Amber and Cindy: Lesbian Couple gets Engaged in New Orleans
Candles Set the Mood for this Heartwarming Surprise Engagement Proposal
An LGBTQ Surprise Proposal in New Orleans City Park
I love photographing surprise proposals. They’re fun, sweet, sometimes just the right amount of chaotic excitement, and always pure joy. But if there are two things I really love they are a lesbian proposal and a long con.
Amber started her proposal plan waaaaaaay in advance. She and Cindy talked about how they would and wouldn’t like to propose and Amber agreed she wouldn’t propose to Cindy on her birthday. So when they planned a trip to New Orleans for Amber’s 30th, Cindy thought they were under a “no-birthdays” proposal agreement. But, ahh, the semantic loophole! Amber agreed to not on Cindy’s birthday but said nothing about her own! In fact, the entire trip happened for the proposal and while they were celebrating Amber’s 30th, the birthday trip was a complete ruse.
You know I love an elaborate ruse!
They’re closest friends (and two of Amber’s sisters) joined the couple for a celebratory weekend in a city known for celebrations. And to make sure the proposal was over-the-top special, Amber reached out to me to help her spice it up.
I’ve wanted to deck out another proposal with candles ever since the candlelit proposal I did at Felicity Church in early 2021. (Felicity church is no longer offering candlelit proposals so if that’s what you’re looking for, holler at me! I’ve got a zillion candles ready to go!) So I proposed (see what I did there?) that we decorate one of my favorite proposal locations with candles, roses, and since they are selfie queens, photos of them together. And to really put the icing on the cake, Amber’s sister was going to sneak the ring to me beforehand so it would be waiting in the middle of the display when Amber and Cindy arrived.
This surprise proposal took a LOT of setup beforehand. I watched three episodes of Space Force while I put batteries in 200 LED candles. Then my assistant and I had to arrange them all beautifully at the park. But not before I swept a massive pile of leaves and dispatched two huge ant piles from the location! There was no way I was letting Amber propose in the middle of a fire ant circle! (Please forgive me, ants. I did it for love!) It had just so happened that I’d picked up a couple bottles of tiki citronella oil in a free pile (man, I love a good free pile don’t you?) on the way to the proposal and that did the trick. After dropping off the ring to me, Amber’s sisters and friends went to hide for one extra bit of surprise.
While we were setting up, a couple of guys came to hang out on a nearby tree and play music. One had a harp and the other a melodica. I went over to them and also noticed that they had fire fans with them. Along with the tiki oil, I picked up two cans of white gas- the stuff fire performers use to light their fire toys. And I was like… ok, if this isn’t kismet, I don’t know what is. So I asked if they’d be interested in sitting closer to the fountain and playing some pretty ambient music for the proposal in exchange for some fire fuel. They were into it!
When Amber and Cindy arrived, there was sweet music wafting from the other side of the fountain. Which made Cindy’s exclaiming “What the F*!@?!” all the more hilarious. Amber picked the ring box up off of the step and asked the love of her life to spend forever with her. Cindy was so shocked it took a minute for Paige to get her to wear the ring. But once she did, Cindy alternated between staring at her hand and into her love’s eyes.
Just after Cindy realized I was there photographing the whole thing, all of their friends popped out of hiding! (sidenote, one of their friends was named Alden which just so happens to be my father’s name and it is NOT a common name. There was all sorts of synchronicity that day!)
I then got to watch another episode of Space Force while taking all the batteries out of the candles. :)
It was a perfect proposal and I’m looking forward to setting up candlelit proposals for more happy couples! Want to be one of them?
Here’s a selection of images from Amber and Cindy’s candlelit New Orleans Surprise Proposal Photography.
