Rachel and Angie: New Orleans Surprise Proposal Photography
New Orleans Surprise Proposal Photography
Rachel Proposes to Angie in New Orleans City Park
It is no secret that the wedding industry is very heteronormative. Gay marriage has only been legal in the US for just shy of 6 years. So the industry has had plenty of time to center itself around straight couples. Since the much overdo legalization of same-sex marriage, I’ve watched the industry slowly get on board. Some websites for wedding pros still use language that is exclusionary to LGBTQ couples. I made sure that when offering Surprise Proposal Photography that all couples are welcome. As a queer person myself, I really wanted to work with LGBTQ+ proposers in addition to all of the wonderful straight couples I have photographed. Years went by without booking an LGBTQ proposals.
So when Rachel contacted me to help her plan her marriage proposal to Angie I was over the moon! I was happy to extend a discount to Rachel as my first LGBTQ+ proposer (I offer the same discount to all LGBTQ couples, for the record!). She ducked into her car one afternoon so we could hop on zoom together and plan out her proposal (I talk to people in their cars a lot. It can be hard to be sneaky when you live with your significant other- especially last year when so many people were working from home!). I showed her some of my favorite locations and she fell in love with the fountain in City Park. I had only used it for the first time not long before. But the canopy of moss-draped oaks behind the fountain was exactly the lush Southern vibe she was going for.
One of the reasons I really like this location is because it tends to be more quiet that other parts of the park. But when I arrived early for her proposal, I discovered a church group set up not far away with a couple of large speakers playing music while they packed up after a large BBQ dinner. While the music was hella good it was also hella loud. I always arrive early to make sure everything is in order at the location before the couple arrives. I didn’t want to be a killjoy for the church group but I also didn’t want Rachel to have to yell out her proposal to Angie. So I walked over, let them know what was about to happen, and asked if they wouldn’t mind turning down the music for a few minutes. Most people are really happy to oblige (especially after I tell them they can watch!) and these church ladies were really sweet and turned down. A few minutes later, somebody turned the music back up and the ladies fussed at them. I waved and thanked them again as I got eyes on Rachel and Angie and got into position.
I will admit, I was a little bit nervous. While I know that homophobia is not a tenet of Christianity, I have seen the religious groups spewing anti-LGBTQ+ hate in the quarter entirely too often. I’ve had hateful words thrown at me while dancing in a glitter-covered pride parade. I also grew up in a Baptist church that believed homosexuality was a sin. While New Orleans is a very queer-friendly city, we still have a percentage of people who think being queer is wrong. I really hoped this group of seemingly cool church folks were not going to find this queer proposal offensive and possibly ruin this very special moment.
Rachel and Angie walked up while I was crouched next to a tree nearby. I pretended to play on my phone until they were facing each other in front of the fountain. Then I chucked my phone into my bag, pulled one of my two cameras up to my eye, and started firing away. Within seconds, Angie had said yes, she had a brand new ring on her finger, she and Rachel were lost in a long embrace, and there was an excited group of church ladies hooting and hollering, yelling out “congratulations!”. It made me SO happy to see their love being celebrated and so heartening of a reminder that while some people lean on their religion to support their prejudices, many more people lean on the loving teachings of christianity and know they apply to everyone.
Want to book your own surprise proposal?
Please enjoy this selection of images from Rachel’s City Park Surprise Proposal to Angie.
