Although we are located less than an hour from New York City, surprisingly we don’t shoot many events there. Most of our clients look for a rural, more country look and so most of our proposals, engagement sessions and weddings are up north or out-of-state! So I was beside myself when I received an e-mail from Martin, telling me of his vision of proposing to his Australian girlfriend, Sarah, while vacationing from their home in Sweden for a week in New York. Just based on how he described her love of photography, real love stories, and how much she would love to have the moment (unknowingly) photographed, I knew that this surprise proposal session would be unlike anything we had ever shot before.

Meeting 5 years ago while both studying to become doctors, Martin and Sarah became close in their final year of studies, both disagreeing on who stared at who first!! (aw) Their relationship blossoming in 2013, Sarah romantically moved to Sweden to be with Martin, a country where she didn’t even know the language! (are you tearing up yet?!) In the words of Martin: “To move away from your family and best friends has to be something special and I feel deeply humbled by the fact that it’s me. Words do not do justice for how much I love her!” (sobbing now!)

Secretly through disguised emails, Martin described his vision for proposing to Sarah, from the private walking trail down to the box and bow that would hold a note he wrote for her. From thousands of miles away, I gathered the items Martin asked for, planning his proposal true to his dream. The biggest challenge we faced in planning (and keeping the secret!) was the fact that Martin wanted to place a romantic note to Sarah in a box with a lock and key. The plan? After approaching the box on a bench in Central Park, Sarah would read “The key is in your pocket” on the box, reach into her pocket and find the key already there! Now, this wildly romantic plan had a huge catch: the key from the box I bought for Martin had to be in Sarah’s pocket before they left for New York….meaning that key had to be in Sweden! So several weeks prior to the proposal, the teeny, tiny key was mailed in a gigantic envelope under the guise of office supplies to Sweden! When Martin emailed me with the news that it had arrived, I’ve never let out such a sigh of relief!

So on a freezing January afternoon, we set up the carefully selected bench with all the pretty objects Martin asked for, and we waited for them to walk up the trail. With golden, glowing light and a gorgeous layer of powered snow from the night before, Sarah and Martin stumbled upon one of the most important moments of their lives.

The Key is in Your Pocket…

I love how Sarah naturally stands on her tippy toes!

I love it!!

What’s a New York City session without a Central Park lamp post shot??

It was like the park was shut down just for us!

Sarah’s gorgeous blue ring is actually a ring given to her by Martin when she moved from Australia to Sweden! The real ring is being picked out at Tiffany & Co. as I type! (Swoon!)

Congratulations, Martin & Sarah!

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