What a privilege it was to capture Garrison and Laura’s engagement at Jennifer’s Gardens. It was the perfect proposal, intimate and sweet, and despite the weather forecast being cloudy and rainy, we were blessed with the most beautiful sunset. They were such naturals in front of the camera. I just loved how tenderly Garrison treated Laura and the sweetest moments that reflected their joy. Congratulations, Garrison and Laura!
Sigh, another proposal in the books! I have so much love for David and Jenny as they are two of the most genuine, kindhearted people I've ever met. I've had the pleasure of getting to know them these couple of years and being present to witness their lives transition from one season to the next.
Now, before I transition into the photos, I can't help but share my part in all of this because of the hilarity and awkwardness throughout. While photographing a proposal may not be my first rodeo, the inevitable is that I can never predict what will actually happen. For some guys, they'll meet up with me at the proposal site to run through the game plan while they wait for their lady's arrival. For others, it's easier to disguise it as a date by arriving together while I hide myself in the bushes somewhere. (Honestly, 75% of the job is just me hiding and stalking...and being creepy). And that's exactly how we did it for David's proposal.
The tricky thing about the 360 Bridge is that (1) there's hiking involved and (2) it's almost guaranteed to be crowded on a weekend. To add to that, it had also rained so we had to conquer muddy pathways, slippery rocks, and mosquito infestation. Once I established my position behind a bush, I pretended to be an Asian tourist while secretly photographing Jenny and David as they made their way up the overlook. Since it was crowded, David led Jenny into a narrow path towards his spot while I tiptoed behind them, half photographing, half trying to stay on the down-low. At first, it was easy to hide because we were still in a populated area, but since David's spot was deeper in the forest trail, it was becoming harder to stay hidden. At this point, I'm literally stalking them... 10 feet behind. So far so good though. After a few minutes, David finally settled down with Jenny on a ledge while looking out onto the lake. Me? I became a cafeteria for mosquitoes. Just imagine... a cute couple enjoying the view while in the distant background, a crazy woman is jumping around while simultaneously swatting and photographing. Clearly, I was doing a great job at hiding. Just then, David decided to bring Jenny back up to flat ground, where I was standing. Busted! I pretended to be surprised to see them, continuing my tourist facade, but like any woman being proposed to, Jenny's mind clicked, and this is where the photos will tell the rest of the story...
It was a beautiful Wednesday afternoon. I was photographing a newborn session when I saw that someone had left a voicemail on my phone. After listening to it several times, it finally clicked in my head that it was Tim, a new friend and client with whom I recently met, along with his fiancée, Jessica. As it had turned out, Tim's custom designed engagement ring arrived early so he decided he was going to surprise Jess with a proposal and asked if I could capture that moment.
It was a no-brainer in my head. OF COURSE I wanted to! Only, our phone call was five hours before his intended time so that meant Tim and I had to quickly draft a game plan before everything went down. But this is where I'll stop talking and let the newly engaged couple share the rest of their story... cheers!
TIM: Leading up to the proposal, my biggest struggle was planning something that didn't seem out of the ordinary and maintained the element of surprise. I gamed every scenario and luckily the engagement ring arrived a day before Jessica's 27th birthday, ahead of schedule. Originally, I had planned to pop the question during an everyday activity but realized that wasn't "us." From the inception of our relationship in Los Angeles, we always bonded over great meals, sushi in particular, and I knew I had to tie that into the proposal somehow.
JESS: He's right - one of our favorite activities to do together is to sit at the sushi bar, talk with the chefs, and stuff our faces with nigiri. Tim knows the way to my heart - it's through my belly ha!
TIM: Since I had already made a reservation at Uchiko for Jessica's birthday (without the prior knowledge that the ring would arrive), I decided to enlist the help of the restaurant management and staff to help with the proposal. The one problem was I had never been to this venue before which made it very difficult to picture in my head how this would all turn out. I must have called the managers at Uchiko fifty times (likely once or twice, but in my head it felt like fifty...) to just go over the game plan and execution.
JESS: Still impressed Tim managed to plan and pull this entire proposal off in basically a day. He does tend to work better under pressure... :)
TIM: The whole plan was contingent on Jessica getting out of work early and getting her to come to the restaurant under the auspices of staking out a seat at the sushi bar. Victoria was kind enough to come early to the venue and review the plan and find a good place to hide out in the meantime.
JESS: Ever since my parents gave their blessing for us to marry back in December 2017, we have been researching wedding photographers. We stumbled upon Victoria's page one day and reached out to her to meet for coffee. Based on our conversation and connection that day, we really wanted to work with her for our wedding. Apparently Tim called Victoria about 5 hours before our dinner and she was available to shoot the entire proposal!
TIM: Game on. I arrived at the restaurant and the staff warmly greeted us and put the plans into motion. Once set up on the cocktail patio, I calmly texted Jess that I had arrived a bit early and was "just getting a drink" to wait out our reservation. The cocktail waitress was prepared to videotape the whole event and even the surrounding guests were in on it.
JESS: Hahaha "calmly". Well he did seem pretty calm over text. In person... not so much. :P
Tim: Since it was her birthday, I wrote a long note on a card and planned on presenting the ring just as she finished reading it. As most plans go, as soon as she arrived, she spotted Victoria, likely noticed I was sweating profusely, and my makeshift videographer was nowhere to be found. Luckily, she quickly emerged but somewhat awkwardly just started recording right in front of us (actually the footage is quite good). It was now or never...and I quickly got down on one knee, botched the most important speech of my life and presented Jessica with the ring. The sheer look of surprise, joy, and love from my newly minted fiancee made the entire process completely worth it.
JESS: Side note: I really love receiving greeting cards and Tim always makes it a point to get me sweet, funny, and thoughtful greeting cards during birthdays and holidays. I still remember the perplexed look I gave the cocktail waitress - she just stood there with the phone recording saying nothing hahah. Tim did NOT botch the speech, it was actually very sweet. In my mind, I thought I was going to cry or jump into Tim's arms. Well, I felt like a deer in the headlights. I felt really stunned because I couldn't believe the actual moment was finally here. I was also caught off guard because the ring was so beautiful and exactly what I had hoped it would look like. Moments after I said yes to him... I awkwardly said aww thank you.... Hahaha here is someone professing his love to me and I am awkwardly thanking the guy.
TIM: Now with the hard work out of the way, we toasted our proposal and took a few celebratory photos with Victoria. I am truly thankful she was able to photograph this occasion for us and share in our love story. We finished the evening seated at perhaps the best seats in the house and were treated like royalty by the staff. While the evening certainly didn't go exactly as originally planned, it was totally "us" in every way, and I wouldn't have had it any other way.
JESS: It was very much "us". We did exactly what we love to do together: sit at the sushi bar, talk with the chefs, and stuff our faces with nigiri - both my belly and heart so very full and happy!
Victoria: This was the EXACT moment that Jess spotted me, even though I was hiding behind a tree AND a bar cart. I call it "women's intuition".
Tim and Jess, I've said it about fifty times, but thank you again for allowing me the
opportunity to capture this milestone for you both. I loved the spontaneity and joy that we
all shared together. Here's to your forever.
Thank you to all the staff and participants at Uchiko that day for helping us out.
We cannot be more appreciative of your care that evening.
