A Little bit of Chaos makes for a Memorable New Orleans Proposal

Ronny proposes during a horse-drawn carriage ride and we get more than we bargained for.

You have to be ready for anything when proposing in New Orleans. This city is as chaotic as it is beautiful. A balance of light and dark, good and… not so good. I tackle proposal planning with that knowledge in mind. We not only talk about all of the joy in a proposal but all of the potential things that can go wrong so we are fully prepared before the day arrives.

But Ronny and McKenna’s proposal? That one had some chaos that was new to me! Well, for a proposal anyway. After 36 years in New Orleans, no level of chaos surprises me anymore.

Ronny and McKenna had been together almost 2 years when he decided to propose. Their birthdays are just a few days apart and they had this game of trying to one-up each other for birthday surprises. With a trip to New Orleans their birthday weekend, Ronny knew exactly how to give McKenna the birthday surprise to top all birthday surprises: a surprise marriage proposal in New Orleans!

But he needed a little help planning. That’s where I came in!

Ronny is an Internist and McKenna is a Veterinarian. She decided she wanted to shift specialties to be a large animal surgeon and is doing her residency at LSU. They’re only about 90 minutes from New Orleans so a quick trip to town for their birthdays is an easy cover for a proposal. When Ronny told me that McKenna also rode horses I knew we had to include a carriage ride. And he agreed!

Sidebar: I call them a horse-drawn carriage but the carriages in New Orleans are actually pulled by mules- a cross between horses and donkeys. The more you know! 💫

So we planned everything out including the perfect spot, the perfect bottle of champagne, and the perfect carriage company. Everything was going to be perfect…right? Right?!?

The location was unusually busy when me and my assistants arrived. I do portraits there all the time and this is the busiest I had ever seen it. But it was late September in New Orleans, the return of tourist season. I must have seen 3 tours stop by the door before the carriage arrived. But I quietly waited them out. I don’t like asking people to move if I don’t need to. Ronny was on the carriage but carriages move slooooow. So I knew we had time to let the tours finish.

This is where things got a bit screwy.

Just ahead of Ronny and McKenna’s carriage were two other carriages. And the problem with carriages moving so slowly is that a line of cars tends to back up behind them. And sometimes those drivers are impatient and VERY angry (you have to expect to get trapped behind a carriage from time to time if you’re driving through the quarter. It’s just a part of quarter life!).

Their carriage rounded the corner and pulled into the middle of a line of cars. There wasn’t space for the carriage to fully pull over so the cars were just sitting there waiting for the carriage to move and blocking my shot. The driver looked over at me and I signalled that she should keep moving. I needed those cars gone! She told the couple she’d make the block and headed off. But that line of cars still needed time to move and Ronny had already hit his mark!

shit shit shit shit shit (that was me at that moment)

One assistant headed into the street to wave the cars along since they saw me and appeared to be waiting for me to take a photo before driving. The lead car wouldn’t budge. So he waved her on and said “go!”. He was getting impatient and I completely understood- I was too- the moment was about to go down and there were cars in the way! She rolled down her window to yell at my assistant before she finally peeled out and left allowing the other cars to head on as well. Phew!

My shot was clear, my assistant was making sure no more cars got in between us and everything was good to go.

Except a ghost tour was about to walk right into the shot!!! I looked at the tour guide, looked at the couple, and prayed that he’d stop.

He looked at me, looked at the couple, and quickly moved to halt his tour just before they walked into the frame. PHEW AGAIN!

Ronny took a knee, McKenna literally jumped with joy, and the tour all cheered and yelled congratulations! And then that annoying driver from earlier came and drove right into my shot again! She must’ve hauled ass to get back there that fast. But whatever. I didn’t miss the money shot.

My assistant brought Ronny a bottle of champagne and a couple of flutes. I kept shooting while he cracked the bottle and poured glasses for himself and his new fiancé. I let them toast before heading over to say hi, congratulate the couple, and pose them for a few engagement photos. McKenna said she did not see it coming at all and she was in love with the ring.

While they were posed and I was crouched in between two parked cars across the street the angry driver returned AGAIN! She tried to nose into the parking spot I was crouched in but I wasn’t going to budge. She’d already tried to wreck their proposal twice, she could wait 30 seconds for me to finish shooting. I got my shots and went back to the couple to show them the images I had so far. McKenna said she always looked awkward in photos so I just had to show her how very not awkward she looked.

And then the driver returned AGAIN. This time on foot with a fluffy dog tucked under her arm. She got in my assistant’s face saying she lived across the street and was entitled to park there (for those outside of NOLA, there is no reserved street parking in the quarter and it is always difficult to find a spot if you live down there). He told her to leave, said she was making a scene. She said “I don’t care if I ruin their day!” pointing to the couple. I was dumbstruck. I stood there silently watching with my jaw on the ground. The couple looked at her tantrum and just laughed it off like classic new orleans antics. Their ease in the situation helped me to shake it off and keep working. My assistant apologized to her just so she’d leave and she finally stormed off. WOOF.

In 117 proposals I had NEVER seen such a display of rudeness… and from a local at that! I’ve seen plenty of nonsense while working or wandering the quarter in general but never during a proposal. Proposals usually inspire people to stop, watch, cheer, and even cry. But the show must go on and I kept on taking joyful photos.

And the couple? They rolled with it completely unphased! They were absolutely unflappable in their joy. It was amazing to witness. I knew in that moment this couple was in it to win it. Their love was going to carry them through the worst life has to throw at them. And they’ll be smiling on the other side. Together.

I took some of my favorite post-proposal engagement portraits of the year before following them back to their carriage so they could ride off into the night (and to an engagement dinner where their family and friends were waiting to surprise her!). I loved their energy so much (Ronny and I kept chatting for a good half hour after we finished planning because we were just having so much fun!) and I really hope they end up getting jobs here so we can be buddies.

Oh yeah, and Ronny absolutely won at birthday.

Video and photos from this wild New Orleans Surprise Proposal below!

Ready to plan your own proposal (without all the chaos, hopefully!)?