Never have I ever… photographed a marriage proposal before… *drinks*. Ha, man oh man was I extra nervous during this shoot – but let’s rewind for a second.
This is Francis. And this is was his girlfriend Marina. Francis runs his own barbershop, GQ Hair Studio, which I highly recommend as I go to him myself; but for a few months now he’s mentioned to me that he’s waiting for the right time to pop the question to Marina. Then last Friday he hit me with a text message explaining his grand plan of how he would take Marina out skating during the day, then head downtown and take her on a tour around Toronto in a private plane ride, and lastly end off the night with a simple but fancy dinner at The Chase – which would give him a moment to settle his nerves and also really soak in the moment while they had some nice conversation.
Fun fact: he told me afterwards that he was so nervous during dinner and before the proposal, that he ended up drinking not one, not two, but THREE rum & cokes. Fun fact #2: After given the rundown by the manager, I had the beautiful hiding spot of a stairwell for close to 40 minutes while I waited for the manager’s cue to come out at the exact moment. A few guests on my half of the restaurant saw me and looked pretty confused as to what I was doing lol. Fun fact #3: I think I double checked my gear and settings like 100 times because I was so nervous for this moment.
Needless to say, the manager came out and brought them their meal, and atop of their order was Marina’s surprise. Francis took the ring, got down on one knee like a boss, and proceeded to do his thing. And of course, this was when I popped out and snapped away.
I definitely have to have commend Kyle, the manager of The Chase and his wonderful staff, for making sure all of this went perfectly to Francis’ plan. Big big high fives all around there. And also a big shout out to Francis as well, for trusting me with such an important moment in his life. Wishin’ you and the miss nothing but the best.
