When US Air Force airman Emily reached out on Facebook to Heather Carter of Sophia Belle Photography, all she wanted to do was set up a photo shoot with her boyfriend, another airman.
Emily told Heather that her boyfriend, Elijah, was just coming back from deployment, but that he would be leaving again soon after.
She wanted to do a quick photo shoot before he left again.
Even though Emily reached out pretty last minute, Heather was more than happy to squeeze the couple into her schedule.
Emily and Heather set up a photo shoot — but then Elijah reached out to Heather privately. Elijah told Heather he knew about the photo shoot, and he wanted to add something special to it: he was going to propose to Emily, and he needed Heather's help.
Keep scrolling to learn how Heather and Elijah pulled off a touching military proposal.
This is Emily and Elijah. They are both service members of the United States Air Force who live in Texas.
Heather, a photographer, recently got a message from Emily. Elijah was coming home from his deployment, but would be leaving soon after. Emily wanted to set up a quick photo shoot with him before the two had to part again.
Heather told LittleThings: "When Emily messaged me to schedule her session, I got excited because, first of all, I love photographing young couples. But it was more than that. The fact that they were both military was very humbling."
Heather was excited for the shoot — but everything changed when she got another message, this time from Elijah. He revealed to Heather that he had been planning to propose to Emily while he was home — and he thought their photo shoot would be the best time to do it. Elijah asked Heather if that would be OK with her — and the two had an awesome idea.
To pull off the stunt, Heather messaged Emily again. She told the unknowing bride-to-be that she thought it would be cute if she and Elijah each wrote what they loved most about the other on a sign. When they arrived for the shoot, Heather gave Emily and Elijah the boards. She told them to keep what they wrote a secret from one another.
Emily wrote up a sweet sign about how Elijah never gives up on her — but Elijah had something a little more surprising written on his chalkboard. Heather told LittleThings: "To witness the quick glances and laughter they shared as I was changing camera settings throughout the entire session had me literally misty eyed."However, even more tears were on their way.
The look on Emily's face when they turned to show each other their signs is so priceless — and of course, Heather caught it all on camera!
Elijah dropped to one knee to show Emily the ring. She said yes!
How gorgeous is Emily's ring? Elijah did an incredible job all around, from the proposal itself to the stunning ring. Heather told LittleThings that "honored does not even begin to explain" how she feels about being able to photograph the stunning proposal.
Heather posted all the pictures from the proposal onto her Facebook, saying she cried her way through the whole event. I definitely would have, too!
Heather called the couple "an inspiration," and I have to agree. She told LittleThings that the love Emily and Elijah share made her job easy: "These two are genuine. They live a form of devotion that made my job easy. The beauty of love was already there; all I had to do was click. It was a once-in-a-lifetime shoot for me."
Finally, Heather told LittleThings that this shoot was special because of Emily and Elijah's "amazing love for each other," and their "shared deep devotion to their country."
We wish the very best to this beautiful, happy couple! Please SHARE this very special military proposal on Facebook!
