Last week while we were in Charleston speaking at the Rising Tide Leaders Summit, we had no idea that we were in a for a huge surprise just minutes after our talk.
We’ve photographed our fair share of proposals, so you’d think we would’ve seen it coming, but we didn’t have a clue. We never expected that WE would be getting proposed to!
Here’s the back story:
We met Rachel, and her mom, Laura, when they traveled into Scottsdale from their home town of California to attend the AJ Workshop together last year. We were drawn to their sweet personalities and their amazing story right away. They’re a mother daughter wedding photography team (how cute is that?!) and were building their business while Rachel was still in high school! They have such a close relationship. A real-life Lorelei and Rory! We found out they’d never seen an episode of The Gilmore Girls, so as you can imagine, it wasn’t long before we were hounding them to get started (for obvious reasons). They’ve since become fans of the show, just like us. We seriously loved our time with them at the workshop, and loved getting updates of their success over the last year.
So back to last week.
After we finished our talk in Charleston, everyone headed off to lunch, but Laura asked us to hang back for a minute so she could share her heart with us. She told us through tears that because of what they learned at the workshop, that they were able to take their business FULL-TIME and our hearts were basically doing fireworks while tears filled OUR eyes. These were the kind of stories we used to dream of, and here, we were getting to look into the eyes of someone who was quite literally living their dream. After she hugged us, she turned us around, and there we saw Rachel, and her brand new finance, Paul, waiting for us. Laura pulled out her camera…
And here’s what happened next:
We were blown away by the thoughtfulness Rachel and Paul put into this. Paul actually crafted that wooden box by hand, and they had personalized cookies and champagne glasses made just for the occasion.
And in true Gilmore Girls-spirit, they surprised us with the cutest shirts that couldn’t be more perfect for us.
We of course said a big YES, and then celebrated with a toast! One of the cutest parts of our “champagne toast” is that Rachel and Paul are still under-age, so we toasted with sparkling cider instead! One pair of high school sweethearts with another!
Rachel and Paul, we are SO honored and excited to be your wedding photographers! Laura, thank you so much for capturing this moment for all of us! We love you all! Here’s to all the exciting memories to come!
