Alicia and Greg. What can I say?! (..without choking up.) I have worked with Alicia and Greg prior to this magical day from holiday photos to extended family photos and the connection was instant. They are the sweetest, most down to earth, loving and fun couple ever, and I adore them. Fast forward to this year. Greg messaged me to set up a photo session, casually mentioning he was going to “pop the question”. I could cry right then and there. YESSSSSSSSS!!! I instantly went into planner mode and Greg and I spent some time chatting over his vision and creating fool proof plan including some amazing stick figure diagrams, drawn by yours truly, to make sure the plan went smoothly and every detail was captured. Every detail had to be perfect, from location to the surprise element, styling and so much more. I wanted this to be so special for Alicia and Greg. I reached out to Alicia to talk about styling and location, and make sure everything was covered there. As far as Alicia knew, Greg was just planning a session in Alicia’s favorite location, where it is filled with gorgeous desert light and a walk to a very unique black rock area and a natural tree arch, Alicia’s favorite spot. What she didn’t know was upon walking back towards the start top of the trail, family and friends would be waiting where Greg would get down on one knee and propose to Alicia surrounded by their closest family and friends. (Ahhhhhh… I love this romantic stuff) While planning with Greg I asked him “would it be weird if I cried, because I am totally going to cry” He said “Would it be weird if I cried, because I probably will too!” I said, “that would be amazing” (I always love when the man gets emotional, see.. hopeless romantic over here).
Leading up to the big session I had been contemplating on how I could incorporate video of the big moment. I knew everything would happen fast and their wouldn’t be time, and I would likely be crying all the happy tears, to try and capture both. I reached out to a good friend, Tawn and asked her if she would want to help me out. We met the week before, practiced video, and talked about the plan and what I was hoping for. She agreed to come capture the video for me while I captured the photos. She gave me the video footage to edit and stitch for Greg and Alicia. I didn’t want their guards to be up about having an assistant at a shoot, because I don’t typically have any assistants for sessions, other than weddings. I told them Tawn was helping me on a personal project, which was the truth, but what they didn’t know was the personal project was for them.
The big day is here. Greg and I originally planned for me to hold the ring and then I would slip it into his jacket pocket on the way back up, because we didn’t want Alicia to feel or see it in his pocket. Last minute, Greg decided to bring his guitar, because he is an amazing musician and singer and serenaded Alicia during the session, which was amazing. And conveniently the guitar case doubled as a ring holder. We had so much fun during the session, singing, laughing, and dancing. We wrapped up our session and were headed back to car when the real reason we were out there began. THE PROPSAL. It was everything we could have dreamt of and more. Alicia was so shocked to see all of her family and friends arrive. Greg got emotional when talking to Alicia about their journey and how much he loves her and when he got down on one knee I am pretty sure Alicia said yes before he even asked, Ha! Everyone is so happy and tears are flowing. (Yes, I was fighting tears too, no surprise there.) They had the most powerful embrace, you could see the excitement, comfort, shock and then relief (from Alicia in the best way possible), happiness and overwhelming love in that hug. Following this event, Greg set up a dinner celebration at El Encanto Uno, a wonderful Mexican restaurant in Cave creek for all of the attending family and friends. Cheers to a beautiful love story and I cannot wait until the Wedding Day!
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