New Orleans Surprise Proposal Photography

Cody and Jess’ Mardi Gras Surprise Proposal at Jackson Square

It is extremely rare I do Surprise Proposals for locals. Why? That’s a good question! I think it’s just more of an event for a person who is coming here from out of town. But I love doing them for locals when I get the chance- they usually know exactly where they want to go and exactly what they want to do and usually incorporate some fun surprises with help from friends and family. That described Cody’s proposal to Jess.

The plan was for Cody, Jess, their son, and their parents to visit the French Quarter the Saturday before Mardi Gras (and the day before Valentine’s Day!) and head over to Jackson Square for some photos. Their son would have custom made Mardi Gras beads with “Mommy, will you marry Daddy?” written on them. He’d get Jess into position and then have their son walk over and hand the beads to Jess. Once she read them, he’d get on one knee and pop the question! Having their parents there to help coordinate the kiddo was essential to pulling this off. And how would he get her into position? I’d just pretend to be a random photographer standing around taking photos of tourists!

It was extremely cold that weekend with a chance of snow. I had to get there early to wait for their arrival and I must have looked ridiculous bundled up so much that only my eyes were showing while freezing gusts of wind whipped by. Cody and Jess were originally from up North so he said the cold wouldn’t bother them any. We did plan on doing an engagement session after but we opted to move that part to a warmer day (stay tuned for those photos in another blog entry!). The family showed up right on cue and Cody asked if I’d take a photo of him, Jess, and their son. I handed him my card and said no problem before posing them where we wanted to proposal to go down. He asked his parents to take their son so they could get a few shots just the two of them. And that’s when he returned with the beads! The little guy did his job perfectly and while Jess told me later she had some suspicion Cody might propose that day, she had no idea it was about to happen then and there or that I might be in on it!

We finished the moment off with a king cake toast (because, Carnival, amirite?) before they bundled back up and went off to dinner and I raced off to my next proposal with Anthony and Gracie.

Enjoy this selection of images from Cody’s Carnival Surprise Proposal to Jess!

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