A Carousel of Surprise Proposal Emotions

Chris surprises Ashlyn with an elaborate proposal in New Orleans’ Carousel Gardens

It may seem a little early to name the most elaborate New Orleans Surprise Proposal of the year. But I find it hard to believe this one will be topped in 2023. Or maybe in ever!

When I think of a dream client, I think of someone exactly like Chris: romantic, creative, spontaneous, fun, trusting, and best of all- puts experiences and creating memories above all else.

I was lounging with my partner when Chris’s inquiry email came in. He had written a very long message and at first I thought “oh boy, here we go!”. Long first contact messages sometimes end up being a red flag for high-maintenance clients. But as I read it, I immediately reneged on my pre-judgement and fell in love with their story. I have a feeling you will fall in love with it too.

Both Chris and his girlfriend, Ashlyn, were adopted as kids. He said that there’s a special bond between two children of adoption that no one else can quite understand. Chris put it best when he wrote “adopted kids have this feeling - ‘if I wasn’t good enough for them, will I ever be good enough for another?’ We felt a home in each other we’ve been seeking all our lives. Always a fish out of water with our family and friends, our bond is magnetic.”

Ashlyn grew up in St Charles Parish and has always had a love for New Orleans with Carousel Gardens in City Park having a special significance. Her December tradition is to visit Celebration in the Oaks (which takes place in Carousel Gardens). But this isn’t just a random tradition sprung up from a pretty light display. As Chris said “the adoption agency she was placed with brought the biological and adoptive parents together each year at the Carousel. I’m not sure whether her biological mother ever came. What I do know is our bond transcends what that carousel never could deliver her. “

His plan was to fly into New Orleans without her knowing, have her mother go with her to Celebration in the Oaks, ride the carousel, and then he’d surprise her as they exit the ride. But he also said she’s somewhat private and I knew that this venue would be incredibly busy on the penultimate day of the year.

So I gave him a better idea: why not rent out the entire carousel for a completely private proposal at her most treasured place?

He was in. He was in for every idea I had. He trusted me implicitly. It was an incredible feeling to be handed so much trust and given carte blanche to run creatively with my vision. I wanted to craft a once-in-a-lifetime moment for the two of them- and a proposal unlike any one I’d ever done before.

The two of them share a connection with the song “Lukenbach Texas” by Waylon Jennings. So my idea was to have a band emerge from hiding as they approached the carousel. But that couldn’t be all. If we were going through the effort to rent out the carousel, this needed to be BIG. Much bigger than a surprise country quartet.

Nothing is ever impossible. I’ve had to come up with some really creative workarounds to proposal obstacles. My signature flower-chucking move that launched me to viral instagram fame was born of a desire to decorate a location that’s pretty impossible to decorate. The surprises used to get the couple into the flower-chucking itself were conceived by thinking outside of the box.

So I knew that if I marinated on it long enough, the right set of events for this carousel proposal would reveal themselves to me.

And boy did they ever!

Chris and Ashlyn would come into the park for a private event. When they approached the carousel, they’d find two musicians playing. Then another would walk out of hiding and join before the fourth and final member appeared and started playing as well. And then for the last chorus, a 10-person choir would emerge out of hiding and sing in harmony along with the band!

But that couldn’t be it. Oh, no. A private carousel, a 4 piece band, and a ten person choir just wasn’t epic enough.

So we added in that three flower chuckers would dash in to spread 10,000 rose petals around the couple as the musicians ended the song. That would be Chris’ cue to take a knee.

Ferkin’ golden, eh?

There was only one problem: nailing down the carousel for that weekend was going to be difficult. Chris contacted me rather late in the game and while I’m very good at making last minute proposals happen, this one had a few too many moving parts to pull off on short notice. Don’t get me wrong, I was game to try! But getting City Park to respond in the middle of such a hug,e month-long, nightly event was even harder than trying to get a greased up watermelon out of a pool.

Days of me being a squeaky wheel passed and it became apparent we weren’t going to be able to get it for the 30th. We tried other dates that weekend and nothing was possible. I was a bit bummed because I really wanted to end the year with the most epic proposal yet. But I would have to settle for starting the next one on a high note that would be hard to top.

It wasn’t until one day in January while I was shopping for Mardi Gras costume making supplies that I finally received an email from the Carousel Gardens event manager. I called her immediately and got us lined up for January 22nd. 1/22/23 seemed like a pretty good date to me and Chris agreed.

