We've been featuring a lot of engagement sessions lately and have many more to share with you in the upcoming weeks. This particular engagement session, photographed by Precious Photography, is just too adorable. This couple had a total of seven outfit changes and big red balloons (which totally made me happy)! I just love everything about this session and I'm sure you will too!
We met on the May long week-end 6 years ago. I was doing my master's degree at the University of Toronto, and was rooming with another student from my program. She was an engineer, and therefore had a wide selection of single guy friends. She had given me a brief description of most of them, explaining which ones she would recommend and why. It turns out that her top candidate, who unfortunately lived far away, had a little brother in town! We hit it off right away with our mutual enjoyment of doing wacky things! For example, on Canada day Porya dared me to remove the Canada flag from the wall and wear it as a dress. Of course, I could never turn down a dare, and by the end of the night all of the other girls were all wearing flags as dresses! Our first date consisted of jumping in a public fountain in our clothes, which became our "thing" for the rest of the summer!!!
The proposal:
I had been sitting on a sparkling new diamond ring for about 5 weeks, but was unable to put together an exciting plan on how to present it to my girlfriend. I obsessed excessively on the perfect way to propose, but see-sawed between grand gestures, epic surprises, and romantic settings. The internet was of little use – despite some of the most incredibly though out proposals, the ideas presented there were neither reproducible, nor unique for me after I had seen them. I tried to focus on the core idea of a proposal and think about what would make the strongest impact. What will make it an unforgettable experience for her that is special and exciting? I came up with two necessary ingredients: unexpected and suspenseful. I needed this to hit her out of left field – so no booking any get aways or setting asides dates or piggy backing on special occasions. I also needed her to become aware of what was happening so that there could be some suspense – an unknown anticipation that gets her heart pounding. I would save the adventure and romance for our honeymoon and the public displays of affection for our wedding. This was something different, it was something exciting. The core of my plan boiled down to this very simple concept: let me pick a time where she is in her weekly routine and on mundane autopilot and present her with a message, “I am going to propose to you tonight – you have one hour to get ready”. Instant adrenaline. You know its coming because I just told you, but its so fast that it catches you off guard. You are left with nothing for the next hour except your own racing thoughts and your pumping pulse. That’s the suspense. Over the next few hours I put together some of the details to achieve this. I picked an evening after work to schedule a golf game for us – something that is not out of the ordinary. Once she gets home, I am no where to be found, and instead she is greeted by a spotless condo, and inside, sitting on an empty table is a giant wrapped box with a bow and a sign that reads “Open Me!”. What’s in the giant box you ask? Its a series of smaller and smaller boxes each with a quick note hinting about the contents of the boxes and encouraging her to relax and indulge in some wine and cheese sitting beside her mystery box. The final box is the engagement ring holder – and instead of the ring waiting for her inside, she only finds an address to a restaurant and a time. The plan is for her to have enough time to get ready and expect to be presented with the actual ring during the dinner awaiting her. Or so she thinks… and instead, the dinner is just that – a nice dinner at a local restaurant. The real surprise is waiting for her back at the condo. On the way home she’ll be thinking, surely there is nothing waiting for us back home, I was just there and there is nothing there. Little does she know I snuck back in right after she left the condo and replaced the boxes with some candles, flowers, and the engagement box – except this time the ring is actually inside. Surprise! The reality turned out a little bit differently however. You see, other people are also capable of the unexpected and there are many parts of this plan that strayed off the main path or simply were just never thought out. For instance, she took the engagement box with her to the restaurant (but more on that later). My main problem was that I had no way of knowing when she would leave the condo and hence, when to sneak back in and create my new setup. One of the key concepts was that I wanted her to be alone in her thoughts, so any communication between us was out of the question. The other issue was that I needed to get into the condo as soon as she left so that the time between when she arrived at the restaurant and when I came would be minimal. In the end, I convinced our security guard to keep an eye out on the elevator camera’s with a detailed description of my beloved. At 8:05 PM I caved and texted her for fear that she was already waiting at the restaurant and I had missed her. She wasn’t – but it was even worst, she had taken the car and was en route. This took away my plan B which was to use the car to drive the 1km stretch and gain some time. I rushed to do my new setup, only to find the next disaster: the engagement box missing. With the ring now stuffed in my pocket and beads of sweat dripping down my back in the 40+ degree weather, I raced towards the restaurant without any clear plan on what I would do with the ring. The restaurant, with its heavenly AC, was a nice break. I got to enjoy a pleasant meal, relaxed to think up a new plan, and mischievously smiled every time I saw my fiance to be squirm or fidget in her seat. After a wonderful meal, we packed it up, got in the car and made our way home. My new plan was put into effect where I asked her to close her eyes from the elevator ride up while I dug through her purse to find the missing box. In the mean time, my off key humming served as a distraction to cover up the sounds of the clasping box; in retrospect, I don’t think my cover was too successful. The rest as they say was history since I had no intention of further delaying the anticipation and wanted to enjoy a night of celebration. Kneeling down on my knee, I happily accepted her “I guess so” response and we held a deep embrace while I slipped on the main attraction onto her finger.
What he loves about her:
Courtney has always takes an interest in what I am doing, even if it is something that I know she doesn't enjoy. I am really into golf, so she went and bought herself some clubs and will often join me for a round in order to spend quality time together. Another amazing quality is her sense of humour. She can find humour in all things in life. She is also incredibly laid back and easy to get along with. I think that what I admire most about her is her commitment to her work. No matter what the task, she can do anything she puts her mind to. Whether it be a fitness goal, a financial goal, or a business goal, Courtney is super driven and nothing can stop her!
What she loves about him:
Porya is probably the most gentle person I know. He doesn't have a mean bone in his body. He is extremely honest, genuine, caring, and thoughtful. He is also INCREDIBLY smart. He loves puzzles and problem solving, and tackles every situation rationally and logically. This is in stark contrast to the way I deal with problems, making him my go-to person when it comes to any situation! He keeps me grounded, supports me in everything I do, and always makes me smile! :)
