How do I plan a proposal in Morocco, and where are the best places to do it?

A proposal lives or dies on two things: the setting and the secrecy, and Morocco is gloriously good at both. My most-requested and most dependable spot is a private riad rooftop at sunset — you arrange to have the terrace to yourselves, the city's call to prayer drifts up, the light turns gold, and a discreet photographer captures it from a corner she's already scouted. It's controllable, weatherproof enough, and the surroundings do half the work for you.

For something cinematic, the desert is unbeatable. In Agafay, just outside Marrakech, I set couples up on a dune platform at dusk with lanterns and a single table; in the Sahara near Merzouga, a dawn proposal as the sun climbs over Erg Chebbi is the stuff of films. A hot-air balloon flight over the Marrakech palmeraie at sunrise is another favourite — there's a quiet moment at altitude that's tailor-made for the question. And Chefchaouen's blue lanes give you a backdrop unlike anywhere on earth.

The planning is mostly about choreography. I lock the exact light window (golden hour shifts through the year, and the desert dawn is unforgiving if you're late), brief a photographer to be invisible until the moment, and arrange a private dinner afterward so the celebration flows straight on. If you're proposing on a tour, I'll quietly coordinate with your driver or guide so the timing lands without your partner sensing anything — they become your secret ally on the day.

Honest pointers from doing many of these: keep the ring on you, not in checked luggage; tell me about dietary needs and any surprise guests joining for the dinner so nothing leaks; and build in a weather alternative, because a sandstorm or an unexpected cloud bank shouldn't derail the biggest question of your life. Give me the city or landscape that means something to the two of you and I'll design the moment around it.