J & J | Proposal

Dedication to making something happen sometimes means hiding in bushes like a total creeper only for there to be a last minute change of plans...because life, my friends...and heat...and well, just because...

J works with my husband and he approached him about me taking photos for his proposal. We planned this for about a month. J told J that he won a free session and that he thought it would be an awesome idea to get family photos done with their fur child. Seems like a legit story, right? Ha!

She had a feeling something was up and he mentioned that she had been talking with her sister and they came to the conclusion that she was going to get engaged during this session. YIKES!

However, even though she had an idea, we didn't abort the mission. We still attempted to make it happen and for it to be a surprise...

A few days prior, we went back and forth about when to do the proposal. Since she was catching on to the plan, he was planning on going on with the shoot and doing it after, while they ate lunch somewhere to try to throw her off. The day of, we decided to start our session off the proposal, which had me sitting in bushes, in the middle of downtown Tampa for about 15 minutes or so, as I tried to blend in as best I could and figure out the best angle to get these pictures.

As they were nearing downtown Tampa, he was in contact with my husband and let him know that she knew something was up. And so, when he arrived, he decided doing it at the beginning wasn't a good idea. So, he called my husband and we all met up and I started my session with them.

We walked all over Curtis Hixon Park and sweated our butts off (literally). Since we couldn't really discuss the game plan anymore, I figured he was just going to do it at lunch, after our session together... WRONG.

Literally, at the very end of our session, just as we were getting ready to wrap things up, he pulled a fast one on both J & I.

He and Smokey were on the other side of the amphitheater, while Smokey was getting some water to drink. And as they emerged, there was the sign he made around Smokey's neck. I tried to hide my facial expression of total shock and quickly got my camera ready and you know what? Even though he went totally rogue on me, it worked and I captured everything perfectly! PHEW! Just please excuse my camera case and her purse. I would have totally had them placed behind me, if I knew he was going to pop the question at that very second.

I think the lesson we all learned though is when it's ridiculously hot out, proposals should definitely happen in the very beginning because hands will be slightly swollen from the heat and it may be a little hard to get that shiny diamond on.

I'm so glad I was able to capture such a beautiful moment in their lives. It was chaotic but so incredibly worth it!