New Orleans Surprise Proposal Photography

Stephen Proposes to Ellicia at the Tree Of Life

Time for a strange but true fact: it took nearly a decade of photographing New Orleans Surprise Proposals to photograph one at the Tree of Life! IKR?! I’ve photographed countless elopements at this massive, memorable Oak. But it wasn’t until Steven came along that I finally got the chance to capture a proposal there.

Sometimes, things go a bit haywire with a proposal. People run late, the weather isn’t cooperating, there’s suddenly construction at the proposal location… I’m always ready with a backup plan (or 2!) in case of damned near anything. Steven and I planned this one so thoroughly he received a 3 page PDF with his original plan plus not one but TWO backup plans. And maybe it was because we planned it so well but this proposal went absolutely flawlessly. And I do mean flawless- there wasn’t even other people at the Tree at the time. It was perfectly private and oh, so sweet.

Steven and Ellicia were going to be visiting the Big Easy all the way from Alaska with Ellicia’s father and step-mother and hadn’t been to New Orleans before. When Steven and I met to plan his proposal, he told me she loved trees. “Say no more” I told him. “I know the perfect spot.” I showed him the tree and some images from recent elopements I had photographed there. He agreed- that was absolutely the right spot. We also planned out a Plan B in Audubon Park in case it was super muddy at the tree (it had been raining a lot) and a Plan C in case it was actively raining at the time. But we didn’t end up needing either one (they’re both great spots, too. I look forward to using them soon!). It was an unnaturally mild and dry August evening and we had the Tree surprisingly all to ourselves.

I arrived early, as usual, and took a seat on a bench near the tree, hiding in plain sight like usual. I want my client to be able to easily spot me so they know the right place to stand. And there’s something about me that just seems so perfectly innocuous that no one ever gives me a second thought (maybe it’s because I’m only 5’2” and can pull off the tourist look rather well for a Native New Orleanian. Insert shrug emoji here). The only thing that didn’t go according to plan was Ellicia’s parents standing right where I needed to be taking video for Steven on their phones. I ran up behind them and quickly asked them to scoot as quietly as I could not wanting to disturb the video but also not wanting to miss the shot! I dropped to a knee almost as quickly as Steven did, capturing an absolutely iconic proposal photo under that epic arch of a tree branch.

Steven is a videographer and he compiled a gorgeous video of clips he (and his new in-laws!) shot that evening. I knew he was a videographer before the proposal but I hadn’t been aware he is also a podcaster! He talked about his proposal on his podcast (it’s called Go F(ix) Yourself- check it out!) and gave me a shout out! That was also a first and I loved hearing about his experience in that format. I thought it was perfect and he did as well. Not too shabby for a first ever Tree of Life Surprise Proposal!

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Here is a selection of images from Stephen and Ellicia’s stunning sunset Tree of Life Surprise Proposal.