A bookshop proposal

Last week we had a special request from a customer…


One morning Sharon, the assistant manager at our Carlton shop, received a request from a customer asking if he could propose to his girlfriend in our shop. Sharon agreed and a plan was hatched.

Morgan (the customer) arranged for us to shelve a book that he had specially created, which contained the engagement ring. Later, he said, he would come in with his girlfriend, Dassy, head to our enquiry counter and ask for this exact book.

As planned, they came in that afternoon and asked for the book. Sharon (whose superb improvisation skills included doing an actual search on our system for a non-existing title) then led them to the reference section and, fighting all her customer service instincts, left the couple to find the book themselves. Our staff tried to act nonchalant while waiting excitedly. Dassy looked for the book, found the book, read the back cover blurb (which included the proposal), said yes, opened the book and put on the ring!

All the Readings staff applauded and we celebrated with champagne (the champagne glasses and a champagne bucket were very kindly lent to us by Trotters, an excellent cafe across the street).


We asked Morgan a few questions about his bookshop proposal


Where did you get the idea for a bookshop proposal?

Dassy my fiancée loves books – especially Jane Austen. So I figured I could combine something she loves with something I love (her). Excuse the cheesiness.

Why Readings Carlton?

I wanted a bookshop that was fairly close to my jeweller on Smith Street and where I knew the staff might want to help me out. Readings Carlton has been around so long it’s clear that it’s supported by the community and I thought you would be welcoming to a local requesting a bit of help – and you certainly were. I’d run some other bookshops past my jeweller but she said, ‘It has to be Readings.’

Tell us about the fake book – how did you come up with the idea?

I had a nice photo that I thought would go really well on a book cover. So I picked up a hardback book – and proceeded to drill a hole right through the centre to hold the ring. I wrote up a blurb for the back that told the story of how we got started, and finished it with the proposal and an invitation to open the book (but only if the answer was yes!). I put the whole thing together in Photoshop using some guides on the net to get me started and got a fairly legitimate looking product, I thought.

What was the book’s title?

The book was called Print and Poetry – a bit of a play on her favourite book, Pride and Prejudice. In this case I’m Print, and she’s the much more refined Poetry.

How long did it take to organise?

All up about three weeks. I had to do the artwork, get some printing done, enlist some friends to drill and upholster the insides and then put together a scheme to get her to the bookshop.

Did it all run according to plan?

YES! Even better than expected – the Readings team played along very well, searching for fake books on their system and guiding us to a shelf where the book was placed. She didn’t suspect a thing so it made for an excellent surprise. The staff even supplied some secret bubbly for us, too, which was very much appreciated.

It was pretty sweet for me to hear her say ‘of course I’ll marry you’ after she read the cover. The whole bookshop cheered us on as a result and, all in all, it made for a very special memory.


A big congratulations to Morgan and Dassy. We wish you much happiness!