Oxford is a beautiful city full of spires and cobbled streets if you know where to go. It is a perfect location for a surprise proposal, with stunning architecture providing a romantic and quirky backdrop for some couples' photos after!
David proposed to Cristen just outside of the Bodleian Library, of course, she said yes! But get this...
... Cristen is a student studying law at Oxford University, she is American and has been away from David (they both reside in America usually!) for MONTHS!
David knew he wanted to ask Cristen to be his wife, so with the help of her closest family members and his sister, he flew to the UK to pop the question.
I was contacted by Davids's sister to help capture this amazing event, as David was already on his long flight over to the UK (how romantic!) We video-called whilst she was enjoying her holiday in Costa Rica to nail down the logistics, and I was to confirm the plan with David once he had landed at London Heathrow.
David and I touched base in the morning and agreed to meet in good time to when Cristen finished her lecture, ensuring we had the perfect spot. Her family were to divert her to the Bodleian Library where David would be waiting on one knee.
As the way of the world goes, Cristen finished earlier than expected and was not able to be kept busy for too long! That, mixed with the never-ending tours of Oxford made it tricky for us to keep the perfect location (we had one, and then a keen group of around 20 tourists descended all around us!), however, when Cristen walked round the corner we just went with it and David was finally able to ask her to be his wife.
The moment was pure magic, a gorgeous sunny day in Oxford and two wholesome souls coming together from other sides of the world. I struggled to keep it together myself, but just about managed to stop the tears of joy flowing and fogging up my viewfinder.
Once David and Cristen had had a few moments to let their new-found relationship status sink in, we went for a whirlwind photoshoot to celebrate before they went out to dinner.
Are you thinking of planning of proposing in one of the UK's most famous and historical cities (and hiring a photographer to secretly capture this)? Here are my top tips:
Avoid the harsh sunlight if possible! The harsh sun is a photographer's worst friend. A sunset will provide such a romantic setting and beautiful golden light, a cloudy day will give you beautifully diffused light (even light that is fantastic for photo taking!) and a rainy day will probably give you some one-of-a-kind epic shots too.
Try and visit the location at a similar time of day prior to popping the question, have a look at how many people there are around, whether there are any building works going on that might spoil the view, etc.
Try and avoid 'work finish' and 'lecture finish' times. The streets will be empty one second, then fill with troves of people before you can blink!
Lean into the atmosphere and the people and the scenery.
If you need any help planning the perfect proposal, drop me a message and we can talk things through!
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