I'm here on the blog with something truly special for you all today. A few weeks ago my brother called me and told me that he was going to be proposing to his girlfriend of four years, Natalie. Of course I was over the moon excited but then he asked me if I would join them for the proposal to document everything. Ummm....yes, please! Connor had this thing planned down to the very last detail and it was magnificent, including a surprise engagement party for them back in Seattle after a night at our cabin on Hood Canal, Washington. We call our cabin Solid Exisiting and it has served as one of their most treasured spots throughout their time together. He couldn't think of a better place to pop the question, and neither could I!

It was a perfect weekend in the Pacific Northwest for a surprise proposal.

I drove up from our place Friday morning to get there in time to see the light and figure out a plan of action on where I would shoot from to capture it all the following day. Connor and I spent the evening together walking the beach and talking through the plans and finalizing details. He would turn on the App Find My Friends so the following day I could see when they were headed my way. He left Friday night and I had a night to myself cozied up by the fire. I actually fell asleep before 8 PM and slept in until 8:30. It was heaven. Connor planned a romantic lunch with Natalie in hopes of getting her to "dress up" a little bit. It was perfect.

While they were dining, I was putting together all the details!

We had concerns about wind, so I ran to the hardware store for some canning jars to hold some of the candles so if the wind did pick up, hopefully some of the candles would stay lit. The store only had one case. It ended up not being an issue whatsoever because the day could not have been more perfect for weather! Every candle stayed lit. I waited until I saw they got on the ferry to light all the candles and scatter the rose petals. I was teary eyed the entire time as romantic love songs were blasting through my BOSE sound bar. Once they got off the ferry I hustled inside to take cover. I saw they were about a mile away and peeked through the little window in our cabin and sure enough my brother's car came around the bend of our long driveway!

I know it's not all about the ring, but he did good.

Because I got to spend Friday with Connor before he went back to Seattle I was able to have some time to play with the ring and take some awesome detail shots of it that you will see in the pictures below. It is just stunning. He did good! So back to the story...I saw them coming down the driveway and once she got out of the car I hit "play" on Ben Rector's "White Dress." Natalie's face said it all. She was in shock. I found out later at the surprise engagement party the following day that she wasn't even thinking "proposal" when she saw the candles and rose pedals. She just thought Connor was planning a romantic weekend, because it's not uncommon for him to surprise her with so much thought and love. Wow. That right there just makes me the most proud sister in the entire world. My sisters and I like to think we raised Connor to be a gentleman who knows how to treat a woman, and I do think we played a role in that, but he didn't need much guidance because he is just good. My little brother and I didn't always see eye to eye growing up and I was often hard on him. I'm sad about that, but it's how life goes. I now consider all my five siblings my very best friends. Connor including me on his proposal weekend makes me feel closer to him than ever and that just brings tears to my eyes.

Alright, let's get to the good stuff...pictures and a special surprise video at the end!

Keep scrolling all the way to the bottom to see something special I put together as a surprise for the newly engaged couple. Enjoy!

If you caught part of the intro you know that Connor also planned a surprise engagement party for Natalie when they got back to the city from the cabin. Natalie walked in to a room full of her closest family and friends. I'm only going to share a glimpse because this was a very private and emotional memory for them to hold onto! Natalie's face says it all right here...