Special delivery! DPD driver helps colleague propose to his girlfriend on the doorstep as neighbours applaud from their balconies during lockdown
- Leo Novella decided lockdown was the right time to propose to Vanessa Biondo
- The couple have been together for 10 years and have a daughter Lorena
- Driver Almir Qerimi gets Vanessa to come down by saying there’s a delivery
This is the romantic moment a man proposes during lockdown, with a little help from his delivery driver pal.
With the majority of stores closed in Zurich, Switzerland, Leo Novella, 31, decided to have an engagement ring delivered to his girlfriend of 10 years, Vanessa Biondo, 34.
An HR assistant at DPD, Leo got delivery driver Almir Qerimi, 28, in on the surprise proposal.
Footage captures a nervous Leo waiting outside his apartment block, clutching a bouquet of flowers as Almir arrives with a package containing the ring.
With the majority of stores closed in Zurich, Switzerland, Leo Novella, 31, decided to have an engagement ring delivered to his girlfriend, Vanessa Biondo, 34, and gets his colleague Almir to help him with the proposal
Leo asks the driver to ring the doorbell so Vanessa will come down.
He obliges, and when Vanessa asks the delivery man to leave the parcel Almir insists he needs a signature.
Leo takes a box containing the engagement from the parcel before Vanessa and the couple’s daughter, 15-month-old Lorena appears. He hides it in his inside jacket pocket.
Footage shows Leo asking the driver to do him a favour and to ring the doorbell so Vanessa will come down
Vanessa, dressed in white and holding Lorena, appears at the door as she wags her finger playfully upon seeing a dressed-up Leo standing in front of her with the beautiful bouquet.
She sits down on the steps and looks up at the apartments above her.
Leo then puts his hand into his jacket pocket and pulls out the ring in its box.
Leo collects the engagement ring from delivery driver Almir, just before Vanessa and the couple’s daughter Lorena, appears at the door
He gets down on one knee and says, ‘Will you marry me?’ to which she quickly replies, ‘Yes!’
She comes forward with Lorena and delightedly hugs Leo.
Claps and cheers can be heard from the apartments above and the camera pans up to reveal residents standing on their balconies clapping and with fireworks going off as the happy couple embrace.
Vanessa rushes over with Lorena after the proposal while the moment is filmed
It’s a yes! The family happily embrace following the lockdown proposal
Leo asked his neighbours to join in with the proposal, on , on May 9, but said he didn’t expect the fireworks.
‘I was preparing to ask Vanessa for a long time – I never get the right time and the right inspiration to propose her,’ Leo told MailOnline.
‘The pandemic period hit my brain hard. I realize that time is moving faster than anything, if not now, then when am I going to propose Vanessa.
Neighbours who are in on the surprise appear on their balconies and set off fireworks
‘At the beginning of the lockdown period, when I saw the balconies videos from Italy, where people were singing, dancing, it gave me the right inspiration to create a video that would inspire many others.’
Leo praised his colleague Almir: ‘He helped me to call Vanessa down and keep the surprise alive. It is not a part of his job description, but still, for humanity, he did it.’
The happy family: Leo Novell, 15-month-old Lorena Novella and Vanessa Biondo