I heard from Reece 24 hours before his proposal at Disney’s Boardwalk and I was so up for being his partner in crime.

I’ve written before about how to pull off a proposal caught on camera and Reece did so many things right:

1. He hired me, a photographer with experience doing this. It’s not a normal photo shoot because we have to covertly plan with you where to be and when and this is harder than it sounds.
2. He proposed on vacation. This ensured that Victoria was camera ready with her hair and nails freshly done so she will love how she looked on camera. Because imagine planning all of that and your partner hating that they weren’t camera ready?
3. He proposed at the beginning of their vacation so they’ll be euphoric for the whole week they spend at Disney. Another good reason to propose, or get married if you’re in Orlando to elope, at the beginning of your vacation is that you might be exhausted and sunburned at the end.

Another thing Reece did right was plan to do the proposal near the golden hour. This is especially important when proposing in Florida—the light here can jeopardize a picture-perfect moment like nowhere else I’ve ever worked.

Reece got in touch on the 19th to say he’d be proposing on the 20th. They were staying at a Disney resort with a reservation for dinner at Disney’s Boardwalk. And, although I’d been planning to take the weekend off, I was so up for jumping on this opportunity and being Reece’s partner in crime. I love being a witness on the happiest days of people’s lives.

Earlier in the day, Reece texted to tell me the spot he’d found where he wanted to propose and the time around which he was planning to be there. Luckily I was early because he said 6:45-7 and we both walked up at 6:30. We’d texted our photos to eachother so we knew who we were looking for but I didn’t see him look around for me before he dropped on one knee so I’m REALLY happy I was there and prepared to start shooting immediately.

I like to say that wedding photographers and photo journalists have an in-built algorithm that tells us what people are about to do before they do it and where we need to be to capture it. I’ve spent 15 years staring down the barrel of my camera at humans, noting every expression, every micro-movement.

As an introvert I’ve spent my life hanging back and observing people interacting with each other—this has made me very good at catching whatever happens with little to no preparation.

After the proposal, we spent some time doing engagement photos and this is another incredible reason to have a photographer there when you propose—it can turn into an engagement session taken on one of the happiest days of your life. The excited energy and smiles are so very real which makes good on my promise that our time together is “always joyful, never forced”.

Thank you for inviting me, Reece, it was so much fun. 📸 💛