear it that day. A good way to ensure they don’t expect anything is to start priming them by saying “you look so great in that blue top” every time they wear this outfit and asking them to wear it on dates out. Everyone responds positively to compliments, so when the day of the proposal finally comes, if you ask them to wear the blue top they’ll never suspect this means their proposal is about to happen! This one takes a bit of advance work but in the end she will be dressed up!

Thanks for checking out this post! I’m Ash Fox a proposal photographer, planner and advisor based in New York City. I help people from all over the world propose here in NYC and would love to help you too! Whether you need proposal ideas, help choosing a location, photography, videography, live music,  a private rooftop, decorations or anything else, I’m here to help. Feel free to reach out! :)