Surprise Proposal At Lemoine Point | Bowtied with Love & Quirky Love Photography Team Up for Ashis and Meenu Surprise Fall Engagement
This is the story of a secret proposal.
When Ashis (pronounced ‘ah-shish’) contacted me, it was because he wanted to plan the perfect proposal for his partner, Meenu, and needed my help to photograph it.
As a wedding and engagement photographer, the photos would be no problem. But the planning - well, for that, I recruited the help of Heather (of Bowtied with Love).
When it comes to planning any kind of event - from proposal to wedding - I always want to consult an expert. And Heather is simply fantastic. I know that I will never come up with anything close to what she can create.
Working with planners for a proposal means that they can put together a timeline for you, source decor, take care of the logistics…
Basically, you don’t leave ANYTHING to chance.
That’s why I needed Heather.
I told Ashis about her, and they quickly connected. In no time, Heather had come up with the perfect plan for Ashis to propose to Meenu while walking along a trail at Lemoine point.
The couple were coming from two different locations: Ashis from the US, and Meenu from Ottawa.
They were meeting up in Kingston and the official plan (as Meenu knew it) would be for them to go on a hike together.
The secret plan was that halfway through the hike, Ashis would take Meenu to that little rocky beach spot along the trails at Lemoine point, and get down on one knee to propose.
Everything was set, the plans were in place, and we were all excited (except Meenu, who knew nothing about it, of course! I’m sure she was excited to see her beau, but she didn’t know she would be getting ENGAGED that day!)
Heather and I met up about 45 minutes earlier, walked to the secret spot, and Heather and her assistant set up the decor.
A cozy winter blanket, braided red cable knit pillows, rustic pinecones dipped in snow, a wooden crate and a letter board helped to make this winter theme come together.
It was magic!
Then all we had to do was wait.
While we waited, we came up with a story: I was Heather’s photographer, and she was on a fall photoshoot. That would be our cover story, should the couple emerge from the path and wonder past us.
Ashis knew we would be on the trail, pretending to be passers by. He didn’t know what we looked like, because we had only ever spoken on the phone!
So… just as Heather and I were starting to get nervous about the couple being late, we spotted them on a far away trail.
The problem was - a cluster of curious passers by with their dog had spotted our secret beach set up, and made their way down the stairs to check it out! Oh no!
And the couple were getting CLOSER.
Heather started throwing leaves in the air, I started photographing her, pretending we were there for this fall shoot…
The couple passed us by, and actually looked down at the secret beach spot…. Only to see all the curious people gathered there, looking!
So, Ashis and Meenu walked on by!
This was potentially bad news. What if they missed it completely, and kept walking? We had to do something. Heather deployed her assistant to kindly clear out the folks from the secret beach spot.
Luckily, Ashis figured it out in time, and turned around. So now, the couple were approaching us again, but this time from the other direction.
Heather kept on throwing leaves up in the air, pretending I was her photographer. I caught a photo of the couple, with Heather in the foreground.
Finally - although it only in reality took about 60 seconds - Ashis and Meenu made their way down the stairs to an empty beach, set up perfectly for his secret proposal.
At this point, I rushed down the stairs after them. By this time, Ashis was already getting down on one knee, and Meenu had her hands over her mouth in surprise!
From there, it was pure magic.
Meenu was really emotional. She said yes, helped Ashis up off his knees, and they embraced.
We took a couple of photographs by the water, and then they made their way back through the winding paths.
Another surprise - Meenu got to Facetime with her entire family, who were on standby. Ashis had prepared them all for the good news, and she was so surprised to see them all, on the other side of the phone, cheering for the newly engaged couple.
They talked to her family for a bit, and Meenu showed off her gorgeous ring.
We then took a few mostly candid photographs of the couple walking through the stunning fall colours of the forest.
The intense yellows were the perfect backdrop for this joyful occasion.
Finally, we emerged in the parking lot. And that’s when the final surprise happened.
The couple were walking toward their car, and sure enough - Ashis’s family burst out of there. They’d been hiding there, waiting to congratulate the couple!
There were embraces and laughter.
Afterwards, we took a family photograph of Ashis and his family, with Meenu.
It was a perfect morning for a surprise proposal, and I am so very happy with how the photographs turned out.
Even more, I’m super grateful to Heather for helping me pull off this super cute proposal, staged perfectly!
I hope you enjoyed the photos!
If reading this, you started wondering what a secret proposal would look like for you and your love(s), then get in touch and we can help!
Vendors:
Heather of Bowtied with Love