‘How I stopped traffic to propose at one of the most famous places on earth’

A Brisbane woman has received a once in a lifetime surprise, after her partner rented the entire Christ the Redeemer site in her home country of Brazil to propose.

Cooper Weldon hired out the entire Christ the Redeemer site to propose to his girlfriend. Picture: Munizemaia

One Brisbane woman has just become engaged in the best way possible, after her boyfriend hired out the entire Christ the Redeemer site in Brazil to propose.

Cooper Weldon and Maria Almeida met in Rockhampton six years ago and began dating one year later.

The 22-year-old then followed Ms Almeida and her family to Brisbane to be closer to her.

“Maria is Brazilian born and moved here when she was seven or eight. Her family would go back to Brazil every three to four years or so,” Mr Weldon said.

Cooper Weldon hired out the entire Christ the Redeemer to propose to his girlfriend. Picture: Munizemaia

“So that happened again recently and they asked if I would like to go. And obviously Maria had already been prompting the question of when we should get engaged.

“She just had one request – she said she did not want to get engaged in public with everyone around. So I thought I could get pretty creative here.”

Mr Weldon researched spots he could propose in Brazil, with the Christ the Redeemer statue at the very top of his list.

The sculpture is deemed one of the Seven Wonders of the World and is the largest art-deco statue ever made. Completed in 1931, the statue stands at an impressive 30m tall with its outstretched arms spanning 28m.

It is perched on the top of the Corcovado Mountain in Tijuca National Park in Rio de Janeiro.

“I thought that statue would be pretty cool to propose at – it is sort of a symbol of Brazil and everyone Brazilian talks about it and their heritage,” he said.

“I started to dream how I could make that possible and did a bit of research, and that sort of led into me finding out you could and working out away to make it happen.”

But it wasn’t easy.

The pair woke up just before 4am to head to the site in early February, much to Ms Almeida’s confusion.

Cooper Weldon proposing. Picture: Munizemaia

The happy couple. Picture: Munizemaia

“That was a challenge in itself, trying to convince her to get up and wear a dress and do her makeup. She was like what the heck are we doing up so early. And I am was just trying to keep it a surprise,” he said.

“But we had the place to ourselves for about two and a bit hours. We arrived at 4.30am to have a look around and I proposed at around 5.40am just as the sun was coming up.

“She actually, surprisingly, didn’t have any idea, which I’m still shocked about to this day.”

Prior to heading to the statue the couple and their family had a blessing in the Chapel of Our Lady Aparecida, the church that sits underneath the statue. The Sanctuary of Christ the Redeemer helped Mr Weldon hire the space.

“When we arrived, there was lots of security, and they sort of opened it up and let us up and then made sure that we could have it. No one was actually able to even get up the mountain, to even come close. So it was super private right up to opening,” Mr Weldon said.

“I actually ended up being the first Australian to ever hire the site for an engagement. So that was pretty cool and made it all the more unique and special.

Cooper Weldon and Maria Almeida. Picture: Munizemaia

“She was a little bit shocked by it all but I just thought it would be a good way to tell our story and combine Brazil and Australia. I think she appreciated the effort I went to in doing it.”

Mr Weldon said he could not have done it without Ms Almeida’s brother and cousins.

“I was very blessed that her brother speaks Portuguese, and we were able to use her cousins and a few of my friends to communicate with the church to organise the hiring out,” he said.

“There was a lot that went into it, I started talking to the church about a year and a half ago. There were a lot of factors but we managed to bring it together.

“The morning of I was so nervous and thought she might of picked up on what was happening.”

But the day went smoothly and everything was planned perfectly, including Ms Almeida’s ring which was made with gold from her grandmother’s jewellery.

“I melted that down into the ring I proposed to her with there was a Brisbane jeweller, Vin Moulds, that did that for me,” he said.

“So it had both Brazilian and Australian nations coming together.”

Originally published as ‘How I stopped traffic to propose at one of the most famous places on earth’