From the moment I received Brett’s email, immediately following his voicemail, I knew he had something special in his mind, and someone special in his heart. Brett is a Corporal in the Marines, stationed in Okinawa, and had just returned from Iraq for 30 days of post-deployment leave before he had to return back to Okinawa. With such a short time home, plans had to be made rather quickly. Erin, his girlfriend of almost 3 years, didn’t expect a thing.

The plan was to have a nice dinner where Brett would propose between dinner and dessert at their specially reserved table at Farmington Hills’ Ristorante Cafe Cortina, right in front of the fireplace. I would be there prior, in “Ninja Mode” waiting.

Let me take a moment to tell you about Ristorante Cafe Cortina, and its owner Adrian Tonon. Never have I walked into an establishment of any sort, and been made to feel so at home, and so relaxed, like I was an old friend, an invited guest, as I was in Mr. Tonon’s restaurant. When I arrived I was greeted by Adrian himself, and after introduction, he took immediate interest in Brett’s proposal, and wanted to make sure it was something incredible. Wanting to offer something a bit more intimate, Adrian took to making the moment happen outside on one of their two beautiful courtyard decks. Though it was a cooler day, he made sure there was a small table, champagne, an outdoor heater, and a nice privacy wall, to give it a little sense of intimacy. After the couple were seated, Mr. Tonon cleverly escorted Brett out to the patio, after he asked to be shown the “Restroom”. I had positioned myself in perfect view of the area, hidden to the side, my heart racing. After several minutes Adrian asked Erin to come with him to a new table he had prepared for the couple, leading her outside into the courtyard, where the following moments transpired:

I think you can tell Erin said YES!

I think the story tells itself without words. I can almost feel my heart race again, every time I relive this afternoon. I should mention that I had to go this one alone, as Lynn couldn’t make it, so I was extra nervous. Afterwards, Adrian Tonon fixed me one of the finest meals I have had, including one of his signature deserts. You can read more about Adrian, his contagious kindness, and his show, “The Culture Cafe Show” here.

Congratulations Brett and Erin!

Special thanks once again to Adrian and the Ristorante Cafe Cortina.

EXTRA special thanks to Brett and all the brave and courageous men and women in the United States Armed Forces.

We were geeked when Bill contacted us a few weeks ago and asked us to photograph his propsal to Dawn.  Bill was going to take Dawn for a quick stroll through a local park – a special place for them.  We were supposed to pretend we were there shooting stock images for the park’s website.  And we needed a “couple picture”.  Yeah right!

We got there early and waited….Andy had met Bill earlier that week, but I hadn’t been there.  So I was pretty useless at scouting out the happy couple.  Finally we see them approach – we stalk them for a little bit and then interrupt them and ask if they’d mind posing for some photos.  We ask them to cuddle up close to each other, where I deliver an Emmy-award winning doubletake and ask “Wait, you are a couple, right??”.  Yeah, I’m smooth like that!  Dawn totally thought we were just weirdos at that point, not weirdos about to photograph her propsal!

We had this whole scenario worked out with Bill where we would do a couple shots for “the park” and then do a few “couple” shots for them as a thank you for being good sports.  We planned it so Dawn would be a few feet in front of Bill and then I’d have her turn around and face him and he’d be on his knee.

This image cracks me up.   Bill’s got that all-knowing grin going on and Dawn’s just like “Okay, if we do this, will these weirdos go away?”

And………..SUCCESS!!!!

Of course, no proposal shoot would be complete without some bling:

This couple will be getting one of our mini-albums to mark the occasion.  We’ll post some pictures once it’s completed, it will be adorable, I’m sure.

Congratulations to you both!  We wish you the very best and we hope you have a wonderful wedding!

EDIT:  I forgot to add, their slideshow is here!

This photo IS exactly what it loos like – A PROPOSAL! Meet Chris and Jess. Chris is the son of a good friend of mine, and this weekend my friend and I were participating in a local garden tour – she had her garden open, and I was exhibiting some photographs in it. During the day, Chris wanders in with the engagement ring. He announced that he was going to propose either that night or the following evening.

Naturally, I scooped the ring up and got some nice close-ups (which I really need to post later!) and started hinting that the trendy thing to do now is to have your proposal photographed. (Hint Hint.) I didn’t think my message was sinking in, but he later came back and asked if Andy and I would be willing to do to it. Well DUH, of course!

We were told the approximate time and location, and got there early to stake it out. We assumed we’d be shooting from a distance to remain discreet, and had our long lenses out. We waited. And waited. But we didn’t see Chris or Jess. Finally I see someone near the water, a bit farther away than were we had discussed. And he’s waving at us crazily. My heart dropped and my first thought was “oh crap, we missed it”. I was SO bummed out. We run over there and Chris comes up to us, just out of earshot of Jess and says “ok, I told her I surprised her with a portrait session for our anniversary, but I’m going to do it as soon as you start taking pictures”. Oh yeah, NO pressure there! We start scrambling, now our telephoto lenses are way too long since we are 3ft away. We play it up and start taking “test” shots and Chris immediately goes down on one knee.

Now let me just pause here and say that this really is a remarkable couple, and I’m not just saying that because it’s my friend’s kid. I don’t know all the details exactly, but Jess has fought off brain cancer twice. She’s had numerous surgeries and had to deal with stuff that no person in her 20′s should ever have to think about. Throughout all this, Chris has been by her side for 7 years.  They have an amazing connection.

We were very excited to get the opportunity to capture a proposal – I mean how often does THAT happen?!? After playing paparazzi for a few minutes, we excused ourselves and went back to Chris’ mom’s house – where a totally unrelated party was going on. We threw together a quick slideshow and by the time the newly engaged couple arrived we had it ready to go and playing outside so everybody could see the whole thing.

Congrats to both of you!  We feel so lucky to have been able to document this and we can’t wait to shoot the wedding!