The Surprise Proposal:
Flashback to 3 months ago: Tim tells me that he’s planning on proposing to his long-time girlfriend Nas, and that he wanted it to be a surprise and to have us film it.
I had met Nas a while back at a Halloween party, where she and Tim had dressed up as the couple from Up! to relative perfection.
They struck me as an awesome couple. The kind of people who really complemented each other, had fun and laughed, and brought out the best in one another. So when Tim had mentioned that he wanted to propose to her and have it be a surprise, I had a feeling that it could be something special. Nas and Tim had enjoyed some of Adam Schwartz and I’s previous wedding work, so Tim mapped out an elaborate plan and we finalized the date: 1:00PM on March 12th, a lone Saturday afternoon in the midst of in-climate weather.
The Day Of The Engagement
11:00AM: I remember Schwartz and I getting some coffee at St. Honore, looking out the window at the rain. At one point, it was diagonal. I immediately snuffed the idea in my mind and thought, “This is Portland though, and we were born in the rain. Anything is possibleeeee (okay, KG…)” So we stayed positive, finished up our coffee, and headed out to the Rose Gardens.
12:00PM: (Stream of consciousness:) “People actually get up on weekends and go walking in the rain? For fun? Damn. Good for them?”
12:30PM: Incoming and outgoing secret email threads: “Rain seems to be dying down”, “45-minute window”, “Whiskey, Tango, Foxtrot”.
1:00PM: The eagle (eagles?) has landed. Tim had come up with an elaborate series of “events” for the day, in an effort to misdirect Nas into thinking they were having a lovely spa day, followed by dinner. Little did she know…
The Finale.
Afterthoughts
Sometimes there are moments in life where everything seems to unfold just the way it should. We had a 45-minute window without rain and everyone hit their mark. Nas and Tim were pros. They stayed cool and calm, and were still able to let loose and have a bit of fun. What a lovely day!
In front of the camera: not exactly Schwartz’s forte.
The spoils of a rainy day.