Penguin proposal at West Edmonton Mall

A local penguin helped an Ontario man pop the question to his girlfriend on Thursday.

Corey Tinkess and Amanda Timmers travelled to Edmonton from Ingleside, a community near Ottawa. They had planned to come to the city for a trip and he thought that this would be the perfect way to propose.

With the help of Tweeblik an 11-year-old penguin and staff at West Edmonton Mall, Tinkess was able to catch his girlfriend completley off guard.

A tour of the Sea Life Caverns ended with and overture of love.

Tweeblik was introduced to the couple wearing a red bow tie, wearing the ring on a white ribbon around his neck. The shaking Amanda accepted Corey’s proposal with a blush and a kiss.

Tinkess had been crafting the proposal for two months and said that it was hard to keep it a secret.

"It’s been a couple months and its hard not to tell anyone…I am horrible at keeping secrets." said Tinkess

Timmers says that she is not surprised that he worked hard on the planning.

"Always does things to the extreme…it makes sense that this is how he did it."

Amanda has always loved penguins, so they were the perfect choice for the proposal.

"I love them because the are so awkward…the way they walk," she said

Tinkness says that penguins are symbolic of how he feels about his now fiancee.

"They mate for life and that’s really symbolic of how I feel about Amanda, I plan on spending my life with only her."

Amanda, 22 and Corey, 23 have been dating for almost five years and met when they were children. They are spending another six days in Edmonton before returning to Ontario.