the plan
I was contacted by a friend of Amanda’s sister, Rachel, who was helping her future brother-in-law coordinate a holiday proposal and wanted to find a photographer to capture it!
About a week before the proposal, Paul and Rachel told me “the plan” – they would have Amanda get dressed up to go out for a nice dinner with the family since Paul was in town.
Rachel and Amanda’s family lives in Prospect near a beautiful horse farm, which was where Paul planned to propose!
Paul was potentially going to have to drive all the way to Boston to pick up the ring, since there was a huge snowstorm and we all know how crazy shipping has been – plus, I would be nervous having something so valuable as an engagement ring going through the mail right now!
The weather, the ring, getting Amanda to fall for Paul’s invitation to go for an innocent walk to see the horses – there are so many moving parts that needed to come together to pull of this proposal!
the proposal
Rachel met up with me to plan out the spot – she did SUCH a great job finding the perfect location and getting pictures to Paul so he would know exactly where to go. What a great sister! I sneakily parked my car near the horse farm and pretended to just be on my phone while I waited for Paul and Amanda to walk down from her parent’s house.
Beautiful horses grazed in the pasture as I waited for them – of course, Paul had to make everything appear natural, hide the ring in his pocket so she wouldn’t see it, and make the walk seem like a spontaneous invite and not a planned out event so she wouldn’t be suspicious!
As soon as I saw them at the top of the hill, I immediately fixed my gaze on my phone so it wouldn’t seem like I was staring at them. Paul had seen me in my car earlier, but I didn’t want Amanda to notice. Later Paul told me he wasn’t even sure if I saw him, I definitely did! I had my passenger window down so I could just pick up my camera and shoot through the opening. Although the horses had left, they walked to a spot in the middle of the pasture and I saw him reaching for the ring in his back pocket. He gave her a note to read as he got down on one knee, and the rest is history!
From a distance, it was so obvious how happy and surprised Amanda was – he pointed at the car as I think he revealed they were being photographed and I ran down to them to take a few engagement pictures for them. Immediately, I could tell what an amazing person Amanda is!
She had a HUGE smile on her face she just couldn’t shake – Paul did a fantastic job pulling off this proposal!!! We took a few spontaneous engagement photos, popped some champagne, and I went up to the house so they could enjoy some quiet moments together.
the celebration
Rachel also did an amazing job as event coordinator for her sister’s proposal – her whole family was just beaming, and Paul’s family had send some congratulations banners, champagne and Amanda’s family also had some libations ready for the celebration. Rachel ordered some custom wine glasses to mark the occasion, and when they came back in the house there was so much joy, laughter and happy hugs all around.
Everyone got to share their side of the story, and Amanda got to hear how Paul and Rachel were in cahoots so that she would be super surprised!
If you’ve never witnessed a proposal or been there for the after party, it is like a huge adrenaline rush – everyone was definitely on cloud nine and it was a huge honor being part of such a joyful time for Paul and Amanda in their relationship. Definitely a great way to finish off my last sessions for 2020!
congrats to the happy couple and their families!!!
P.S. – If you’re reading this and know someone planning to pop the question, reach out to me and I will definitely be there to photograph your proposal!
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