It was an enthusiastic “yes,” but prior to that, Jacob had been working really hard to set up this surprise. He contacted me back in May to see if I would be available to photograph his proposal to his girlfriend, Anna. They met at Iowa and he was thinking of proposal in front of the Old Capitol building on their anniversary. I was already booked the evening he was hoping for so we found another date that would work instead.

Then he got to work setting up the tale to Anna that he had an employee appreciation dinner that evening in Iowa City, significant others included. He thought of everything, including a reason for a new dress for her, she got her nails done (very unknowingly), and Jacob’s brother needing to borrow his car to go grocery shopping so that they could park in a specific spot where they would run into me on their way to dinner. We sent marked-up maps to each other for specific location planning and came up with the ruse that I would play in the whole story as well as what the clue would be for him to drop to a knee with the ring.

So here’s how it went!!

Jacob had already sent me a photo of the two of them together and told me what they would be wearing. He was going to carry a blue backpack with the ring inside, pretending to have to take his work laptop along to the dinner. They would park the car at Tippie (for his brother to use *wink, wink*) and walk from there past the Pentacrest toward the restaurant. He started sharing his location with me before they left home (“Sharing my location! We will be leaving in about 8 minutes which will put us at Tippie right at 6. Also muted your notifications so it doesn’t show up on CarPlay. See you soon. Thank you!!”) and even had a coworker of his call on their drive to say he was running a few minutes late, really solidifying Anna’s belief in the dinner.

I meandered around the sidewalks for a bit until I saw on my phone that his car had parked. I started casually walking over towards the corner of Jefferson and Clinton, checking my watch and holding my camera. As they crossed the street, I walked over and began my lie about waiting for my clients to get there (“they were running late because of traffic from Cedar Rapids;” believable!) and wondering if I could use Jacob and Anna for a couple of minutes to “test the light.”

They said they had to get to a dinner, but if it would just be for a little bit, they could probably do that. I introduced myself, got their names, walked them over to the shade (it was so brutally hot that evening!!), and made small talk. As Jacob and I had planned, I coached them into a “bear hug” sort of pose where I had Anna facing me and told Jacob to come up behind her and hug her and give her kisses along her cheek. The first one was real; it would be the second that he would kneel down instead. So after the first 3, 2, 1 and hug/kisses, I told them that was perfect, so cute, amazing, I just want to switch my angle and have them do it again.

Jacob said, “Oh, I should probably take my phone and wallet out of my pocket, huh?” So as I’m talking to Anna about how guys always have the biggest and best pockets and can store so much stuff in them, Jacob quickly puts his phone in the backpack and pulls out the ring box. He kneels down behind her and I repeat that we are doing the same thing again, but as I’m counting down, I instead say, “Three, two, oh wait, Anna, just turn around instead.”

The rest of the evening was pure magic. She was so surprised and kept saying, “Are you serious?” and “So no one else knows?!?” and “Wait, is there a work dinner?”

After the proposal itself, we walked around the Pentacrest area for some freshly-engaged photos. The smiles, the laughter, the repeating “So no one else even knows?”…it was all the most delightful thing. Jacob told her that after photos, they’d go over to DC’s, where they had first met, to grab a drink and call their families. I said I’d go over there too to grab a photo of them in front of DC’s, seeing as it was a special location for them. She didn’t know that a second surprise awaited her there.

We got to DC’s and I took a few photos of them in front of the bar, then had them facing me. Their families quietly slipped out the doors behind them and waited there until I told them to face each other, at which point, Anna noticed all the people there.

The entire evening was so well planned out (Jacob!!) and so much fun to capture. I sent the photos over to them and Anna told me, “So happy you captured all the little moments, especially since I blacked out for half of it. 🤣 Thank YOU!!!” I wish every couple would have these proposal-high blackouts documented for them; it is just the most joyful celebration.

Congratulations, Anna and Jacob!!!