Cole & Emily - Surprise Proposal

Way back in July, Cole reached out to me saying he wanted to propose to his girlfriend, Emily, and wanted the proposal to be photographed. I absolutely love photographing surprise proposals and was able to capture my brother-in-law and sister-in-law's proposal before going professional with photography. I was also able to photograph their engagement photos! Cole and I chatted about days we were available, and we looked at the weather forecast. Cole had an idea to pack a picnic and set up on a bridge and they'd see me and ask if I could take their photo. This option is a bit different than me hiding in the bushes and photographing from a distance. Cole told me the day of what him and Emily were wearing and where they'd be.

Plot twist though! Emily did not want to go to the bridge. Instead, the couple ventured to a secluded spot on the riverbank and set up their picnic there. Based on our plan of Cole seeing me and asking for photos, this setup was not going to work. I had to think. Fast. As I was walking from the bridge to the riverbank, I contrived a new plan. When I got to the couple, I was out of breath and I asked them, "Excuse me, but are you Matt and Lindsey?" Cole recognized me because I was wearing my tie dye shirt with my Calli Tuggle Photography logo on it. The couple looked confused and told me no. I went on and said, "I was supposed to be photographing a Matt and Lindsey for my photography profile. It was free shoot and I think they ghosted me! They aren't answering calls or texts." Emily immediately piped up and said, "We could be Matt and Lindsey!" I purposefully looked dumbfounded and said, "Are you serious!? This is supposed to go on my website and I'm on a pretty tight deadline. Would you seriously be OK with that?" And the couple agreed. Wahoo! I do not know what I would have done if they said no. Gone back to the bridge and used my long zoom lens to capture the surprise proposal that way?

I had to ask them their names to go along with the storyline that they are strangers, and I don't know who they are. I even took it a step further and got clarification that they were a couple and not siblings. It was a bit of an ice breaker. Ahead of time, I told Cole that I would throw out two normal prompts, and my third prompt I would have Emily look away, and he was supposed to go behind her and pick her up and swing her--but instead of doing that, he will kneel down with the ring out. Things were going seamlessly, but Emily kept trying to steal a peek when Cole was getting the ring out of his pocket and kneeling down. I still don't know if Emily was expecting the proposal.

A few tears were shed by Emily, but she said yes! We did a few more photos of the couple and I excused myself so they could enjoy their picnic, uninterrupted. I gave Emily and Cole a solid month before sharing their images on social media so they could tell their friends and family in person. I would hate to ruin that surprise and have a best friend or brother see the engagement based on what I post.

I had so much fun with this couple, and I am still so amazed that we were able to pull it off. To stay true to the storyline, I did ask random couples on the bridge if they were Matt and Lindsey in the event that Emily did glance over at me from the picnic spot, I wanted her to see I was talking to other people--and it's hard to miss someone in a tie dye shirt.

In the end, Cole did pick up Emily, only this time, she is his finance and not girlfriend. Adorable!