Alex & Todd » Their Proposal Story

I’m just going to come out and say it. My whole family loves and adores Alex and Todd.  We first met Alex because she started babysitting our kids for our church small group. And then sometimes Todd would come with her to help her. It’s been so fun and wonderful getting to know this young couple.  So when Todd contacted me a few months ago saying he was going to ask Alex to marry him and he wanted me to be there to photograph it, I was honored! Obviously I was pumped and immediately agreed!

The setting was to be August 26th on the walking bridge.  I knew when the best light of the day would be, so we chose 7pm as the time!  But since Alex knew me and there’s NO place to hide on the bridge, I had to figure out an excuse for why I would be there.  The only thing I could think to do was pretend that I was photographing some clients. It worked beautifully. I got to photograph my wonderful friends Brittany and Jimmy while Todd and Alex walked toward us.  We made small talk and thankfully Alex didn’t suspect anything!

So… instead of ME giving you commentary about what happened next, I thought I would turn this blog post over to Todd and Alex to give their own perspective, in their own words, on what was going on in their heads!

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Todd:

I started planning this about 6 months ago if not longer. I really wanted the proposal to be special and I am not too good at surprises. I already knew I wanted to propose on the walking bridge and wanted spell out “will you marry me” in candles. But I also knew Alex wanted pictures so that took the night option out.

The first weekend of summer I met Alex and her family in Nashville and asked her dad for her hand. He happily gave his blessing. So, the next step was for me to meet with Rich. We met at Starbucks and we came up with an idea of Rich shooting a fake session with fake clients to throw Alex off since there was no place for him to hide. Then I had to try to figure out another way to spell out “will you marry me.” Alex’s mom came up with the idea for the signs and we decided to do them Tiffany and Co blue (Alex’s favorite color). Then the hard part began: trying to hide all of it from Alex.

Alex:

You should understand that we have been dating for six years and have always talked about getting married after we graduate so I was expecting to get engaged literally everynight this whole summer. My small suspicions at the beginning of Sunday night were not out of the ordinary. But since Todd asked me so nonchalantly to dinner, I was definitely thrown off and figured “it wasn’t tonight (again).” He said he wanted to take me out on a date night since I had been in Memphis all summer. So we went to Hennen’s downtown and were going to meet friends from our small group after at Clumpy’s, an ice cream shop.

Todd:

I was very calm and not nervous at all at dinner, which is surprising because I usually get nervous pretty easily and then get sick to my stomach or almost pass out.

Alex:

Which is another reason I wasn’t suspicious. After dinner, we headed toward the walking bridge (which leads to the ice cream shop we were headed to).

Todd:

I was just happy to convince Alex to walk from Hennen’s to Clumpy’s since she was tired and had heels on.

Alex:

We walked down about three quarters of the bridge and then all-of-the-sudden we saw Rich photographing a couple. I was so happy to “see him in action.” And I walked right up to him so surprised. We made small talk and he introduced me to the couple he was photographing. Little did I know, these were pseudo clients and they were in on the surprise. They were all so calm and I still didn’t suspect a thing.

Todd:

This was the part where I was a little nervous because it was not rehearsed and Rich’s fake client, Jimmy, had to slip me the ring, but it went off so smoothly.

Alex:

After a couple minutes of small talk, Rich said they had to get back to their session. And as we were walking away, I decided I wanted a picture of Rich “on the job” and totally pulled my phone out and snapped a picture of him.

Todd:

I was not happy that she was taking pictures, this was not part of the plan.

Alex:

And I was wondering why he was hurrying me along. Then I looked over and Todd had tears in eyes and told me to look over the side of the bridge. When I did, I saw a huge group of screaming people holding signs, and all I read was “Alex Will.” Then I completely knew what was going on. By this time Todd was on one knee and we were both crying.

Todd:

When I knelt down I wanted to say how much I love her and that she is my best friend and that I want to spend the rest of my life with her but all I could do was kneel there with my mouth open until all I could say was “will you marry me.?” Basically I was just trying not to cry more than a man should.

 

Alex:

I could tell he wasn’t saying anything for a long time but I was still trying to take everything in. Of course I said yes!! And was so incredibly happy!

Todd:

I didn’t realize I was shaking until I went to put on the ring and almost put it on her… pinky.

Alex:

Then we headed down to where everyone was and my sister and cousin ran towards me! It was one of the happiest moments of my life. My family being there was so special since they had to drive 10 hours in one day in order to see us get engaged. So we went around hugging everyone and taking pictures. I seriously could not have asked for a better night. It was everything I wanted and more.

Rich:

I love this photo of Todd surrounded by girls as he told them the story.  He definitely had their absolute attention. All the while raising the bar very high for any guy who would want to marry them. I was thinking in my head “Way to go, Todd. So proud of you!”

Rich:

And then, like icing on the cake, right in the midst of his story, my daughter Alana RAN up to him and threw her arms around him to give him a big hug.  Todd is going to make an incredible dad… again, raising the bar.  Loved it!  You da man, Todd!

Rich:

Here’s a photo of the proposal happening from the park below the bridge by my buddy Robert Miles of Limestone Films!

Rich:

And a fun photo from behind the scenes by Brittany Moncrief of Moncrief Photography!

 

Todd:

I can’t believe everything went as planned. We want to thank everyone for their part in the surprise and supporting us on such a special day. A special shout out to Rich!! I couldn’t have pulled it off without you and your pseudo clients (Jimmy and Brittany).

Rich:

And also thank you so much to Jimmy and Brittany for giving me a great excuse for being on the bridge when Todd and Alex walked up! They made great “fake” clients! I actually got some incredible photos of them in the 10 minutes we were waiting! 🙂