Lucas & Caroline are engaged!


Congratulations to Lucas and Caroline on their recent engagement! Getting to photograph this proposal was a DREAM. But really, I knew this was coming for a while (Lucas is my brother-in-law) and kept hoping and crossing my fingers that he would ask me to photograph it. I was so honored and excited when he did!


Backstory

Lucas and Caroline started dating in 2014. They were still in high school - Lucas was a senior and Caroline was a freshman. Flash forward seven years and they’re finally engaged! I’ve gotten to see them grow up together (and I’ve even been lucky enough to photograph them several times over the years) and I’m excited to see them grow even more in marriage. I also get a pretty sweet little sister out of the deal, so that’s cool too. :)



Leading up to the big day

Caroline and I had been talking about taking her senior pictures (she was about to graduate from nursing school at UT Tyler) in February for a while and Lucas texted me one day and asked if we could plan the proposal into the photoshoot. I was all for it. I worked with Caroline on getting a date nailed down (Feb. 13), as well as potential locations. Lucas told her he would be working Valentine’s weekend so she wouldn’t suspect anything (He’s a nurse in DFW). We talked about going to downtown Tyler for her pictures, so it made sense to do the proposal there. We went back and forth on a few different spots, but were thinking the proposal would happen on top of the main parking garage. Then one day Caroline texted me the Instagram account for a cafe downtown and said “If we don’t have any luck at the parking garage, this place might be cute!”. My first thought was, “Oh, I think we’ll have plenty of luck at the parking garage…” but kept it as an option. As the big day got closer, we noticed the weather was supposed to be super cold outside, so we switched gears and Lucas got everything planned out and set to happen at Cafe 1948 in Downtown Tyler. 


Earlier in the week, Caroline texted me and asked if her friend could join the shoot. Knowing it was all a disguise for the proposal, I panicked. I texted Lucas to ask if I could fill Caroline’s friend, Hagen in on the plan. Obviously Hagen was super excited and it was kind of nice to have someone else who knew the plan too. 


On Thursday, two days before the proposal, Texas decided to have freezing rain and started to ice over (little did we know the biggest Texas snowpocalypse was coming 😂). I took Caroline to get her nails done and it took everything I had to not blow this secret! On Friday, the Sartain family spent the night blowing up balloons and prepping for the engagement party while Lucas and I made our final plans for where to go and how I was going to get her there. 


The Proposal

The day of the proposal, it was literally 20 degrees. At this point, Caroline still just thought we were taking her senior pictures. I'm still surprised she didn't ask to reschedule! We met at UT Tyler where her and Hagen braved the freezing cold to look cute and celebrate their accomplishments. When I got "all clear" text from Lucas, who was secretly named "Hannah" in my phone for the day LOL, we wrapped it up and headed downtown. When we arrived, Caroline’s roommate, Kylie was waiting inside the door with flowers. I thought for sure this would be what gave it away. I told Caroline to go up to the counter and order coffee so we could take some cutesy coffee shop pictures. I think that’s when she noticed something was going on. To her left was a little corner section with a couch, photos of her and Lucas through the years and rose petals on the ground. She looked around and said “Where is he?” Lucas finally came out from the back and grabbed her hand. Before I knew it, he was on one knee and slipping a ring on her finger. And guess what? She said YES! 


It was such a great day and so perfect for them. We took pictures where it happened and then took a trip over the parking garage for more. Let me just say, it was a good thing he proposed in the cafe and not at the parking garage because the top level was pretty much a solid sheet of ice. We made it up there and found the one non-icy spot for them to stand. It looked like we were ice skating around to get anywhere. It was FREEZING, but the cold didn’t stop the excitement! We wanted it to be a surprise and I don’t think it could have gone any better! Check out their day below.


For some bonus behind-the-scenes footage, head over to my instagram and watch their reel!


Congratulations to the happy couple!