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Seen At 11: Grooms Go All Out, And Pay Big For Wedding Proposals

NEW YORK (CBS 2) -- You can count on most weddings to be elaborate affairs that come with an equally fancy price tag, and now big price tags are also accompanying the wedding proposals.

As CBS 2's Kristine Johnson reported Wednesday night, extreme proposals are becoming the latest trend to pop the question.

"The wedding itself is really about what the bride wants, but actually, the proposal is really the groom's chance to shine," said proposal planner Sarah Pease.

And the groom can expect to pay for all the luster, she said.

"I mean, I plan marriage proposals well over $50,000 plenty of times," Pease said.

She added that not all proposals are in that rarefied air, but a big plan to pop the question can cost a lot. A proposal on a Bryant Park ice rink cost more than $5,000, and a sweet musical serenade in a specially-decorated hotel room was about $9,000.

"Whenever you get engaged, the first question that people ask you is, 'How did he pop the question?'" Pease said. "And I think that people are starting to realize that and they want to have a great story to tell."

Derek Mitchell of GoSeeDo.org specializes in extreme wedding proposals.

"There's nothing more cool than a surprise," he said.

And a surprise proposal with a flash mob is Mitchell's specialty.

"In a flash mob, you're getting this grandiose presentation. But then a marriage proposal tends to be that romantic one-on-one presentation," Mitchell explained. "So I think it's kind of a nice hybrid of bringing the two worlds together."

That was what he did recently for Ken Klavon and Paule Simon. It cost $3,000.

"It was? That's fine. I said I would have said yes in the bathroom," Simon said.

But Klavon said the expense was worth it.

"I would have spent $10,000 for this," he said.

Mitchell said location permits and casting costs can be a big surprise.

"Usually they're done in the $2,000-$3,000-$4,000 range," he said.

Groom-to-be Salman Ali said it was money well spent when he surprised his fiancée with a $2,000 Bollywood-style flash mob in Times Square.

"I have to be loud. I have to be out there. I have to do something different," he said.

And the brides and grooms who spoke to CBS 2 said they have no regrets about spending the money.

"You know what? It's a lot of money, no doubt about it," Pease said. "But you never get a second chance to pop that question."

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