Couples splurge big bucks on showy proposals —…
Rafael Usufally was more than keen to suggest to Alexandria Kishore, his girlfriend of 11 years — but he wasn’t about to get down on one knee until he’d managed to create “the perfect moment.”
First, the loved-up Long Islander would need a ring — and money was no object. What mattered most to {the electrical} engineer, 30, was wowing his now-fiancée, who works as an administrator at a neurologist’s workplace.
So Usufally spent weeks poring over diamonds, finally deciding on a $11,000 radiant and emerald cut quantity with a diamond-filled band — more than double the $5,200 average price of an engagement ring in the US, according to a 2024 examine.
“It wasn’t like [I had] a budget, it was more about finding something that I could see myself getting for her. I started out at one price, but then I started liking more stuff, and the price just kept increasing,” he told The Post.
And he wasn’t finished — not yet.
“I never really showed him what I wanted,” Kishore told The Post when requested if she gave her fiancé hints of what she needed for an engagement ring. Kuskiev
Next, Usufally enlisted an event planning company, spending $2,200 on a proposal bundle, which included a non-public photographer and lovely decorations for a non-public room he rented at the Manhattan skyline-facing Waterside Restaurant in North Bergen, New Jersey, for $600, where their dinner afterward price another $250.
Finally, on a chilly, late fall day last yr, Usufally lured his bride-to-be to the views-for-days spot on the pretense of having scheduled a couple’s picture shoot.
Instead, Kishore was shocked to stroll into the beautiful, candle-lit space, stuffed with a whole bunch of scattered rose petals and that includes her long-time boyfriend on bended knee.
“My heart stopped at that moment; it was so surreal,” Kishore told The Post.
The Long Island couple plans to get married in 2027. Kuskiev
Total price of proposal? A whopping $14,050, which is sort of half of what the average wedding ceremony in 2025 prices.
A reminiscence that will live on perpetually? Priceless.
That’s according to the 2 lovebirds — just one in a slew of {couples} spending almost what a wedding ceremony used to price ($20,000 back in 2000) just to pop the query, as elaborate and highly-publicized influencer and celeb engagements start to really feel just like the norm, like Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift’s, for occasion.
This past August, the Kansas City Chiefs tight end proposed to the pop star in a custom-decorated garden in his yard that floral consultants consider price around $38,000.
Kelce and Swift virtually broke the web with their engagement news. Taylor Swift / Instagram
And let’s not overlook when Amazon founder, Jeff Bezos, proposed to his now spouse, Lauren Sánchez, in May 2023 on his $500 million superyacht as they cruised around the Mediterranean while a full crew catered to the couple and their relations.
But these days, it’s not just the wealthy and the well-known pulling out all the stops for their big ask.
“My clients’ proposals have run the gamut — one got engaged on a helicopter and another on a pier, and after the proposal, a boat came into view with their families [on it],” Melisa Imberman, proprietor of The Event of a Lifetime, Inc., told The Post.
“In many ways, it’s gotten a bit out of hand,” added Lauren Zizza, wedding ceremony planner and proprietor of Lauren Zizza Events. “One groom I worked with planned a surprise proposal at a private space at a venue, custom floral and candle installations, a live musician playing music, and a photographer to capture everything,” she told The Post.
And the strain of social media doesn’t help.
“Social platforms have normalized grand gestures, creating a kind of proposal culture where there’s subtle pressure to make the moment visually stunning and emotionally powerful and seeing others’ proposals can influence expectations,” continued Zizza.
“For many couples, going above and beyond for a proposal isn’t just about extravagance; it’s about creating a once-in-a-lifetime memory that reflects the significance of the moment.”
This NYC-based couple is aware of a factor or two about extravagance. Phil Kessler, 31, determined in May 2022 that he needed to ask his now husband, Zack Aberman Kessler, 31, to marry him, and the phrase “budget” wasn’t even in his vocabulary.
“I just spend what I feel is necessary for that situation rather than setting a number limit,” the video sport designer told The Post.
A European seashore made for a beautiful backdrop for Phil Kessler and Zack Aberman Kessler’s particular second. Patricia de Carvalho
The millennial couple have been initially going to journey to the Hamptons, their favourite place, but after doing the mathematics and seeing how, for the same money, they may hop on a aircraft and go to Europe, they determined on Portugal.
This put the thought in Phil’s head to ask Zack, a VP of global occasions at JP Morgan, to marry him at a serene “Instagrammable” seashore in the city of Cascais.
While Portugal is understood to be less costly than other fashionable European international locations, Phil didn’t cut any corners for him and Zack, including reserving a $1,000 a night time five-star lodge.
The day of the proposal, the couple loved a luxurious lunch with an over $200 invoice at a restaurant on a cliff surrounded by the roaring ocean.
“It was definitely the most beautiful place I’ve ever been in my life. It was just over the top,” Phil gushed.
Afterward, the lovebirds took a stroll along the picturesque seashore, where Phil finally obtained down on one knee and whipped out two IWC Schaffhausen watches, both totaling $12,000. A employed photographer for “a few hundred dollars,” galavanted around the seashore snapping pics of their completely satisfied second.
“They’re the same watch but different colors [faces] and different styles [band],” he explained.
Phil purposely obtained watches that matched each of their personalities. Patricia de Carvalho
There have been a lot of completely satisfied tears and {dollars} spent on this proposal — over $17,000 to be precise, but the couple couldn’t be happier with their expertise.
“We always say it was the best day of our lives, even better than our wedding [which took place in September 2023],” said Phil.
From one European proposal to another, in May of last yr, Michael Loconte, 33, deliberate a $3,200 journey to Italian hotspot Lake Como to have fun his fiancée, Shannon Ganley, 30, getting her grasp’s. But in the back of his thoughts, he knew that can be the right place to ask her to marry him.
Loconte, who works in financial software program, pulled off the shock of a lifetime — a romantic proposal on a $500 scenic non-public boat tour around the attractive city of Varenna with an “over $10,000, less than $15,000” spherical sensible solitaire diamond engagement ring for Ganley.
What began as a celebratory journey turned into Michael Loconte and Shannon Ganley agreeing to spend the remainder of their lives together. Matt and Grace Studio
The 33-year-old employed a photographer for $1,142 — whose cover-up story was that he was taking promo photographs of the boat — to tag along and seize the particular second.
“It was when we were finally in front of the marina, the so-called boat photographer said, ‘Would you like a picture in front of it?’ He turned back to us in the cabin, and in that moment, I thought, ‘This could be happening. Oh, my God,’” the mental health counselor told The Post.
After many hugs and kisses, the newly engaged New Jersey couple indulged in celebratory drinks on their means to a $351 “beautiful dinner with a full tasting menu” before ending off the memorable night time at a wine bar.
“Looking back at the photo, it’s so clear that there was a ring box in his pocket,” Ganley told The Post. Matt and Grace Studio
“It was so special,” said a beaming Ganley.
The whole price of the couple’s Italian proposal: $17,193.
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