When two people have been dating for a long time, it’s inevitable that they’ll eventually start to think about the next step — a wedding surrounded by friends and family!
Of course, before two people get engaged, it’s important that they’re on the same page about issues like children, location, and so on.
But if you’re already confident that you and your partner think similarly about life’s major decisions? Well, there’s nothing like a surprise proposal!
And one young man in Virginia sure pulled off a doozy of a surprise for his bride-to-be, with an assist from his talented cousin and photographer, who caught the whole thing on camera from start to finish.
Like the gentleman who secretly proposed to his girlfriend every day for a year, this young man, Kendal Lassiter, wove a complicated proposal plan over the course of months. The scheme involved a staged couples photo shoot, a secret message, and ruse to draw his intended bride-to-be to a beautiful lakeside location.
Scroll through the gallery below to see the plan unfold, all beautifully captured by W. Styron Photography!
The photos, first posted on the W. Styron Photography Facebook page, show the progression of a beautiful, carefully thought-out proposal.
According to the post accompanying the photos, Kendal Lassiter spent months planning just the right way to propose to his girlfriend of a year and a half, Courtney Etheridge.
The two have known each other for "at least ten years," according to Etheridge, but reconnected a couple of years back through a mutual friend.
With so much shared history, we aren't surprised that Lassiter decided it was time for the next step!
He contacted Styron, his cousin who is a photographer, back in August to enlist her help in his grand plan.
After discussing it at length, Lassiter and Styron came up with the perfect ruse.
Lassiter and Etheridge would do a couples’ photoshoot with Styron taking the pictures.
To keep Etheridge from getting too suspicious, Styron told her that she was entering a photo shoot contest where couples write something sweet about the other on little handheld chalkboards.
So, on the day of the photo shoot, Etheridge went along with the plan none the wiser, writing of her boyfriend, an enthusiastic duck hunter, “I wish you looked at me the way you look at ducks.”
Meanwhile, Lassiter was unfolding the first step of the plan.
With Styron’s camera on him, he wrote out the words “Will you marry me?” and held a shushing finger to his lips.
Styron snapped the perfect picture of the message, and then he quickly erased it.
The time for that big question would come later; he just wanted to make sure that Styron captured it for posterity during the photo shoot.
After he erased his real message, Lassiter quickly subbed in with a version that was uncannily related to what Etheridge had written out.
Proving their compatibility once and for all, he quickly wrote, “Please don’t make me quit huntin’.”
The avid duck hunter may not really be at the photo shoot to defend his favorite hobby, but it’s a great cover story for his real message — she’ll never suspect!
Once they were done writing, Styron captured the young couple standing up and showing each other their respective chalkboards.
In the photo, both Lassiter and Etheridge are all giggles and grins; you’d never guess that Lassiter had just pulled off a daring message switcheroo, literally right behind his girlfriend’s back!
By this point, Lassiter and Styron were probably relieved, since both were worried something might go wrong and let the cat of the bag early!
Once the shoot was done, the group took a break so Styron could run to Walmart to make the prints.
When the photos were developed, Lassiter convinced his girlfriend and Styron to walk down to the water’s edge, to “look for ducks.”
While Lassiter looked out at the water, Etheridge began leafing through the prints — and Styron, of course, had her camera ready.
That's when Etheridge stumbled on the secret Lassiter and Styron had been hiding since the photo shoot: the big question!
When Etheridge looked up, stunned, she saw Lassiter on one knee on the dock.
Needless to see, she was totally surprised by the proposal; Lassiter gets major points for pulling this off so smoothly.
And of course, Styron was there to capture the shock and joy of the moment.
Etheridge said “yes,” of course — how could you turn down such a sweet and exhaustively planned special moment?
From the beautiful lakeside setting to the look on Etheridge’s face, he definitely hit this one out of the park!
Thanks to Styron’s assist, not only did the complicated two-step proposal go off without a hitch, but this lovely young couple will always have one of their happiest moments captured for posterity in a beautiful photo series!
We have a soft spot for the snapshot of the look on Etheridge’s face when she realized what was happening, but it’s hard to beat this simple and sweet shot of the couple kissing as they share the blissful first moment of their engagement!
For more gorgeous photos like these, check out W. Styron Photography.
Don’t forget to SHARE this adorable and romantic proposal with friends and family who love a happily ever after!
