Sky’s no limit for romantics on a mission.
It is not that the French are more romantic than the rest of us, it’s just that they seem to have a capacity to woo with more style. On February 14, Sebastian, 35, will be the first
man to propose to his girlfriend in space, with the help of a team of space exploration professionals. The love-struck Romeo won’t actually have to travel the 30 kilometres into the earth’s stratosphere, but he and his girlfriend will be able to track the space flight, and proposal mechanism, on film. Sebastian called upon Paris-based company ApoteoSurprise, experts in planning spectacular marriage proposals, to arrange the stunt which will take place on Valentine’s day, at a cost of £4,320. A picture of the couple and the message “Vanessa, will you marry me?” will be attached to a giant heliumfilled balloon and will be released into the sky by the space team. Video recording equipment will film the message and the surrounding scene during the flight, from its launch to its arrival in space. After two or three hours, the message of love will arrive at an altitude of 30 kilometres, and the last footage will be shot against a backdrop of space and the wonderful blue planet earth. The balloon will blow up, a parachute will open, and the video equipment will fall back to earth. The footage will be recovered and a montage will be edited so that Sebastian can show the film to his girlfriend, at which point Vanessa can claim to be the first woman to have been proposed to in space. Based near Disneyland, Paris, ApoteoSurprise was founded in 2006 by Parisian entrepreneur Nicolas Garreau. The agency offers 30 proposal packages, including a Cinderella’s carriage which can arrive at the Moulin Rouge with a magical shoe, an aeroplane displaying a proposal message on its wings while flying over Notre Dame, and a shower of 1,000 red roses covering a yacht dinnercruiser on the River Seine. Prices range from £424 for a limousine tour with a personalised message appearing on a giant LED screen at the Eiffel Tower to £13,764 for a private aerial patrol drawing a white smoke heart in the Parisian sky. In seven years, more than 1,000 lovers, from all over the world, have called on the expertise of Nicolas at ApoteoSurprise to express their love in Paris, and now, in space.
