First off, congratulations to Alex & Eden on their very recent engagement!!!
Secondly, thank you very much, Mr. Alex, for inviting me to be a part of such a very special event in your lives.
As soon as I found out Alex was going to propose to his wonderful girlfriend, Eden, I began sending him ideas. In the end, Alex came up with his own brilliant plan to meet at a park and have a picnic to celebrate their seven year dating anniversary. Once they sat down, the plan was to present Eden with a very thoughtful 2-part gift – a book he had made, full of photos and stories from their years of dating. At the end of the book, Alex would be giving her the other half of the gift – a ring!
When we were finalizing the details at the park, I asked Alex if he was nervous. He said yes but we already knew Eden would say yes, so of course, the nerves were about making the plans go smoothly. It soon came to light that his biggest fear was actually me being seen! At no point during the day was Eden supposed to see me. No pressure, right?!
On the day of his proposal, I arrived at the park about 30 minutes before them, did a walk through – checked the grass for presents left by geese, dogs and the like and finally settled on a good routine — where to stand when they got there, which path to take after they sat down and where to hopefully hide if they sat in the right spot. My heart was racing, my hands were shaking but I was soooo excited for them. I finally got the text from Alex “here!”
Once they sat down, I calmly set my bag down and walked over to my hiding spot. “Shoot. He has her sitting on THAT side?! If she turns to look at Alex, she’s going to look right over here! Oh boy.” So, I decided there was no way I could move around a lot like I had planned (hopping between the large evergreen trees to get different angles). Since she was sort of facing me, the slightest bit of movement could make her look over. And so there I was, next to a very popular path, hiding behind a bush. Just. There. behind a bush.
I started getting a bit brave after a while – standing all the way up to finally be able to frame a few shots without bushes in the way (yes. I know how creepy this sounds). Though that bravery was quickly smashed as Eden turned to laugh with Alex and looked straight in my direction. I quickly fell to the ground and just laid down. I must have laid there for like 30 seconds thinking. “well now what? I wonder if they can see through this bush and she just sees me laying on the ground. How weird am I right now?” But I slowly regained my courage to get back up…
After creeping for what felt like forever, a family (with rather rambunctious kiddos) decided to walk right behind me. Naturally, I ducked again (no really, these kids were pretty loud) and next thing I know, I’m peering over the bush and BWAH! He’s doing it now! I was soooo excited I was shaking. I finally just stood up. She was facing my direction but it was all over then and there. I took my last few shots as they hugged. I turned around and walked off, sending Alex a text to congratulate them and let him know I was done. Hoping… hoping against all odds that she didn’t see me. I mean, I knew I was being creepy but I didn’t want Eden to know I was being creepy – that’s how it works, right? HA! Either way, it felt very 007-ish to just pack up and walk off like nothing ever happened…
Again, congratulations you guys! I hope you enjoy the photos — sorry for the stalker-ish vibe!
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by JenG
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