Taylor and Brooke’s Rock Quarry Gardens Proposal

Usually when I shoot a proposal, I have talked to the soon-to-be-groom several times, we have gotten all the details set, I have scoped out the perfect hiding place, etc. But this day, I met Taylor approximately 30 seconds before he proposed to Brooke. Here’s how it went down:

Last weekend I had 2 sessions downtown. The first one finished up a little early, so I headed to Rock Quarry Gardens for the second session ahead of schedule. When I arrived, I got a text from the couple I was meeting that they were running a few minutes behind. No big deal!

But then right after that, I saw someone waving me down from a different part of the park. I waved back but was *pretty* sure there was no way that that person was looking for me since my couple had just said they were running late. So I just kept waiting, thinking that I was just mistaken by the other family as someone else.

But a few minutes later the dad of the family had walked up to me. Quickly we realized that he had been waiting on another photographer to shoot his son’s proposal but that photographer had not shown up. Understandably, they were panicked and not sure what to do!

But I was there! And my couple wasn’t there yet, so…I just got to shoot their proposal on the spur of the moment! And it was *perfect*!

For me, it was perfect not only because they were just the *sweetest* family ever, but also because it was such a great reminder that God is always working and arranging things when we are just going about what we feel like is our normal day. Here are the unlikely things that fell in place to make it possible to get images of Taylor proposing:

1. It was a rainy day. Most of my clients would have chosen to reschedule based on the weather, but *both* my sessions were troopers and wanted to go for it which surprised me, honestly. Had my first session rescheduled, I would not have gotten to the park area in time. And had my second session rescheduled, I would not have been there at all!
2. The first session finished early, getting me to the park early enough to be able to get a good many images. That happens sometimes, but it’s decently rare.
3. My second session was running late. (Please note here, I am *never* upset when you are running a few minutes late. As a mom of 2, whether it is my fault or my kids fault, it happens to the best of us!) If they had been on time, I would not have felt like I could have kept them waiting since we had an appointment, and would have started with them on time. Which would have meant I wouldn’t have been able to catch all these sweet moments with Taylor, Brooke, and their families.

Maybe all that sounds like coincidence to you, which I can understand. Truly. I know not everyone believes the same things that I do. But I have had true experiences with God where He did things that made Him undeniable to me. (And you can always feel free to ask me about those.) And when this happened, it had the familiar feeling like those times did. I am going to smile and be encouraged for a long time over this one! Many congratulations, Brooke and Taylor!! Happy wedding planning!

So the family had gotten everyone here under the guise of doing some family portraits. After some quick conferring, I pretended to be stepping in for that! They had the idea that I casually suggest starting with a couple photos of Brooke and Taylor. So I had them stand there for a normal photo, then asked Brooke to turn so I could “check a different light setting”. HAHA Then I said, “Ok, now turn back around.” And there was Taylor on one knee! Pretty good for a last minute plan!!  Her parents were there too, hiding until they could come greet their newly engaged daughter! 🙂

After these, my sweet couple arrived, so I started their engagement session. But when they went to change outfits, the rest of the family was still there (minus Brooke and Taylor), so I got a few more images of them. Turns out mom and dad were celebrating 31 years, and their other son and soon-to-be daughter in law were engaged too! So we did another little set of images while I waited for my other couple to change clothes! 🙂

And last but not least, I am right now packing up to go take sweet 16 images of this family’s youngest! Man. What a blessing to meet this crew! 🙂 See you all again soon!