Lip-dub proposal’s bride-to-be: ‘I was speechless’

When Isaac Lamb, 31, proposed to Amy Frankel, 33, both of Portland, Ore., he called it the “first live lip-dub proposal”: an elaborate routine in which 60 of the couple’s friends and relations surprised the bride-to-be with a choreographed dance routine to the tune of “Marry You” by Bruno Mars. The resulting video has reached more than 5 million hits in four days.   

On Tuesday the beaming couple sat down with TODAY’s Ann Curry to speak about the memorable proposal. “I felt like she deserved something like that,” Lamb said. “And I think she’d probably tell you this is very much my style ... you’ll notice that none of the neighbors care that this is happening in our front street, because we’ve been known to do things like this before.”

A surprise text

The proposal took place May 23. “I knew something was up because he actually sent me somewhere else to meet him, and I sat there waiting,” Frankel told Curry.

“I had to get her out of the neighborhood, basically,” Lamb put in.

“So he could gather 60 people,” Frankel continued. “And then he texted me and said, ‘I’m actually not where you are. Come to my house.’”

When Frankel arrived at Lamb’s parents’ house, she was greeted by his brother Connor, who had been assigned to get her in the back of their sister's open Honda CRV and hand Frankel headphones. Connor said he wanted to "play her a song."

That music was involved isn't surprising, because the couple are both actors who met at an audition for “West Side Story” 3½ years ago. Frankel landed a part and Lamb did not, but they soon began a friendship that became something more. When Lamb made the decision to propose, he felt it had to be impressive.

Thus the laptops that appear in front of Frankel during the song show videos of family and friends who don’t live in town. Frankel’s parents, who live in Florida, are dancing on camera, her mother in her wedding dress and her dad in his tux. Another laptop shows Frankel's sister in Massachusetts and her brother’s family in California, as well as friends in New York and Alabama.

‘Completely overwhelmed’Frankel told Curry she was “completely overwhelmed” and “floored” by the proposal. “I was speechless all night,” she said. “We had a party afterwards with everyone who was there, and I just stood there dumbfounded the whole night. It was just amazing.”

She says her favorite part of the video was when the crowd parts and Isaac approaches her: “That’s the first time I think I took a breath,” she said. The video shows Lamb getting down on one knee, the couple’s friends family are behind him, saying: “You have already given me a lifetime of happiness. Will you let me spend the rest of my life trying to give you the same? Will you marry me?”

The couple have received messages of love and admiration from around the world, including New Zealand, Norway, Sweden and Uganda. “It’s really powerful for me to know that they’ve responded to something that I think is really genuine,” Lamb said. “I think people see the love I have for her, the love that we all have for Amy … it’s really moving to know that it’s touched so many people’s lives.”

Bruno Mars himself wished the couple well in a tweet, saying, “Congrats to Isaac Lamb and the future Mrs ... I don’t think I could’ve made a better music video for this song. Thank you.” Lamb called that moment "the most exciting for me."