LONDON -- There are so many innovative wedding proposals online these days, it's hard to pull off something new.
Ray Smith from Grimsby was struggling to think of a novel way to pop the question to his pregnant girlfriend Claire Bramley when he hit upon an idea that can't have been done before: ask her 148 times without her realising.
He took a selfie every day for five months, hiding the message "Will you marry me" on a piece of card in each picture with Claire kept in the dark until he was ready to ask her for real, on Christmas Day last year. To ensure she didn't realise, he told her he wanted to document her ongoing pregnancy. He kicked things off in July last year.
"I have been planning to propose for a while and I knew I wanted to do something romantic, so I originally thought about popping the question in a hot air balloon," he said. "But then in June we received some great news that Claire was expecting a baby, which put a stop to that plan. So I had to have a rethink."
"I searched online for unusual proposals and I saw ideas like flash mobs and that sort of thing. So I decided to come up with my own idea to take a picture every day for five months."
His final video demonstrates the staggering commitment required to pull off the trick. The first month alone shows a variety of ways he fiendishly got Claire and the card in the same photo.
He held the note up in family selfies.
He also hid it in the background
Sometimes he took the picture while she was sleeping.
He managed to place it on the stairs without her noticing.
For some pics he played with fire.
At times it's amazing she didn't spot it.
He managed to get it in shot while kissing her pregnant belly.
She was apparently completely oblivious in every picture.
For some he got colleagues to help.
Every single day, a sweet selfie with the note.
Even at the zoo.
So did she say yes? Of course she did.