This session was shot by GMP founder and Principal Photographer Elizabeth Millar
Ranffi surprised Rue with a Dazzling Nights proposal at Leu Gardens on opening night!
Not gonna lie—I panicked a little when Ranffi suggested opening night for his proposal to Rue but I’m not one to back down from a challenge so I said “let’s do it!” and it went so well.
Dazzling nights has been going for almost a decade and this is the best year yet. It’s so totally worth it and you’re likely to catch a proposal so make sure if you do, you’re making surprised faces in the background like the adorable ladies in the background of this proposal!
I have an article on my site called How to Pull off a Proposal Caught on Camera and in it, I talk about how the person proposing usually tells a lie that I have to find a way to go along with: “Some of the best proposals I’ve caught on camera feature “a big lie” to get your partner in the right place at the right time, camera ready, and with no suspicion that you’re about to propose.”
The big lie that Ranffi told Rue was that he had purchased the photography package with their tickets to Dazzling Nights. There is no such thing as a proposal package so we arranged that when they got there, I would hover nearby with my cameras and he would come up and ask me about the photo package. I am SO BAD AT LYING and in the behind-the-scenes video at the top of this page, you’ll see what I mean. I’m still so embarrassed at my awful delivery of my half of the lie 😂 but I knew that the lid would be blown off the whole thing within just a few minutes so I powered through!
I had sent pictures ahead of time of the path where they had hung chandeliers from the trees and he decided this is where he would propose. My only criticism of the entire event is that the bulbs in this area are a yucky daylight temperature and should have been warm white but I fixed that in editing!
I really hope to have some more proposals before the Dazzling Nights season is out!
