Surprise Proposal at Matthaei Botanical Gardens in Ann Arbor - Julia + Carson
If you’re looking for a place to propose in Ann Arbor, look no further than Matthaei Botanical Gardens and Conservatory.
On a cold (but sunny!) day in March, Carson proposed to Julia at the botanical gardens. The spot was perfect, and so was the moment — the sun was just peeking through some clouds and it made for some really elegant, precious photos of this moment that Carson and Julia are going to remember f o r e v e r. I might have mention this a few times in various blogs but MAN I love my job, it is truly the best.
This is the moment that Julia realized I was there to take her picture, and not to perhaps commit a murder (let me explain)—
“Can I hug you??” is the first thing that Julia said to me when she emerged from Engagement Narnia (I will explain this in a second) and realized that I was taking pictures of the whole thing. I loved Julia immediately. She was so thrilled to have me there and so full of joy.
“Oh I thought you were a murderer or something” was the second thing. (I thought it was hilarious.)
I’ve written about this before but usually when you do a surprise proposal there’s 2 routes you can go. The first is to just plain hide. Be out of sight so that the potential fiancee doesn’t see you and think.. what’s happening, is this it? This is usually the best route if you think your partner might be hip to your plans and you really want to keep it all under wraps. The second route is to just be out in the open, because it has a little bit of a reverse psychology effect sometimes. If someone was going to surprise you with engagement pictures, why would the photographer just be hanging out in the open? Also, there are just photographers everywhere these days, and at Matthaei it’s especially not uncommon.
I think Julia thought I was a murderer because I essentially split the difference between the two and it was probably confusing. I was standing behind the hedges to the side of the garden pretending to take pictures of nothing (great plan, Karly) and it made me seem conspicuous in trying not to be conspicuous if that makes sense. In any case, at least she wasn’t thinking I was about to photograph her proposal, lol.
Anyway, there’s this span of time between when the proposer begins their speech/drop down on one knee, and the time that the two new fiances snap back to reality and realize there are other people around doing things. I’ve been calling this span of time Engagement Narnia. Because I’ve seen it firsthand so many times— you really do go to another place while it’s happening. The woods could have lit on fire and it would go unnoticed for an extroardinary amount of time. I think it’s lovely and special. I love Engagement Narnia.
The below photo is what happens when you emerge from Engagement Narnia to find out that someone has been taking photos of you the whole time.
The thing I love most about this photo is that I get to be one of the subjects, without actually physically being in the photo. I know photographers who would throw out photos like this because it doesn’t add to the story in their head. The story in my head is the one that actually happened, and this happened! It was a moment where I was acknowledged, and I think it’s a really sweet and important part of this story that Carson and Julia will want to remember when they look at these photos again in 20 years.
One thing I really love about photographing people immediately after they get engaged is that they’re just so dang happy and full of joy that cannot be contained.
I do think that most people who step in front of the camera are contained to some degree and most of my job is getting them to feel comfortable enough, or at least distracted, so that they can be themselves and not worry about whatever it is that I’m doing or having to “perform” for the camera. People who have just gotten engaged are the BEST subjects for this reason. They don’t care if there’s other people around, they don’t care if there’s a camera taking shots of them, if their hair is in their face or their necklace is twisted— they’re just so happy to be in the moment with the person that they love and quite frankly, it just makes my job a lot easier.
Julia and Carson were truly so happy and full of joy and excitement. And even better, they really got me and what I was trying to do, which was just to capture them doing whatever they were doing, with very small prompts from me. I love photographing the girls who just can’t stop looking at their ring and going “oh my gosh I can’t believe this just happened!” I have a front row seat to watch people trying to process something ISANELY positive. Like whatever the complete reverse of trauma is, it’s this. So uplifting and healing— like free therapy that reminds me the world is filled with so many normal, good, joyful things that can and should drown out the really terrible ones you see on the news/social media. Its even better than watching videos of baby animals.
While we waited for my lenses to defog in the conservatory, I asked Julia and Carson if they had anyone they wanted to call and tell them the big news! Even though my lenses were still foggy, I snapped some pictures of them Facetiming Julia’s family. These are some of the best pictures because of how excited everyone gets. And more free therapy for me, if I’m being honest.
We spent the rest of the session walking through the Conservatory and finding places for Julia and Carson to admire the ring, recap what happened, and spend some time together as FIANCEES. I really enjoyed being a witness to their love and am so thankful for how open and genuinely fabulous they are as human beings.
Matthaei is an excellent place to take photos, but if you’re a photographer or couple reading this, please make sure you head to their site and check out all the rules and fees that apply. There is a $50 photo pass that you have to purchase if you are photographing 2 people, and you can buy it at the front desk when you first walk in. There’s more information in another blog post I did last month if you’re interested in more info about this venue.