Y’all, it was SO fun to be in on this secret with Michael leading up to the big day!  He wanted to propose to Natalie at his parents’ lakehouse, first thing in the morning.  He and I met before the big day to come up with our game plan, and we had to be super strategic about how and when we communicated leading up to THE day, to make sure we didn’t spoil the surprise!  (Thank goodness for Michael’s mama helping us out on the communication front!  We couldn’t have pulled it off without her help!)

Michael was (understandably) concerned about rain and so we made a last-minute decision to move our date up a few days earlier than originally planned, to a new date that had less chance of rain during our scheduled time!  But y’all know how even the best-laid plans can (and do) still go awry.  Sure enough, it started sprinkling while I was driving to the lakehouse and it sprinkled off and on for about 30 minutes before it let up enough for Michael to convince Natalie to come down to the dock.  (I love how he did this – she loves otters and he told her he saw some baby otters in the lake, and she came running down to see for herself!)  I was sitting on a neighbor’s porch swing (did I mention we got permission from the neighbors ahead of time for me to park in their driveway and be on their property??  this surprise was such a team effort, y’all!) and although Natalie saw me from a distance, she had NO idea why I was really there.

She was in shock at first!

I could tell Michael had told her there was a photographer because she started looking around for me, so I waved at her and she laughed and waved back.

Then, I finally got to introduce myself to Natalie and asked her if it would be OK if we took a few just-engaged portraits of the two of them!  Thankfully, she obliged.  😉  I think she was still a little bit in shock at first, but they were great listeners and we got a TON of sweet portraits in just a matter of a few minutes!

I love Natalie on her tip-toes in this next shot on the right!

Michael did a great job picking out the ring!!!

I think this next one is my favorite from our time together – I love the pure, just-engaged joy in this moment!

Can we talk about what a great job Michael did of choosing a sweater that coordinated with the dress Natalie wore that morning?  Not sure if that was intentional or not, but good job, Michael!

If you look closely, you can see a few little rain drops in the next photo – it was sprinkling on and off while we took their portraits, but these two did. not. care.  They were on cloud nine and a little bit of rain wasn’t going to change that!

Michael, thank you so much for inviting me to be part of this with you!  I so enjoyed getting to know the two of you during our time together, and I hope y’all love these images as much as I do!