A Surprise Proposal on Langles Bridge

Rabees asks Bria to marry him in romantic New Orleans City Park

Langles Bridge is an extremely popular New Orleans Surprise Proposal location. And for good reason, too. Walking over that bridge feels like drifting right into a Disney fairytale. But after having proposals nearly spoiled by other activity on the bridge, I’ve started recommending it less to hopeful proposers. But if they have their heart set on it (and I truly can’t blame them for that!) I make sure to go over all of the pros and cons.

Rabees was in love with the bridge and he wanted to propose a bit earlier in the evening than I normally book proposals so I figured there would be less of a chance that we’d run into another couple on the bridge.

Fortunately- my prediction was correct!

The Stars Aligned

The park was very busy that day even though it was rather warm. Mid-May in New Orleans can really go either way when deciding if it wants to be Spring or Summer. We seem to have hit early-onset Summer this year and our days can be rather spicy! But one of the beautiful parts of City Park is that the tree cover helps keep things a bit cooler. So lots of birthday parties, graduation parties, and picnics in the park were going down when I arrived to wait for Rabees and Bria.

Three geese were drinking from a puddle near the bridge and there was a guy trying to pet them! It was highly entertaining watching this man spend a lot of time trying to convince these big, hissing geese to come over to him (I’m fairly certain he had been smoking the devil’s lettuce lol). He left for a bit and returned with a piece of birthday cake (which he also tried-and failed-to entice the geese with). Right then I saw Rabees and Bria walking my way. So I drug my new stony friend off of the path and talked to him as a diversion so I looked less like a proposal photographer waiting to photograph a proposal!

The couple walked by me and Rabees hit his mark perfectly, completely shocking his girlfriend of 11 years with the exact ring she had been wanting. Bria looked over at me snapping photos and gave me the biggest smile. I always love that moment- when they’ve said yes and they realize the moment is being photographed and the excitement builds even higher.

A Happy Accident

They were so excited that Rabees put the ring on Bria’s right hand on accident! I’ve seen that happen at least a half dozen times and it is adorable every time. They laughed together as he slipped the ring off and put it on her left hand. Then I led them off of the sunny bridge to the shade of one of City Park’s massive, moss-draped Oaks for a few post-proposal portraits.

When we were done, I noticed that the branch they were standing under was covered in Resurrection Fern. Resurrection Fern is an epiphyte that can only grow on other plants but doesn’t harm them. It gets its name from the unique character of it’s fronds- in dry weather, they’ll turn brown, curl up, and look very much unalive. But as soon as it rains they unfurl, turn green, and spring back to life.

I showed the plants to Rabees and Bria and said to them that the fern offers an allegory for relationships. We grow with the help of each other but if we start to neglect the relationship, things will wither. I told them that whenever things get rocky on the road ahead, remember to water their relationship with love and understanding so that things can be lush and green again. I apologized for the cheesy metaphor but Bria said she loved it- and they kissed one more time under the ancient tree.

I watched them walk off hand-in-newly-bedazzled-hand before I made my way back to my car.

The next day, I bought my garden some resurrection fern so I can also be reminded to water my relationships with love.

Here’s a selection of Rabees and Bria’s romantic New Orleans Surprise Proposal!

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