VIDEO: Acapella group stages flashmob singing proposal

Sarah Shaffi Wednesday, February 27, 2013
4:29 PM

Proposals in restaurants aren’t an unfamiliar sight, but when Jez Phillips decided to pop the question to his partner, he went one step further.

The 35-year-old roped in all-male acapella group The Buzztones to surprise his now-fiancee Katty Elyassi with a sung proposal at Breads Etc in Clapham on Sunday.

Katty was taken completely unaware when, shortly after Jez excused himself from the table, a man posing as a waiter started singing the Madness song It Must Be Love to her.

Singer Simon Pollitt was soon joined by the rest of The Buzztones, who formed in 2011 in London, before Jez came back dressed in a tux and holding a ring.

Overwhelmed, Katty said yes when her partner of two years asked her to marry him.

Jez said: “Katty was trying to hold it together, but she spotted another woman crying and that set her off.

“When Simon first came out she said she thought: “Who is this strange man singing to me and does he know how big my boyfriend is?”

“As soon as the other people joined in the penny dropped.”

Jez got in touch with The Buzztones through a mutual friend, and the group put together their cover of It Must Be Love in just a couple of weeks.

It was the first proposal The Buzztones had been involved in, and although he didn’t reveal it at the time, lead singer Simon was nervous.

The 34-year-old singer-songwriter said: “We perform quite a lot but because it was in the middle of a restaurant I was nervous.

“I didn’t tell Jez that because he was nervous himself.

“I didn’t realise until we were singing how amazing it would be. The most amazing thing was the look on Katty’s face. She just went to pieces.

“It was at that moment I saw the reality of what it means.”

Jez and Katty, who live in Clapham Common, have not yet decided where the wedding will be held, as Katty is Iranian, but if the nuptials take place in England, The Buzztones will be invited to perform.