A Suffolk man enlisted the help of a classical orchestra to pop the question to his childhood sweetheart in a romantic flash mob proposal at Britain’s busiest train station.
Adam Burroughs, 25, from Bury St Edmunds, spent months planning the spectacular event at Waterloo station so he could get down on one knee and ask fiancée Mlayne Frost to marry him.
As the couple walked through the station, the orchestra appeared from the crowds, breaking out violins, cellos and clarinets to play a medley of songs before Adam popped the question in front of stunned travellers.
The musicians performed ‘Just The Way You Are’ by Bruno Mars, a special song for the couple which Adam sang to Mlayne when the pair first met, working in the Rushbrooke Arms pub just outside Bury in 2011.
Adam, an electrical engineer, said: “I’ve never been so nervous in my entire life. When we got to the station I was shaking.
“It wasn’t that I thought she was going to say no, it was just the whole event, with all my family there - I thought I’d be alright but I wasn’t, I was a wreck.
“I looked at everyone, all my friends were crying and Mlayne was sobbing. When she said yes there was a massive cheer and there was lots of cuddles and handshakes.
“It was amazing to have our families there with us, especially as it’s such a trek down from Suffolk.”
Mlayne thought she was just going to London to see the Lion King for her 25th birthday, on Sunday, October 28, and had no idea of Adam’s plans to propose.
She said: “I honestly thought we were getting in the way of someone else’s thing at first. I knew something was going to happen but I didn’t think it would be for us.
“It was my birthday as well, so when I saw the family come through and I heard the song playing I thought, ‘oh this is lovely, they’re going to sing me happy birthday’!
“He kept it together so well.”
It was only after the performance, when Adam opened a violin case to reveal the words ‘Will you marry me?’ that Mlayne realised.
She added: “Of course I said yes. He is very romantic, so if he was ever going to propose I knew it would be in an extravagant way.”
Adam was able to plan the event with the help of Network Rail staff and flash mob and proposal planning company Top Secret Agent for one of the most romantic moments in the station’s 170-year history.
Cem Davis, Waterloo station manager for Network Rail, said: “It was an honour to be involved in Adam’s proposal to Mlayne and I’m delighted we were able to play a part, once again, in making true love blossom on the concourse.
“From all of the station team here at Waterloo, we wish the happy couple all the best for their future together.”
This is second proposal in the last 12 months on the concourse – in November last year staff helped Lisle Hunte take over screens at the station to broadcast his proposal to his fiancée Shalisha Cumberbatch.
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