This has to be the best inflight marriage proposal I’ve ever heard, made truly special by the cabin crew. There was no public announcement, no embarrassment of the bride to be. Instead there was a table, tablecloth and chairs set up at the back of the plane – two glasses of sparkling wine, and a ring placed inside a dessert. She said yes!

It is almost de rigueur and perhaps even a bit derivative to propose marriage on a plane. But Avianca Senior Vice President Dana Shapir Alviene, recently JetBlue Vice President of Airports, shared a story that’s a little more creative.

A flight attendant wrote to her,

I want to share with you an experience I had on a flight to LIM. During boarding a man approached the back of the galley to tell us that he was going to propose to his girlfriend and that he was very nervous. We proposed that he do it during the flight and that he have the support of the crew to make it unforgettable moment!

The gentleman agreed, but told us that he was very shy and that he did not want any announcements or for the other customers to find out. He handed me the ring, I told him “you can trust us” and that we will do everything that we can can to make it memorable.

At the back galley , we organized a small event , with food boxes we had, a table and two chairs, we covered them with tablecloths and on the table we placed two glasses with sparkling wine, two desserts and inside one of the dessert we placed the ring. On the tablecloth we wrote the names of the entire crew with a message for both of them and put it in the shape of rose , we dimmed the light and played music.

‏We called the gentleman to show him what we had done and to have his approval, when he approached the galley he began to cry with emotion, we left him seated and then we called his future bride. When she approached the galley, she truly emotional, that day was also her birthday.

We left them alone and after a few minutes she ran down the aisle telling the customers that she is getting married and that Avianca was the best. All the customers started applauding, the man cried almost the whole flight, hugged us and told us “I can’t believe she said yes“.

(Emphasis mine.)

Here’s the crewmember who shared the story.

And here’s the bride with a flight attendant after the big moment:

If you’re going to propose inflight, don’t just have a flight attendant make the announcement for you. That sort of public spectacle will be welcomed only by a small number of people. Instead, go for an intimate moment – not something you usually associate with commercial air travel, but the crew of this Avianca flight carved out a special space for just that.