Most of the sessions I post here are pretty special and significant.  However, what I’m about to post today is something so special and wonderful, that it’s kinda over the top.  From a scale of 1-10, this is a straight 11 on the “aww” factor.

Ashish is one of my boys from the good ‘ol college days.  I met him at NCSU through one of my good friends LT, who’s awesome engagement session is posted here by the way.  Ashish called me up a while back and told me he was finally ready to propose to his girlfriend Neema. When he asked me to photograph the event, I was honored and thrilled at the same time.  I’ve never actually witnessed an actual proposal personally.  Is it like what you see in the movies?  Does the girl always get emotional?  What if the guy starts crying too?  I was excited to actually see a real proposal, not to mention take notes for the time I have to do the same.  Problem was, this was going to be a surprise, so I would have to photograph them without Neema finding out.  Seems easy, but I assure you, people with big camera and lenses stick out very quickly.  On top of that, Ashish wanted to do it during day light, at the lawn in UNC, which doesn’t have things to hide behind.  However, like every photoshoot, the challenge was happily accepted.  Ashish and I planned to meet a few days before the big day, just to plan it out and make sure things go according to plan.  Like weddings, there would only be one shot at this, but on top of that, there’s the added pressure of not being detected.  We did a trial run a few days before, things went smoothly, so the plan was a Go for that weekend.  So how did it all pan out?  How did he propose to her?  Did she say Yes?  Scroll down and find out 🙂

I was worried Neema would see me

Lucky for me, at that EXACT moment, a whole wedding party was right around the corner

So when Neema did notice me, I just turned and took photos of the random bride & groom

This was the distraction point to stall things for a bit, so my assistant could run to the next area.

Ashish: “Hey, I think I recognize that song.  Is he playing John Legend?”

Ashish starts singing Stay with You by John Legend

“Oh I’ll stay with you through the ups and the downs. Oh I’ll stay with you when no one else is around”

This was it….

YES!

That’s the expression of pure happiness

I was still being a bit covert, so this is a bit blurry, but I love the moment

This is the point where Ashish realized he pulled it off perfectly

Congratulations Ashish & Neema!

Bonus

To pull of something this special, planning is a must.  All you fellas, take a lesson from Ashish.

Andrew on the Guitar

Special thanks to Azeem for helping me out.