Surprise Proposal at Windmill Island Gardens

Garrett had been planning the proposal for months. He reached out to me in February to plan this beautiful summer surprise proposal. I was ecstatic to be a part of the process but it was so hard to keep this secret from Susie since she’s a good friend of mine. But, you know what? It was worth it.

Susie and Garrett are not from the West Michigan area. So when she made plans to hang out on this side of the state, I told her I needed to borrow her and Garrett to practice some couples’ posing since I was diving into the wedding market.

That wasn’t entirely made up but I think it was convincing enough. She already knew she wanted to take Garrett to Tulip Time in Holland but that was at the tail end of Tulip season.

We decided to go Windmill Island Gardens instead. We walked around and toured pretty much the entire area before I decided on a spot for Garrett to propose. It was a very hot and sunny day so it was important that we found some even lighting.

I took a few test shots and gave them the posing prompt that would signal to Garrett it was time to propose.

Needless to say, I think Susie was definitely surprised!

We wrapped up the rest of our time taking a few photos around the gardens and in the conservatory. And afterwards, we went to celebrate over some dinner.

If you’re planning to propose, I highly recommend getting this moment photographed.