The (Surprise!) Proposal: Stephanie & Breighton Are Getting Married!

As a photographer, I have the wonderful privilege of having front row seats to one of life’s most beautiful moments; the request of another’s hand in marriage. The raw emotion, the passion, the symbolism…it’s a feeling of wonder and excitement that I cherish each and every time. It never gets old.

But this proposal holds a bit more weight for me.

I’m struggling to find words to describe just how happy I am to see my brother so in love; so utterly smitten by this woman who will soon become his wife—Stephanie.  

It simply doesn’t get any better than this.

Their 2+ year long distance courtship began with late night phone calls that blossomed into weekend visits (Stephanie currently lives in Michigan). Weekend visits turned into “weekend plus Monday” visits, which turned into week-long rendezvous. He would go there, she would come here. A deep love was blossoming, one 3-hour car ride at a time. As much as they enjoyed these visits, they were always bittersweet…it became evident that something had to change.

Two months ago, my brother came to me and told me of his plans to propose to Stephanie. In true Breighton fashion, an intricate plan had been devised to keep an all too inquisitive girlfriend at bay…“The Game Plan”, as it was called. A two-page itinerary, maps, phone trees, code names…nothing was left to chance. And last Friday it was all executed to perfection.

The ruse was a “blog post” about our significant others…we wanted to celebrate our love for our girlfriends through pictures. Fortunately for us, Stephanie was none the wiser. She and Breighton met me at nearby Ault Park in Cincinnati to take some simple couple photos to add to the blog. It began innocently; I was snapping away, all while getting visual cues from Breighton to know when to switch to “proposal mode”.

Breighton: “Do you wanna get that one shot we were talking about?”

I thought he’d never ask.

We moved to a small alcove near the pines. I placed them facing each other, and stepped back a few feet to capture the tree-lined background...they began to chat amongst themselves while I “adjusted my camera settings.”

His words to her in that moment fell just out of earshot, but the look on her face told the story.

Bewilderment, then surprise, then…tears.

I later learned what Breighton had said to her in that moment:

“I dreamed a dream I thought was but a dream; until that dream became you.”

She was so excited she forgot about the ring! I had to remind her that there was some important business to attend to:

There they were; the happy, newly engaged couple, basking in engagement bliss.

The story would have been perfect had it ended there…but Breighton’s Game Plan had yet another twist…

She was probably too elated to notice the group of people walking up the small hill to the alcove; too overjoyed to notice the group’s keen interest in what was going on among the pines. In her defense, she probably wouldn’t have been able to tell, since I’d immediately turned her and Breighton in the other direction. I continued to snap photos as the group inched closer…suddenly, I asked Stephanie to turn around:

Her family, all there to witness. 

We even let her in on how intricately we had planned it all. 

So yeah, my brother’s getting married…and it’s going to be epic.

Congrats to the happy couple! Bro, you couldn't have found a better partner. 

Now to find a suitable photographer for this wedding :-)

- Basette