J + K - A Surprise Canadian Proposal

The thing about kismet is that it’s hella real. Working with so many couples you get to see it from lots of angles. I don’t usually get to meet our couples in person before their elopement but after these two hired me for their elopement, I found out that they’d be in Canada around the same time I was.

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They posted a life update saying they’d be in Canada in March, so I reached out and asked when and where, they said Banff on the 24th. I’d be within 20 minutes away from the 20-25th so there was no way I could let the opportunity pass to see them. So we planned for breakfast in our group chat.

K later texts me in a separate message to tell me that she’s surprising J with a proposal on Sulphur Mountain and then asks me if I could capture it. I’m buzzing. Not only do I get to meet this sweet couple but I get to photograph their proposal too?!
K then asks me to send her packaging and I agree to do it for free if she upgrades her package. A day later she upgrades, adding 4 more hours to their package and a whole new surprise she gets to give J.

Here's the Plan

The scheming between K and me begins. We think up all of the lies we must partake in to keep the plan a total surprise. For example, we are already planning on grabbing breakfast and J has no idea what dates we’d be there so we’d tell her that after breakfast Fabian and I are heading back home. K gives me a rundown of her plans and we’re off to the races. All there is left to do is meet for breakfast.

Phase 1 - The Red Herring

We meet at Good Earth Coffeehouse around 11 for some coffee and a quick breakfast. Right away it feels as if we’ve always known each other. We greet each other with the biggest hugs and I’m so excited to see their glowing faces up close and personal. The two are just as bubbly as they are over Facetime. They have a short hand, an ease in their movement and convo together. Somehow you feel like part of the conversation but just outside of it at the same time. Toward the end of our time together K announces her first surprise, the upgrade. J loses it. She exclaims, “How?!” I divulge that K and I have been scheming and agreed that our meeting in Banff would be the perfect time to tell her. J then starts listing all of the things they’ll be doing with the extra time for their elopement, K joins in and we all laugh.

On the other side of the table I’m crying. I get to spend 4 more hours with these sweet ladies whose love is so amazing you can feel it when you’re simply sitting with them.

Fabian looks over at me and says, “Ladies, it was so good to meet you. We’ll see you in May, we have to head back to Calgary to meet up with our friend before our flight.” This is our red herring for J so that she doesn’t suspect anything else for the day.

Before we leave we go outside and take a selfie. Immediately I post to Insta and say bye til May.

Phase 2 - The Proposal

Around 5 in the afternoon we trek it back to the gondola in Banff. K purchased our tickets for an earlier time slot so we could go up first. It is snowing. The wind is howling at the top of the view point. The boardwalk is slippery, so we find shelter in the museum where we’re free to observe 360 degree views from inside. Both of our locations are turned on so I slowly watch K’s dot head up the mountain in the gondola.

I text her a few directions – stop in the middle, pick the first platform to your right, make her face the building when you ask. Eventually we see them below us walking onto the boardwalk. They stop exactly where I directed K in my texts. They start to take selfies, which is the sign for, “I’m about to get on one knee.” K texts me to tell me she’s doing it! My camera’s ready to go.

As she drops to one knee the sun makes an appearance. The snow stops. The clouds clear. The wind stops. While K is down on one knee she opens up a scroll that contains all the names of the characters in the stories they have written together since they were kids.

As expected, J laughs herself to tears. K definitely surprises her with everything from the scroll to K’s ring that she slips into her pocket. Fabian and I walk down to meet them and take more photos, the final surprise for J.

We explore the boardwalk together that provides incredible views of the snowy Canadian Rockies and spots where you can feel like you’re still in the forest. J actually ends up slipping and sustaining a minor injury that K happily tends to. Carefully, we explore more of the boardwalk before the sun sets. We bid adieu to our fearless explorers, for real this time. The gondola ride back is just as scary but the sunset views are just chef’s kiss.

On our drive back I’m enamored by the way the universe works. How our souls magnify other souls that are supposed to be part of our storyline. When I met these two, it felt like we had always known each other, like we always have breakfast together, like this is something we do every Monday in Banff. Like our souls clicked into place like puzzle pieces for that one moment.

J + K, thank you so much for trusting me with this beautiful moment.