Courtney and I have known each other for a while. She used to live across the street from me and we used to take the school bus together in High School! Courtney now lives in Collingwood, Ontario (about an hour from me) and it had been quite a few years since we last saw each other!

A few weeks before Christmas, she messaged me asking about purchasing a photography gift certificate to gift to her boyfriend, Chris, for Christmas! We picked a date and I mailed her the gift certificate.

Now, fast forward to just a few days before her planned Sweetheart/couples session… Chris slid into my Instagram DM’s, introduced himself, and told me he had a plan for the following Sunday (the session day). Right away I knew it! I asked him if I could take a guess. I guessed that he was going to propose – I was right!! Ahhhh I was so excited!!!

Sunday arrived and weather was… HORRIBLE. The forecasted cloudy day turned into a miserable day of sleet, ice pellets, and rain! WTF April?! I immediately messaged Courtney and asked if she wanted to talk to Chris to reschedule their “Sweetheart” session… Little did she know haha! She said they still wanted to do the photos. I knew she wanted photos with their dogs, Nyla and Lupin, and cat, Khal Drogo, but didn’t want her dogs to look like drowned rats. I offered to go to their house and we could take some family photos inside!

Once I arrived at their house and took the indoor photos, I asked if they had a local park we could go to that had a covered pavilion. Luckily, there was one right down the road! We headed there and I started to prepare for the proposal.

Chris and I had spoken previously about what signal or pose he should watch for in order to know when was a good time for him to get down on one knee. I proceeded to get them into position, and then Chris starts pointing towards his coat… The ring was in his coat! I took a few photos in order to play it cool, and told them to relax. Chris told Courtney he was “cold” so he went and put his coat on. I told them, “Let’s do that pose one more time! Courtney look this way for me, *Chris gets down on one knee*, okay now look back at Chris…” Well… you know how it goes. SHE WAS SO SURPRISED!!!

I don’t have to tell you the rest as you probably know what she said. You can see it all go down in the photos below! I’ll also add that I had a bottle of champagne hiding in my camera bag! I gave to them when we got back to their house!

Chris and Courtney are PERFECT for each other and I feel so honoured to have been able to capture the beginning of this new season of their lives!!

CONGRATULATIONS Chris and Courtney!!