A botanical garden waterfall proposal.
I remember the moment Salman reached out to me saying he wanted to surprise his girlfriend with a proposal ay Zilker Botanical Garden. I got so excited! Firstly because surprise proposals are so much fun to plan and witness, and secondly because I am a sucker for botanical gardens. Anytime I travel anywhere, one of the first things I do is see if there is a botanical garden to check out. They are beautiful and I will ALWAYS be on board for a botanical garden photography session. After getting a good idea of Salman's vision for the proposal moment, we decided that the waterfall just couldn't be beat as the backdrop to this beautiful moment.
Planning a proposal in a public space can be both tricky and beneficial. On one hand it can be tough to spot the couple if you had never met in person before. I commonly ask for a photo of the couple if I am not able to meet with the person proposing ahead of time. There may also be people surrounding the space you plan to propose, so it could feel a little less private than you may want when confessing your deep love and devotion to someone you hope to spend the rest of your life with. But one of the benefits is that it is easier for me to hide in plain sight. Sometimes at popular parks I am sitting on a bench or blanket pretending I'm reading a book, but when I am at a public garden I can just act like I am taking photos of the scenery near by. On occasion I actually do take a few great photos of the surrounding area and may sprinkle them into your album for extra ambiance.
Another fun part of photographing proposals is feeling like you are on a secret mission. Helping come up with a rouse or being discrete in my correspondence as not to tip off the "proposee". During the proposals when I am not fully hidden in a bush or behind a building, I have that acknowledging moment with the person proposing. I remember during this proposal specifically, I was talking photos of the dinosaur water statue near the waterfall as I waited for Salman and Muniza to arrive. Once they walked passed me Salman and I locked eyes for a moment and nodded discretely to assure each other that everything was in place and his big moment was ready to be captured.
Once Salman got down on one knee and I started snapping photos, I had 2 families standing next to me cheering them on and congratulating them when Muniza said yes!! I'm telling yall, I live for the excitement of a good surprise proposal!
Anytime I photograph a proposal, I also get some lovely engagement type posed photos for them to share the news with family and friends. I'm also sure to get close ups of that beautiful new ring adorning the bride's finger! Since we were at the beautiful Zilker Botanical Garden, we took advantage of every photogenic location we could find. We captured some solid gold that day! And I am happy to announce they have gotten married this year.
Congratulations again Salman & Muniza!
