Wednesday, December 25, 2013

Michelle + Matthew | Charlottesville, Virginia Proposal Photographer

I got a call from one of my mom's friends, similar to the text I received from Aaron for the last proposal I shot. It went something along the lines of, "Are you free on December 21st?" Marianne didn't tell me what it was for but I quickly figured out when she said it was "an engagement thing," that her son was probably going to propose. After many emails passed back and forth about the plan, I met Matthew at UVA on Friday to see the dorm room where he was planning to propose and to figure out where I'd need to be so I didn't spoil anything. Matthew and Michelle live in Santa Barbara now but both lived on the lawn at UVA their senior year, almost directly across from each other on opposite sides, so Matthew wanted to propose in the room she had lived in, 20 East.

I arrived early on Saturday to ensure I was ready since I wasn't 100% sure what time Michelle's flight from California would land. I eventually got a text from Matthew saying they had left Richmond, and then about an hour later, that they were walking from the bookstore to the dorm room. I made my way across the lawn as I saw them, pretending to photograph the rotunda, and then when they had their backs turned, I started shooting. Apparently Michelle was jokingly going to try and open her old dorm room, having no idea that it would actually be open for them, of course. She felt strange after it opened just a couple inches but proceeded to peek inside and once she saw the set up with her favorite flowers, candles, and rose petals in the doorway, she probably stopped believing she was intruding on someone else's space. :)

I loved watching Michelle's reaction and seeing her excitement. I was overflowing with happiness to be able to yet again, witness (and photograph) something so incredibly special. No one else, besides me, actually got to see the proposal happening from afar, and that's the best part about it all! And now I get to share what I saw through my lens with everyone else, which is just as fun, so without further ado, here is Matthew and Michelle's UVA proposal.












1 comment:

  1. ahhhhh!!!! that's so cool! i've always wanted to shoot a proposal! so fun! you did a great job, lovely!:)

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