Surprise Proposal At Lake Ontario Park | Heather of Bowtied With Love and Garrett Elliott Help Nik and Kathlena get engaged!
Today I bring you the story of Nik and Kathlena’s surprise proposal.
What I actually mean is that it was a surprise to Kathlena, not Nik. It would be funny if it was a surprise proposal for both of them…. How would that even work?
Anyway, for this surprise proposal, Nik was the one planning everything.
He wanted to propose to the love of his life, and he wanted to keep it a complete surprise!
The couple don’t live in Kingston, and Nik wrote to Heather (of Bowtied with Love), asking for her help in planning his secret proposal.
And then he chose me as the photographer… (which would turn out to be impossible, but more on that in a second!)
He told us that Kathlena loves hiking, and that a very meaningful spot to them was Lake Ontario. They used to hang out there during their early dating days, Nik told us. So it was PERFECT!
So of course, Heather worked her magic and pulled this all together to happen on a weekend in early December, at Lake Ontario, among the trees and paths that were so meaningful to this couple.
And then, just as we were all set to go, the pandemic threw a wrench in our plans.
Specifically, the wrench was that my youngest son Raynor, got Covid. He contracted it at school from a teacher.
That meant that me and my family would spend the next 23 days in self isolation.
Yes, 23 days. I kid you not, but that's a story for another day. Overkill? Yes. But again. Story for another day. And we of course complied with KFLA Public Health’s order, no matter how absurd it was.
The urgent situation was that we needed to get this lovely couple photographs of their secret proposal, and I was no longer available to do it.
Who was going to photograph them?
Well, I immediately reached out to my network, and happily, a really fantastic photographer offered to step in.
His name is Garrett Elliott (of Garrett Elliott Photography - go check out his page if you haven’t already!), and this post is justifiably going to contain a lot of me gushing about him and his photographs.
Not only did Garrett step in at a very short notice, and agree to photograph this surprise proposal in the cold wind of early December, but he was super accommodating and responsive to messages, emails, and working with Heather, me, and the couple.
He changed his own plans that weekend so he could accommodate us, and for that I’ll always be grateful.
He also drove the memory cards to my house after the proposal, because I wasn't allowed to leave!
I super appreciated that - it was already getting late and dark by then, and I live rural and my mailbox isn’t exactly easy to find, so his efforts did not go unnoticed.
And then, when I saw the photographs my heart sang.
Okay I normally hate using this expression because I think it's really cheesy, but in this case it was really true! My heart sang a little song.
Now, I know Garrett's work, and I know that he's a really talented photographer.
But seeing the photographs importing into my computer, seeing the magic proposal from another perspective, and seeing how relatively little editing I would need to do, was really really amazing.
It made me feel like I had entrusted this photo session to the best of hands.
Below are Garrett’s photographs of details showcasing Heather's work. Heather puts incredible artistry and attention to the little details in everything she does - whether she’s planning a wedding, or coordinating an event, or putting together a styled shoot or proposal.
And this secret proposal was no different.
Heather sourced all that stunning decor (I swear, it’s like she has a room in her house dedicated to each of the seasons and its fitting decorations!) and she put it all together in this little intimate spot in the forest.
She put “marry me” in big letters among the trees, laid a navy blue blanket on the forest floor, and adorned it with frosty winter details, like crystal candelabras.
The light on that afternoon was spectacular.
The couple arrived a little bit late, which can sometimes be nerve-racking for the planners and the photographer. Will everything go according to plan? Did the couple get lost?
But they held their ground and waited. And pretty soon, Nik and Kathlena came by.
One of the most creative things that day was Heather's idea to pretend that she was a researcher from Queens University, doing research on trust.
That way when the couple showed up, Heather would approach them and ask them if they were willing to participate in a trust study.
Then, she would blindfold Kathlena, and ask Nik to lead her to the chosen spot in the forest. Of course, Kathlena would think that it was just a trust exercise, and that there was no particular destination. Nik would know the truth, though, since he and Heather were the ones planning this whole thing!
This idea worked beautifully!
Kathlena wanted Nik to be blindfolded first, which I think is adorable. So after she led him around the forest for a bit, it was her turn to put the blindfold on.
And that’s when Nik and Heather led her to the proposal spot.
Surprise!
When she was told to take the blindfold off, she saw the beautifully prepared spot, with the blanket and all the beautiful decor, and then Nik dropped down on one knee and proposed.
The happy couple then celebrated with some hot chocolate and chocolate strawberries from Cocoa Bistro (my favourite chocolatier in town!).
There were elegant fresh-cut flowers in the mix, from Kingston’s Flower Market!
When deciding on how to edit these photographs, I kept most of them in colour, because the light was so beautiful and golden.
I did convert a couple of the images to black and whites, because I felt that for these particular photographs, this created a feeling of timelessnes.
And then Garrett took the couple to the water, where they took beautiful portraits filled with the lovely winter light of afternoon.
I loved editing these photographs that Garrett took with love and care. I'm so happy he was able to step in on this day and not only help me out in a pinch, but deliver the most beautiful set of images that this couple can cherish for the rest of their lives together.
I'm eternally grateful to Garrett and to Heather, and to Nik and Kathleena for a splendid afternoon.
