The Perfect Surprise | How I Proposed To The Love Of My Life
If there is one thing I am good at, it’s planning! Rachel and I had been together for over 2 years when I asked her to marry me. Did I successfully catch her by surprise? The answer is YES! Now granted Rachel had suspicions and wasn’t expecting me to propose until Christmas, but why would I want to wait that long?! This month, I wanted to take a moment to share with you our journey and how we came to this special moment in our lives!
How We Met
It was the week of Valentines Day and I had just graduated from college. I had been away from my hometown of Birmingham for nearly 2 years and heard about a Valentines Day Dance being held at the chapel I spent most of my time at when I went to community college. Rachel was in charge of the dance and also planned the event, so I know she too is a pro at planning things! We met at the dance and quickly started to see how well we clicked with each other. Rachel tells me all the time that she knew there and then that I was the guy for her. Over the next few months we would continue to talk and built a strong friendship quickly. Around that time was when the COVID outbreak happened as well, so our bond grew even stronger cause we would call and facetime each other everyday. As the middle of the summer came, I finally found the opportunity to ask her out on a date and since then we have been inseparable. We would continue to grow our love for each other every day for the next 2 years and I will say those memories are ones I wish I could relive again!
The Proposal
When I made the decision to propose to Rachel it was time to plan the big day! I knew I wanted to go all out because Rachel deserved to be spoiled! The goal I had for the engagement was to make sure I could capture as much of it as possible without Rachel noticing. I decided to seek help through my friend Lana, who I have been teaching photography to since early 2022. She progressed so quickly that I gave her the honor of capturing our special moment! To ensure that Lana didn’t have to take the pictures secretly, I told Rachel that Lana wanted to practice portrait photography and asked if she could take our pictures for practice. By planning this way, Lana could up close to capture the proposal without having to be distant from us. She did come prepared and captured everything on the Canon 28-70! A massive lens, but one that delivers some very clean images. For video, I had Lana’s husband film the proposal using my iphone. I wanted to use my camera, but unfortunately I did not get time to bring it with me that day. As an added bonus, I secretly tapped one of my wireless audio recorders underneath my polo to capture the moment in full detail. I just couldn’t resist considering that I am a videographer! Everything was now in place. Rachel had no clue that in the middle of the photography session, I was going to get down on one knee.
The Moment of Truth
When the day came to propose, Rachel and I dressed up as if we were going to church. We were taking pictures at Moss Rock Preserve in Hoover, AL. What was sentimental about this location was that I had asked Rachel on our first date at this park. I had my audio recorder rolling and Lana knew where to take us for the proposal. We started off with some basic shots of us holding hands, hugging each other closely, etc. When the time came to propose, Lana and her husband got into place for the moment, and the result was heart melting! See for yourself!
I must say, the reaction from Rachel was one that made me cry! Such a special moment in our lives that we had both been waiting for since the start of our relationship together. After the proposal, I had 2 more surprises up my sleeve that she had no clue about. The first was a special hour of prayer at the chapel where we first met, followed by a massive surprise party with over 50 guests! As each surprise revealed itself to Rachel, I could see in her eyes the amount of love she was feeling from this day. Truly her heart was filled with love and she always tells me that day holds a special place in her life. Now comes the fun part of this whole experience, planning our wedding! I would like to send a special thank you to everyone that helped me make this day possible! truly it was a blessing to share this day with our friends and family! A big thank you to Lana Downey for her time and effort to capture our engagement from start to finish! Lana has been a photography student of mine this past year and she has done a wonderful job so far! Please go follow her instagram! @lana.downey as well as check out her photography website! www.lana-downey.com
Thank you all for the many prayers and blessings!
