I had the immense honor of capturing my best friend’s proposal in Garden of the Gods on New Year’s Eve. It was nearly impossible to keep this secret from Abby for so long. I’ve known since November that Parker planned to propose over New Year’s. Anytime Abby had suspicions about it, I had to play dumb. I’ll take my Emmy now because she was genuinely surprised.

Parker chose Garden of the Gods for the proposal, and it ended up working out well. Abby’s family was headed to YMCA Rockies and Colorado Springs was on their way. To get Abby to the proposal spot, Parker said he wanted to recreate a photo they took together early in their relationship. While they were doing that, I was so nervous that Abby would see me and it would spoil the surprise. Fortunately, I managed to blend into the crowd.

There was one moment before they got up to the picture spot where I could have sworn she spotted me. Her mom thought so too. Luckily, when we’re in busy spaces, we look but don’t see. So the surprise wasn’t spoiled.

They had Abby’s dad take the recreated picture, and then Parker turned to Abby and gave her the proposal speech. She immediately started crying and said yes. But before she put the ring on, she saw me there taking photos and came to hug me. Her mom took a funny photo of Parker holding up the ring on his index finger while Abby hugged me in her surprise.

After she said yes, we took some other photos in Garden of the Gods to celebrate the proposal. Then we all went to lunch, and from there Abby and Parker got to enter 2022 as an engaged couple!

Looking to propose soon? Or to be proposed to and want to drop the hint? Inquire with me here.