Atlanta Athletic Club Proposal

Atlanta Proposal | Atlanta Athletic Club 

I got a called from Shannon, Jake’s mom, back in September about Jake’s proposal to Emily late October. Shannon is friends with Cathy, who is a bride of mine from earlier this year at The Hotel Avalon, and she got my information from Cathy. I immediately loved chatting with Shannon and hearing about the proposal plans for Jake to ask Emily to marry him at the Atlanta Athletic Club. I love getting to be an Atlanta proposal photographer. These sessions are some of my favorites!

Jake wanted to do the proposal at the Atlanta Athletic Club where he and his family are members. Jake is an avid golfer and wanted to incorporate the club into his proposal. As an Atlanta proposal photographer, I had never done one at a golf course, so I was excited to see what Jake had in store! We met a couple of weeks before the proposal to figure out the details of how he was going to ask Emily to marry him.

I always visit with the guys at the locations and if/how I can hide myself to keep from giving away the proposal. Jake had plans to have a setup at the proposal spot, so he knew that the second they pulled up in the golf cart, she would know what was going on, so he didn’t worry about me hiding, which worked out perfect as the proposal location was a t-off spot for the golfers and there wasn’t anywhere for me to hide nearby.

The plan was for Jake’s brother, Nick, and me to drive out to the spot and wait for Jake and Emily to show up. When I got to the Atlanta Athletic Club, Nick came up to me and immediately said, “You taught me at Autrey Mill!” I looked at him for a second and was surprised that I couldn’t remember one of my former students! I am usually pretty good about remembering my students. He then corrected himself and said, “Well, you didn’t teach me, but you were my FCA teacher,” and immediately the lightbulb went off! I remembered Nick immediately, that he was on my leadership team for FCA, and even told him who he actually did have for 8th grade social studies. He was surprised that I remembered that detail as he is now a junior in college and I hadn’t seen him since 2013! It was a fun connection that we didn’t realize we had until I got to the proposal.

So Nick took me out to the proposal spot and we set it up and waited for Jake and Emily to show up. He told her he forgot his rangefinder on the course and needed to find it. Apparently this is a very believable story as it’s something he does often, so she didn’t even question or guess that something was about to happen. The second they pulled up to the spot, however, she knew what was going on and her reaction shows she had no idea leading up to the moment. I immediately began snapping pictures as soon as they pulled up and got some of the best reactions from her as she realized he was about to ask her to marry him.

Afterwards, we went to Jake’s parent’s house for another surprise- a proposal party! And when I walked into the party, not only did I have a connection with Nick, I also found I had some connections with Jake and Emily’s friends! As a former middle school teacher in the Johns Creek area, I have had my teacher world and photo world colliding a lot more lately, especially since my first groups of students are out of college now and getting married. One of my all time favorite students, Claire, was standing in the room waiting for Emily to show up; and standing next to her was another former student, Evan. I kept in touch with Claire for years after she went to high school, even going to see her in her dance performance in the Nutcracker! Claire and Evan are dating now and were set up by Jake and Emily! It was so awesome running into them again! Apparently Claire and Emily went to USC together! Such a small world.

Originally Jake told Emily they were going back to the house for a small celebration with close family; but he lied again. He had a BIG engagement party planned with all of their friends to celebrate. Emily was probably just as shocked about the people at the party as she was the proposal itself! I loved seeing her reaction to seeing all of her friends, some of whom Jake flew in just for the party. It was a wonderful night for everyone involved! I am so thankful to have been able to take pictures for their proposal. I got around to sending their full gallery the week of the proposal, but my blogging has been put on hold a little this fall with all of the editing I had to do, so here I am finally sharing their amazing proposal!

Thanks Jake and Emily for having me there as your Atlanta proposal photographer on such a wonderful night for the two of you!

You can see Emily’s reaction to what is happening. I love it! She said YES!  I love seeing Nick run up from his hiding spot! Hugs for the sneaky soon-t0-be brother-in-law I told them to show me how excited you are!  This picture made me laugh so much.  Emily and Jake rode ahead of us back to see their parents. When she found out they were at the clubhouse waiting, she said, “What are we waiting here for! Let’s go!” She got out and ran without Jake even fully stopping the cart to run to her parents. I told Nick to step on it, so that I could capture the moments of her hugging her parents! Thank goodness for my 70-200 lens and my ability to run fast once off the golf cart to capture these moments!  Cheers to the newly engaged couple!  It started raining after the proposal (yay for no rain during!), so we snuck out in the rain with some of my clear umbrellas!  SURPRISE!!! Lots of hugs and cheering! Claire said, “Look at me! Why am I crying?!”  Celebration shots! Congratulations Jake! Great group of friends there to celebrate! (I knew 4 of the guys in this picture!) Wonderful ladies to celebrate with Emily!