A Paris Proposal Story
Spoiler Alert: It's my story! Eek! Which of course means, I clearly didn't take these photos. Huge thanks to Fran, The Paris Photographer, for documenting this very special Paris Proposal Story of ours. And since we've already ruined the surprise, let's just start with the money shot ;-)
Yep, Kevin proposed in Paris. Holy, freakin, cow! Writing this still feels beyond unreal so forgive me in advance for the excess of exclamation points and emoticons. When we originally planned our vacation to France, I knew I had to hire a photographer while we were in Paris. Clearly we weren't engaged yet, but I'm a firm believer in documenting life regardless of the big, obvious occasions, so Kevin and I over the years have made it a semi-regular practice to be photographed (I personally make a point of being on the other side of the camera once a year so I remember what it feels like for all of you!) As fate would have it, the only time Fran still had available amidst our trip was our very last day. In hindsight, I've been apologizing to Kevin a lot because it would seem he never got to relax! But... #WorthItWhile yes, there were a few curious moments, Kevin did a really good job of squashing any suspicions. So, by the time Tuesday, July 5th rolled around I was only thinking about soaking in every last moment of intentional quality time with this awesome guy in one of my favorite places in the world. Clearly, Kevin's big sigh when I said it was time to leave our Air BnB for photos had nothing to do with a lack of photo taking excitement!
We've met up with Fran and everything is going just as I would expect a portrait session to go. There's clearly a street musician hanging out near us, but that's totally normal because we are at one of the most scenic spots in all of Paris. Of course there would be a street musician, it only makes sense! Little did I know...
So we cozy up near said musician and "wait for the tourists to get out of the way." False! Really, what we were waiting for was Adrienne (the alleged street musician) to change the music he was playing into the song Kevin had hired him to play. Now, this song is not your run of the mill, street musician in Paris kind of song. We aren't talking about La Vie en Rose here. Kevin had managed to find a violinist in Paris (while we were still in Chicago) who was willing to learn a song by Explosions in the Sky, which for the non-musicians in the crowd, is a rather complicated instrumental band. So clearly, as soon as the song switches the JIG IS UP. There is only one thing that can be happening if a "random" street musician, we just happen to be standing next to, while accompanied by a photographer is playing "A Slow Dance" by Explosions in the Sky. Cue the squeals of excitement.
A note about my immediate reaction when the music changed: To all of the tourists who were near us at this moment and confused by the woman yelling "You lied!" while getting proposed to, let me explain. You see, Kevin made a point prior to our trip of noting how all of our friends & family kept telling him and I separately that clearly he had to take advantage of a Paris proposal because it would just be too perfect to pass up. And since they had all pointed that out already, it was now too obvious and even though he had been thinking about it, it wasn't going to happen because everyone else ruined that. Clearly, he lied. ;-)
Friends, you have to understand, my favorite type of gift, my love language, is Quality Time. So regardless of whether it's mac & cheese for dinner that's ready when I arrive home because he thought ahead on how long my day was going to be or a Valentine's Day date complete with a pre-purchased CTA card for traveling to the restaurant, when someone puts thought into anything ahead of time and does a bit of planning, it's my favorite. So this? THIS! This was perfect. And we still had an entire portrait session to spend time celebrating together!
Ok, one more thing (I'm Italian. This means long stories and big emotions!). My parents & grandma were all on this trip with us and no one knew the proposal was coming! Which again, turned out perfectly, because thanks to Fran's patience, we were able to completely surprise them together and catch it all on camera. For this, we are changing up the medium a little and giving you a GIF, because the progression of reactions is just too good to not see in motion. :)
Again a huge thanks to Fran, The Paris Photographer, for staying with us all morning to document this crazy surprise and celebration. Paris was already amazing to me; now it tops the list! I'm Engaged!!