As soon as Aaron began to tell me his plan, I knew the perfect spot. I’ve wanted to photograph a session at Briar Rose Garden for a couple of years, and it just hadn’t worked out. What better place to capture some romance, a proposal, and the deepest joy than in a beautiful flower garden?

They met at EKU, and this dark haired beauty totally captured Aaron’s heart. Before Emily, he had it all planned out, how his life would go, and marriage didn’t enter the plans for several more years. But those of us who have lived a little longer get a sweet chuckle out of “plans”… They never work out exactly right. For example, you look into someone’s eyes and unexpectedly realize that you have to marry her. You can’t live without her, and your heart starts pounding when you realize now you don’t completely have control of your plans any more. And that’s the problem Aaron had.

But that also helps with a surprise proposal, because she thinks you aren’t going to propose for a while -because you know – the plans. Aaron gets an A+ for pulling this beautiful moment off perfectly. When he called me to talk about his plans getting uprooted, he said that Emily had actually already seen the ring on his phone. In a desperate move to keep her from finding out that was HER ring, he quickly came up with a story that one of his buddies was getting married and sent a pic of the ring to him to see what he thought. Emily bought it, as far as he knew. And last Wednesday, after the shock wore off a bit and the tears dried (mine too), Emily said, “I’ve SEEN this ring before. On YOUR phone!!” So Aaron confessed that his buddy really wasn’t getting married……

Have you noticed that one of the sweetest parts of a surprise is the fun of telling the story; how you nearly let it slip, how you had to tell a fib here or there to keep the secret. How boring would our world be without the stories of our life?? And Aaron and Emily now have one of the sweetest ever. Her ring is BEAUTIFUL, but their story is far more precious than the most perfect diamond. Another part of their story is that on this day, the day Aaron planned to propose to Emily, his grandfather passed through Heaven’s gates. He nearly postponed the “photo session,” but his family reminded him that his grandfather would want him to follow through. As Aaron’s dad said, “It’s the end of one chapter of life, and the beginning of another.” And I know his grandpa would be so happy that Aaron proposed to the love of his life that very day.

After Aaron proposed, we changed the session from just “photos because we didn’t get them made last fall” to the sweetest proposal session. When I asked how about some celebration photos, Aaron said, “Now that she has that ring and said “YES,” I don’t care what we do. My heart was about to beat out of my chest before.” And Emily was shocked that he would be nervous. “You knew I’d say yes,” she told him.

And now friends, please enjoy my favorites from Emily and Aaron’s session. I think you’ll join me in cheering them on!

I’m sending lots of love and prayers for blessings to you, Aaron and Emily. -Love, Pat