So I was off to the races! I got the band and choir ready to go, I ordered flower petals, I lined up my flower chuckers, and I got us a second photographer to capture Ashlyn’s reactions to each part of the surprise (since I’d be teed up to get the money shot with the carousel in the background). That all sounded a lot easier than it actually was. But nothing was more difficult than waiting for the day to roll around!

The couple was going to be joined by Ashlyn’s mother as well as their friend Uri who was the one who originally introduced them at a party. They were going to have lunch at a classy joint nearby and then Uri would suggest they attend a party at Carousel Gardens. I’d have one of my people stationed at the gate to check “the list” and signal me that they had arrived. That’s when I’d cue the band and the whole thing would kick off!

We all arrived early on the day of to rehearse. It was the first time the choir and band would practice all together and I wanted to make sure we could run through it several times to not only get the music down but the movements as well. I had an idea of what I wanted it to look like but I wouldn’t know for certain until we were all actually there together. I definitely had to make some decisions on the fly but (most lol) everyone was patient with me.

Oh, yeah! I forgot to mention I hired a videographer to get some behind the scenes shots for a future hype-video. Can someone magically bless me with more time so I can edit that? K, thanks.

The staff at the garden lent me a couple of walkie-talkies so I could have my person at the gate radio me when our people arrived. I was so nervous waiting for them to get there! We’d run through it enough times that I knew my people were going to nail it. But the success now hinged on the four people walking into the whole thing- and I thought two of them had no idea.

I sat on a bench off to the side when they got to the park pretending to look at my phone. I expected them to beeline to the carousel. But instead they meandered a bit near the entrance to the park. There must be video of me going “come on, Chris! You’re killin’ me smalls!” I was DYING. I was shaking and probably sweating even though it was a gorgeous, cool January day.

After what felt like an eternity but was probably three minutes, Chris finally led the group to their marks. Uri and Mom hung back while Chris and Ashlyn approached the carousel. And everything was off! It was all completely out of my hands at that point. I just had to trust me people would do everything as planned. And you know what? I did. I knew they’d nail it. Now Chris had to nail it.

And I had to nail it, too!

While the song played he lead Ashlyn in a dance. It seemed to me the jig may have been up at that point. But it didn’t matter. She didn’t know that a choir and a bunch of rose petals were headed her way. She didn’t know that the carousel was theirs for the rest of the hour. And while she may have known the question that would come at the end, she didn’t know what Chris was about to say to her.

To say Chris is a man of many words is an understatement!

After the flowers were chucked and the song ended, the band continued to play softly while the choir vocalized along, Chris held Ashlyn’s hands and poured his heart out. I was too far to hear what he was saying but it was quite a few words! I should have expected that after the very first email I received from him. He’s a bit of a natural poet, really. The suspense was kill-ing me! But he finally pulled the ring from his suit pocket, took a knee, and got the yes we all knew was coming.

Everyone cheered, quite a few of us cried, and I breathed a heavy sigh of relief as absolutely every element went off without a hitch.

I sent everyone who was a part of making the surprise happen off to ride the carousel one time while I got ready for our portrait session. Ashlyn facetimed some friends while Chris, Uri, and Mom celebrated the successful proposal.

After all of the talent and staff enjoyed a trip around the Carousel, it was our turn! I underestimated just how disorienting taking portraits while moving backward in a continuous circle would be. It didn’t make me dizzy, exactly. Just, well, disoriented! But I still managed to get beautiful shots of the couple enjoying their victory lap.

We reluctantly peeled ourselves from the Carousel when the City Park staff let us know we were out of time (they seemed genuinely disappointed to kick us out although I’m sure they wanted to get home!). But it wasn’t the last time I was going to see Chris and Ashlyn. Now that the cat was out of the bag, I was able to invite them both to join the Krewe ‘dite parade on Lundi Gras! I was already going to be joined by Matt and Vero who walked with us for the first time last year and were returning from Canada again for this year. It seemed appropriate to add more cool clients to the mix!

I’ll never forget this incredible proposal. I really got to stretch my wings and soar to new heights. Managing this many people AND keeping track of the clients AND doing lead photography was a lot to handle. But I had full faith in the people I brought in on this project and they did not let me down. That’s one of the many perks of working with me- you get the opportunity to have New Orleans’ best be a part of your proposal! I only hire talent, staff, and vendors that I can trust to do a stellar job. And after nearly a decade of capturing surprise proposals, I know exactly who those folks are.

Ready to plan your epic surprise proposal in New Orleans? Start here!

Keep scrolling for photos from Chris and Ashlyn’s perfect Carousel Gardens Proposal.