Giraffe Helps Man Propose to His Veterinarian Girlfriend (Exclusive)

Love went to new heights when a man had a very tall friend help him propose.

When couple Lila Batiari, 31, and Zachary Gladnick, who turns 35 next week, “spontaneously” changed their travel plans to explore Northern California, Gladnick saw it as the perfect opportunity to propose. The pair went to B. Bryan Preserve in Point Arena on Tuesday, Aug. 19, where Gladnick had a plan to pop the question — with a giraffe’s help.

“He knows I love animals because I am a veterinarian, so [he] wanted to make it special,” Batiari tells PEOPLE.

The couple booked a “giraffe painting tour,” which the preserve describes on its website as a 45-minute “rare opportunity to help a giraffe ‘paint’ a canvas.” Each participant holds a canvas while the giraffe “paints” it. Guests may also feed the giraffe treats before leaving with their “8 x 10 masterpiece.”

Priced at $100 per guest, all proceeds go to the care of the giraffe at B. Bryan Preserve.

“We got Mazi (the giraffe) to do some ‘painting’ for each of us!” Batiari wrote in the caption of an Instagram Reel of Gladnick’s proposal. “Here I thought we were just taking a picture with his masterpieces. Zach planted multiple things for the days leading up to it, to throw me off 😂 He pulled off a good one 🍾🎊.”

In the video, Batiari and Gladnick smile as they hold their completed canvases in front of Mazi. Thinking she was posing for photos, Batiari continued to smile at the camera while Gladnick discreetly swapped his painted canvas for one that read, “Will You Marry Me?” next to a red heart.

Batiari eventually turned, gasped and covered her mouth with her painting as she spotted Gladnick’s new canvas. On bended knee, Gladnick proposed as a curious Mazi leaned its long neck over the fence, seemingly admiring the diamond engagement ring.

“My heart was racing so much, I either almost cried or blacked out,” Batiari tells PEOPLE. “I was so overwhelmed with emotion from such a life-changing moment.”

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Batiari wasn’t suspicious of the proposal beforehand thanks to Gladnick throwing her off track with “decoy hints.”

“It was truly a surprise proposal!” she says. “The days leading up to it, I initially thought it was going to happen. However, I broke my pinky nail the day before and was trying to go get it fixed. He said I didn’t need to get it fixed for multiple months. He was dropping hints about us going to Paris because that would be romantic and said my nail could grow back in by the ‘trip.’ ”

She continues, “Also, while I was getting dressed, I was getting opinions on my outfit and he kept downplaying the day, [saying,] ‘A giraffe does not care what you are wearing.’ I even gave an option for a dress and he said to look up and choose a color that giraffes like. Turns out that color is green because it appears like their food! After all his decoy hints, I truly thought it would be a few more months. The broken nail was what threw me off the most.”

Batiari and Gladnick met in San Diego. The bride-to-be agreed to go out with her future husband because he lived close to her dog’s favorite spot, Fiesta Island Dog Park. They officially started dating in January 2022.