Jesse’s Surprise Proposal to Alayna in the Kubota Garden

This was a very fun photo session.  It was also VERY quickly arranged, which is certainly part of what made it so much fun.

I was contacted by Jesse’s mom just a few days before this session.  Jesse and his girlfriend Alayana live in Colorado, and they were going to be visiting Seattle for a few days that coming weekend.  Jesse wanted to surprise Alayna with a marriage proposal while on their trip, but didn’t know a good place for the proposal or a photographer who could catch the moment.

This is where Jesse’s mom Tamisha stepped in.  She checked out photographers in the Seattle area and when she found my site, she liked what she saw and gave me a call.  Tamisha explained about the upcoming trip, and wanted to know if I was available during the time Jesse and Alayna would be in Seattle.  Fortunately I did have a day open that would work, so I got in touch with Jesse and we discussed possible locations as well the logistics of how to make it all work.  Jesse liked the idea of the Kubota Garden, so we agreed on a time and I sent him a map of the Garden with the location for the proposal (the Moon Brdge) marked.  I warned Jesse that even with a map it was tricky to find things in the Garden, but I was sure we’d work it out.

A couple of days later it was Go Time!  I got to the Garden and texted Jesse that I was there, and would be in position in 5 minutes.  Jesse texted back that they were still a few minutes out, so I made my way to the Moon Bridge and picked my spot.  By using a big telephoto lens I was able to look like some random photographer in the park, while also giving myself the ability to get photos of the proposal from far enough away that I wouldn’t be too obvious.

Sure enough, Jesse got lost and didn’t find the bridge right away.  And when he did he was approaching from the wrong side!  But he saw me and I was able to maneuver into position before he dropped to one knee and brought out the ring.  Once the proposal was complete, I walked to the bridge and introduced myself and we talked about where we could go in the Garden to get more photos to celebrate their engagement.

Alayna and Jesse were not only a very friendly and photogenic couple, they also shared some of my interests (such as skiing) and we had a good time chatting as I showed them some of my favorite parts of the Garden. We didn’t really have enough time to see everything, but I was able to hit most of my favorite spots before they had to leave.

A selection of photos from the session follows.  You can see more of my work on my blog page by clicking this link.