Congratulations Julianne + Tyler! I am so grateful I photographed your proposal + shared such a special moment with both of you! I was ecstatic when Tyler reached out to me about being there for this. Honesty, I wanted to cry out of excitement and I was not even the one getting engaged!

Up until the day…

Tyler had every little detail planned out, because he knew anything less than perfect would not be acceptable. His goal was to make her remember this day forever, as if she already wouldn’t 🙂 He planned an elaborate proposal that included a surprise party with all of their close friends. Before Tyler proposed he said “I want to see her cry twice. Once when I get down on one knee + again when she sees everyone she loves at the party.” Wow. He is a keeper.

Now if I was Tyler, I would have been so nervous the entire week and wouldn’t be able to think about anything else. He was a little nervous, but he was so confident in their love that he was mainly excited and so happy. Then it was the day of the proposal and the nerves got a little stronger. Even I woke up that more so happy but also slightly nervous + I was just photographing the dang thing.

The day of…

We met up about 1 1/2 hours before to head to The Cutouts at Lake Monroe. On the ride there, he kept telling me how excited Julianne was. She kept asking if he had talked to her mom, if he had talked to me, or if there was any way she could possibly get it out of him when it was happening. Naturally, he lied to her every single time to put her off track. He also enlisted her best friend to make sure she would get to The Cutouts without knowing what was actually happening.

Here was the plan: Julianne thought she was spending on more Friday night with her best friend, Alyssa, before she left to study abroad. They went to pick up pizza from Mother Bears and planned to have a picnic at Lake Monroe. Julianne was even bringing her adorable pup, Luna, to enjoy the wonderful weather. If the weather would have been like the rest of the week, there would have needed to be a plan B so we were so lucky! Alyssa was giving Tyler a play-by-pay of how far away they were.

Tyler was mostly calm until Alyssa said they were 10 minutes away. He had already practiced walking down the trail, getting down on one knee, and pulling out the ring, but in that moment it finally felt real. Tyler stood by the cars waiting for her + Alyssa to pull up while I hid behind another car. He paced a little as all the jitters hit. Finally, he saw her car pull into view and all the nerves visibly left + were replaced with a smile.

Then it happened…

She saw him + she knew exactly what was happening. She knew this was the moment she had been dreaming of with the man of her dreams. Guys, I get so emotional thinking about it and it wasn’t even my proposal. I just love love.