Are you familiar with that feeling where you love someone so much that you’d do anything for them, but you also sort of want to strangle said loved one? That was me the night of my brother proposing to my soon-to-be SIL. I was soooo stinking stoked about the proposal happening – however I quickly realized I was becoming the coordinator of the whole event.

*Full Disclosure – this blog post may seem more on the bratty side. I’m being dramatic on purpose because… well, it’s my brother and that’s just what feels right. Hehe*

Let’s rewind, shall we? I can start from the beginning. My brother, Blake, had reached out to me saying he would like to come up with some sort of way to get him + Brittney in front of the camera so that he could propose and it would all be caught in real time. Of course I was in complete support of this and immediately had the idea to sort of fake needing models for some fall inspired shoots. Seemed like a pretty flawless approach, so I went to Instagram and added a model call onto my stories. Blake wanted to specifically propose on the date he first told Brittney he loved her. So it was Instagram official that I was “needing” a real life couple to model for me on October 8th. One problem… Brittney wasn’t biting. Blake nonchalantly brought up that he had seen my cry for help + her rebuttal was that if I wanted to take pictures of them I would have asked. She figured I was tired of their mugs. (Family!?! Am I right?) Blake shared this dilemma with me and we decided to wait it out. A couple more days went by of my asking for my followers help and eventually Brit cracked + unknowingly gave in to our plan.

So here comes the 8th of October – the day is here! By this point Blake and I have swapped several phone calls about how it’s all going to play out. He’s nervous, but in a cute way, and I’m ready to take full advantage of my backstage pass to this special moment in my little brother’s life. Blake + Brittney have me meet them at his house and from there we venture towards Appleworks Orchard. During our forty minute commute I am texting my mother, her grandmother, and I’m not sure who else. Blake had arranged it to where both of their immediate family members would be there to celebrate with the soon to be engaged couple. The funniest part of this was that I believe it was her mother’s birthday. Tammy, her mom, is known to not be able to keep a secret very well (particularly from Brittney) so Blake had assigned Brittney’s father with the task of somehow getting Tammy forty minutes south of their normal stomping grounds without raising any flags.

So long story short(ish) it all came together. It was definitely an adjustment trying to monitor my phone while carrying out a photoshoot. I usually am hands free from any distractions – so this was throwing me an ultimate curveball. Blake and I decided that the best place for him to get down on one knee would be on the bridge Appleworks has over the lake. This would allow me to have Brittney facing my direction, Blake digging in his pocket behind her, and all the family gang sneaking up across the way. Here’s how it all went down:

Of course I have to give Blake a hard time and give myself (jokingly) way too much credit for pulling this one off. That’s what big sisters do! I am so honored to have been a part of this special day + am looking forward to tagging along when they finally say “I Do”! In the meantime, take a look at their classy engagement photos we snagged over at the Franklin College campus grounds. Thanks for trusting me to capture you two at your best, love you!