Cincinnati couple surprise proposal with Roebling Bridge view.

There’s something different about watching the planning process behind a well thought-out proposal. Katie and JR have been together for two years. Their anniversary was on this day, so JR already had a good reason to be out at their favorite restaurant all dressed up. He arranged with her friend to have her nails done a week or so before and, for added measure, had his brother call to “meet at the park nearby because he was in the area.”
And, obviously, he called me to capture the moment as well.
A week before the proposal, JR, Meadow, and I met at the George Rogers Clark Park, a spot close enough to their house to not throw any alarms to Katie, but also with a gorgeous view of both the Roebling Bridge and downtown Cincinnati.
I told JR I’d mark a spot on the brick sidewalk so he knew where to go. Since we both have iPhone’s we also planned to share our locations the day of the proposal to keep all the guesswork out.

Originally, I planned to have some people come with me to camoflauge me a bit and make it seem as if we were just a group of people hanging out by the park….but the upcoming rain put a big hiccup in our timeline and my group couldn’t attend the time change. I wasn’t too worried about it, I’m not afraid to ask a stranger to sit with me….and that’s how I met Guy.
He happened to sit at the bench next to mine and riiiiiight before he put his earbuds in, I explained what was going on, asked if he would sit at my bench, and threw in, “you don’t even have to talk with me, I just need a body to keep me hidden.”
It turns out, we’re both talkers. I got to enjoy hearing how Guy was feet from the Pope while in Italy. I watched a very proud father brag on the journey of his three children and his amazing wife. It was the universe reminding me that there’s good in the world.

Halfway into Guy talking about his Olivia (also his middle daughter), JR and Katie began getting out of their car. Guy sat straight back so I had a clear view, and the rest is history.

Of course, when I was done photographing these two, I went back to see if Guy was still at our bench so I could hear the rest of his stories. He even agreed to a selfie.

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