Ido Gallico and Emily Maman never imagined in their wildest dreams that they would break the internet like this, but their marriage proposal video has, as of this writing, reached nearly 3 million views in just two days.
It all began when Gallico, 28, a fitness coach from Kiryat Tivon who works with children on emotional empowerment, decided to propose to his girlfriend, Emily Maman, 26, a social worker. He contacted Ravid Boaz, a well-known marriage proposal photographer on Instagram, and suggested something a little different: that the two collaborate on a role-playing setup and pretend they did not know each other and had just happened to meet along the way.
“Ido initially thought about proposing at a hotel, and then it changed in many different directions, until the day before the proposal he found this spot in nature, located at Mitzpe Oron by the Sea of Galilee,” Boaz recalled. “We arranged to meet there, and the cover story was that I was a passerby whose car had broken down and needed help with the hood.”
“I wanted something truly unique, because it is important to me and important to Emily, and this idea came to me in the middle of work," Ido explained. "I was in a personal training session with one of my trainees, and it just popped into my head. I found Ravid online and pitched him the idea. He told me, ‘Listen, that is a brilliant idea. I have glasses that record everything, Emily won’t notice, and the whole moment will be documented.’ I said, great, and we went for it, but I did not expect it to get so many views.”
“I was also really surprised,” Emily added.
When did you start to realize that it was probably all a setup, that they had arranged it for you?
“Only when I turned around and saw Ido with the ring, and even then it took me about a minute to understand. Then suddenly it clicked: Wait, he is filming us, he is here for us.”
Ido and Emily after the proposal
(Photo: Ravid Boaz)
She said yes! Ido and Emily
(Photo: Ravid Boaz)
Ido and Emily
(Phpoto: Ravid Boaz)
Ravid: “I have already filmed crazy proposals, but in terms of virality, nothing comes close to this. I once filmed a proposal by someone who spent six months creating an Amazing Race-style app just for the marriage proposal, but the preparation Ido and I did, all the unexpected things that happened along the way, and how everything really worked out in the end — it is nothing short of amazing. And the fact that Emily did not suspect anything, and her reaction is so iconic.
“It is also amazing that the people of Israel were so moved, because the reactions are just insane. We are already at around 1.5 million views on Instagram, around half a million on TikTok, more than 400,000 on Facebook, and overall we are at about 2.45 million views across all platforms.”
Ido: “On Instagram and TikTok we saw comments that really warmed our hearts. One by one, you see people who were moved and shared their experience watching the video, and it truly warms the heart. I even tried to look for hate, and I really could not find any.”
Ravid: “There were people who wrote to me, ‘Listen, I don’t have a partner yet, but when I do, I’m saving your number so I can call you.’ Things I truly never believed people would write to me when I started filming. I am also a reservist combat soldier, and this whole business really came from a kind of healing, so it is so moving.”