We put the “Surprise” in Surprise Proposal

Rachelle pops the question with the help of friends and some unexpected locals in City Park.

Have I ever mentioned that I LOVE capturing Lesbian proposals in New Orleans? No shade on the straight proposals as those have brought me endless joy. But there’s something about a queer proposal that just makes my little pansexual heart sing.

Maybe it’s because when I came out in 2014 gay marriage had yet to be legalized across the United States. It still blows my mind when I think that same-sex marriage was outlawed the first nearly 30 years of my life.

Witnessing two people ridiculously in love getting engaged when not even ten years ago that love was illegal will never lose its weight.

Enter Rachelle and Brianda. Their first date story is hysterical. Basically, they were both so nervous they drank a bit too much and ended up puking on each other. 🤣 If they went on a second date after that then you KNOW there was something seriously special going on there.

Flash forward to a year and a half later and Brianda is ready to pop the question. But with a story like theirs she couldn’t just have a simple proposal. So we put our heads together to create something sweet and unique with just the right amount of surprise flare.

She and Brianda would be visiting New Orleans in late February with their close friends Elizabeth and Robert for Robert’s birthday. It wasn’t a romantic getaway so Brianda wasn’t likely to suspect a proposal was planned. We also had the added help of another couple to create the ruse. I love it when there are travel buddies who can suggest specific outings. I think it makes it less suspicious when the idea isn’t coming from the proposer.

She was going to have her friends say they booked a table at a nice restaurant near City Park for his birthday and then they’d walk by where we planned on staging the proposal. She knew she wanted a musician to play a two-song medley. The songs were Twin Flame by Machine Gun Kelly and Kiss of Life by Sade! They weren’t songs or even styles you would think would go together. But I knew just the guy to pull it off.

Just a musician wasn’t enough of a surprise for this couple. Rachelle had seen my viral video with the people spreading flower petals around the couple and she wanted to somehow incorporate this. I had to put my thinking cap on for a minute but the idea came to me pretty quickly!

We’d stage a few people as an “audience” for the musician. Either Robert or Elizabeth would point out the scene as they walk up and suggest they stop and listen. Rachelle would walk with Brianda up to her mark in front of the fountain while their friends hung back. And as soon as Dr. Sick transitioned from MGK to Sade, two members of the audience would peel off and spread petals around the couple before disappearing out of the frame. That would be Rachelle’s cue to take a knee!

When Dr. Sick sent me a recording of the medley he arranged I could barely tell where one song started and the other ended! It was incredibly well done. I knew he was the right man for the job.

It was a bit chilly on the day of the proposal but not too bad for February. What I was most excited about was that the recent days of overcast weather had cleared and was looking like we would have a beautiful sunset. I plan most proposals for during golden hour in hopes of having golden backlight shooting into the lens for some spectacular lens flare effects. But I can’t always bank on it being sunny enough for that to happen and I’m always stoked when it does! Especially in New Orleans City Park where the setting sun lights up all of the spanish moss hanging from the Oaks. It just feels extra magical.

Everything went exactly according to plan (although I will be having flower chuckers only spread the petals in front of the couple and not behind them next time. It looked like Victoria was struggling on those stairs a little bit!). I saw the couple as they were making their way over and I pretended to be capturing the musician playing. I gave him the cue as I saw them approaching their mark and he started in on his medley. All too quickly, he hit the second song and I gave a nod to the chuckers. I moved into position just in time to capture Rachelle’s reaction to the rapid change of scenery!

Robert did almost block my shot trying to shoot video but luckily Elizabeth pulled him out of the way and I didn’t miss a single golden moment.

Brianda really didn’t see it coming. Afterwards, I learned that she hadn’t eaten since that morning and had been so cranky when they kept stalling on the way to dinner. 🤣 But she forgot all about being hangry when she said “yes” to Rachelle.

We went into an engagement session after that and I got some shots that I truly love. They giggled together so much. To me, laughter is a sign of longevity in a relationship and I’m always tickled to have couples that laugh their way through a proposal and engagement session.

The sunset was gorgeous and I got some wonderful shots of the couple on Langles Bridge just after the sun dipped behind the horizon and lit the sky up in shades of blue and gold.

This proposal was the palette cleanser I needed after a rough second half of February. Occasionally, I work with people that make me want to throw the proverbial towel in. But then I get the privilege of working with delightful couples like Rachelle and Brianda and my faith in humanity is restored. I feel like the golden light in these photos is the physical manifestation of the love that radiated all around them. They were truly a breath of fresh air.

Photos and the reel from Rachelle and Brianda’s Surprise Proposal after the jump!

Ready to plan your own Surprise Proposal? Click below!