Taylor & Katie: A Perfect Spring Proposal [4/1/23]

Proposals get everybody’s hearts working overtime. There’s a rush of nerves and excitement building up to the big moment, followed by an outpouring of emotion in the form of tears, laughter, speechlessness, or all of the above.

I could see and feel all of these emotions while photographing Taylor’s proposal to his now-fiancee, Katie (spoiler alert: she says yes). And how could I not? The look on his face from the start is one of complete and total adoration for his partner:

I’m currently in hiding here, but I was able to catch this really sweet moment well before Taylor even took out the ring.

One of my favorite opportunities in proposal photography is capturing these 'before' moments: These little windows of time which flow over with the suspense, excitement, and joy for what's about to happen. These 'before' moments were no exception. It was obvious Taylor was living in every beat of the moment, savoring his leap into the next stage of his relationship with Katie.

And then there was the proposal itself. Taylor took his time, never breaking eye contact with Katie as he produced the ring. I was at some distance away, so I couldn’t hear exactly what he was saying, but it must have been pretty good because Katie continued to beam as he spoke, and because he made sure to say it all before getting down on his knee and asking her to marry him.

The love in both their eyes was unmistakable.

Yes, that is the family watching from the windows above!

And while of course the weather was perfect and the execution flawless, luck had nothing to do with it. Indeed, Taylor put the time in beforehand to make sure everything fell into place in the best way possible. We scouted the location in advance, closely monitored the weather (making all this happen about an hour before the skies opened up in a torrential downpour), and even utilized some clever GPS tracking so that he wouldn’t even need to let me know when he was on his way to our chosen spot.

You might be wondering: was all of that stressful? Absolutely not. As clients go, I truly couldn’t have asked for a more even-keeled individual than Taylor to work with. He was always ready to roll with the punches, come what may. And although we never had to fall back on any of our plan Bs or Cs, I know it wouldn’t have mattered. That’s because Taylor came here to do one thing and one thing only, and that’s ask the love of his life to marry him.

And that he did.

And so here we are, already at the one month anniversary of this momentous occasion. I wish this beautiful couple all the best in the world, and I am so grateful to have played my part in their story.

~ Michael