SARAH + IVAN {engaged!!} // Louisville, KY Proposal

Being a photographer means I get to be privy to many of life’s intimate moments – a wedding, a birth, and now, a proposal!! Sarah and Ivan met while students at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, where Matthew goes, and go to our church at Clifton Baptist.  Sarah has been a part of our small group, which Ivan has just recently joined, so I’ve gotten to know this sweet sweet girl, her beautiful heart, and all the reasons that Ivan has fallen in love with her over these last few months.  Sarah is also a very talented photographer, so really, no pressure to screw these pictures up at all!!

Ivan messaged me on Friday, asking if I would help take part in his proposal to Sarah by taking pictures of the moment.  OF COURSE I jumped on that idea and was so honored he asked me.  {It was so sweet of him to think of that and consider how Sarah may want photos of this event! What a keeper, Sarah!} We met on Saturday for him to show me the spot where he would be proposing – by the same desk he asked her out by just 5 months ago! Ivan works at the library on campus, so we totally had the ‘in’ to be there after hours.  So on Sunday afternoon, I arrived 15 minutes before the couple was supposed to show up, let in by one of Ivan’s coworkers.  Man, was I nervous.  I know not as nervous as Ivan, but I was definitely sweating and shaking!! I didn’t want to ruin the moment for them at all.  I knew that as soon as she would hear my camera click, she would know I was there and that something special was happening.  And it is SILENT in the library, especially after hours when we are the ONLY ones there.  So I had to time my first clicks perfectly.  I hid in an aisle behind books, with my shoes off so I could be as stealthy as a ninja (not gonna lie – kinda felt like one!), and waited for them to come in.  I heard them walk in and Sarah asking questions like “What’s going on? What is this?” as she saw Ivan’s decorations displayed on the desk.  I waited until she knew that Ivan was going to propose to snap my first picture, and by then my cover was blown, but it didn’t matter, the moment continued on as if I wasn’t there! To say Sarah was a bit excited is an understatement.  I don’t know if I’ve ever seen so much joy come out of one person!! It was so incredibly special to witness, and I was even shaking while taking pictures just watching them.  Their emotions were so high, you could not help but feel them!

So since I was there and we were in a library, we proceeded to do a mini-engagement photo shoot there.  A library is now one of my favorite places to shoot.  Hands down.  That was fun!  In fact, I was having so much fun, I almost forgot that this was only supposed to be a mini-session and that the two of them had JUST gotten engaged.  So after about 30 min and over 550 photos later, I high-tailed it out of there to give the couple some alone time.  But hopefully, my presence wasn’t too overbearing, because now they have pictures to show for it. 🙂

As I was doing the edit, The Gray Haven’s song “Let’s Get Married” kept playing in my head.  So I had to do a slideshow that included the song – check it out HERE.

HUGE congrats to Ivan and Sarah on your new engagement!! So excited to watch you as you journey into becoming husband and wife! And thank you, Ivan, for allowing me to be there!

{EDITED: SEE BELOW FOR THE PROPOSAL STORY IN IVAN’S OWN WORDS}

I’ve been spotted!!

This was their first kiss.  Ever.  Bravo, Ivan, bravo!! 🙂

Ivan cut out a section of Pride and Prejudice to hold his grandmother’s heirloom ring for Sarah.  So romantic!

He first had Sarah read the first line (edited by Ivan) in the book, which says “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good  no fortune must be in want of a wife.”

He even had the book tagged with her name and the year!

The proposal in Ivan’s words…. {I stole this from Ivan’s facebook page – hope you don’t mind, Ivan! :)}

I got a personal copy of Jane Austen’s “Pride & Prejudice” and underlined the opening line: “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good [no!] fortune must be in want of a wife.” The following page then revealed the entire center of the book was hollowed where the ring would be placed. I labeled the book as though it were a regular library book but added her name to it (see the picture below).

We came to library on Sunday afternoon, under the pretense that I wanted to get a book to read that afternoon. (My boss Ryan allowed me to come in after hours when the library was closed.) I then took Sarah to go find the book and then we went to the same spot (in the quiet, reference room!) where five months before I had asked her out to coffee.

Sarah quickly realized at that point what was going on. I asked her to sit, told her to read the first line of the book, and then asked her to turn the page. At that point she began sobbing. I took the ring, got down on one knee, and asked her to marry me. Needless to say, she said Yes!

I told her the words “I love you” for the first time and we shared our first kiss. (Boy, was it worth it!)

I love this girl with all that I am and I’m thrilled to share this momentary life with her. I love the woman of God she is, is becoming, and desires to grow into. Ultimately, our marriage will not be an end in itself but a pointer to Christ’s relationship with his bride, the church. Our marriage will be “a parable of permanence written from eternity about the greatest story that ever was” (John Piper).