A Picnic Proposal Under the Oaks

Sean pops the question at a brand new location in New Orleans City Park.

I am always looking for the best places to propose in New Orleans. I posted a list of my top ten a few years ago and I’ve updated it a few times. But it is in no way a comprehensive list of every proposal spot this city has to offer.

While I love a tried and true location, I also love to mix things up! I want each proposal to feel special even if it isn’t 100% unique (and by that I mean reusing locations or decór, sometimes a person just sees something I’ve done and knows their person would love it).

So when I get the chance to try a new proposal location in New Orleans I hop on it! It often requires I go do a bit of scouting beforehand but I don’t mind. Whatever it takes to create an amazing experience for the couple and nail that perfect shot.

New Orleans City Park is full of epic Oak Trees. I mean FULL. There are sections where you can stop and look up and barely see any sky peeking through the Oak tree canopy. Instead of clouds there’s Spanish Moss gently blowing in the breeze. It is stunning and the trees are literally hundreds of years old. Some nearly as old as New Orleans herself (who just celebrated her 300th birthday a few years ago!).

There are a few trees that have been named and can be found on maps. Most people go looking for McDonough Oak since it’s delineated in the park with a plaque. But it’s not my favorite Oak. There is a large post holding up one of its massive branches that is situated in an awkward place for photos and there is a whole lot of street parking and houses in the background if you shoot from certain angles.

I much prefer some trees that aren’t on the map. But that can be a bit challenging to find if you are new to City Park, as most of my clients are. So I have wanting to give Anseman Oak a try. It’s listed on google maps and has beautiful scenery all around it. There are also two different routes to approach it making it easy to find.

Sean chose New Orleans to propose to Sarah because she came to New Orleans a lot as a kid and it’s a special place to her. He also was set on City Park as all of the photos he saw looked super romantic (it really is!) and thinking he wanted to go the picnic route with a musician serenade. They have this inside joke from early in their relationship about a waiter using a crumb scraper on their table at a fancy restaurant and he wanted to bring that back to make the moment more personal.

He didn’t react a lot when I showed him different spots in the park to possibly stage his proposal to Sarah. But when I showed him Anseman Oak he lit up. I always tell people to go with their gut when picking a spot to propose. If I show a location and a little light goes off in your head, that’s the right spot.

Once we had the location decided upon (I would do some scouting beforehand to get precise photos of where I thought would make for the best shot under the tree) we just had to figure out what picnic elements he wanted. It took him a little while to decide on that aspect. But he knew right away what song he wanted performed: Can’t Help Falling in Love by Elvis Presley. I LOVE that song and apparently so did they! I’m partial to the Beck version, myself but really any version is good.

I sent a shout to one of my favorite proposal musicians and he said he already knew a great arrangement of that tune. We got him booked, figured out the route they would walk to get there and how the surprise would go down, and I told Sean to get back to me about the picnic.

In the end, he decided to just do something simple: champagne, rose petals, and some chocolate. He figured they’d be too excited to eat an actual picnic. Plus we had engagement photos planned for after! I thought that was a good call.

I gathered up decor elements for the picnic- a white blanket with large, burgundy pillows, white lanterns, red rose petals, a gold champagne bucket and a sweet little candy caddy situation with a three places to put an assortment of chocolates.

On the day of the proposal, it was cold! We had been having a rather warm spring the first half of March but mid-March we had another cold snap and Sean’s proposal fell right into the middle of it. It wasn’t just chilly out, it was also windy. We were going to have to move kind of quickly through portraits so Sarah wasn’t super uncomfortable! The adrenaline would warm her in the beginning but that would wear off after a while!

Aside from the cold, this was one of the smoothest proposals so far this year. Everything went exactly according to plan. Our musician played a tear-jerking rendition of the song and Sean nailed his part. I could tell that Sarah had a bit of an inkling that a proposal was coming because she didn’t seem extremely shocked. But she did seem extremely touched followed by extremely happy.

Anseman Oak delivered a breathtaking backdrop just as I had hoped!

Poor Sarah was indeed rather cold so we took breaks during our portraits for her to wear Sean’s jacket and warm up. Plus it was a good excuse for them to get close together- not that these lovebirds needed one! After 7 years together, nothing was going to stop the joy of this moment for the two of them.

Photos from Sean’s City Park Surprise Proposal to Sarah after the jump!

Ready to plan your own surprise proposal? Start here!