My Brother's Detroit Proposal: Rain, a Teenage Boy Disguise and a Lot of Sneaking Around
When my brother Jake called me on August 16th and asked if I was free on September 19th, I obviously said yes.
Then he casually added, “You also think you can be downtown with your camera after lunch?”
Oh. Okay. So we're doing something.
Jake was planning to propose to his girlfriend, Alexis, and somehow I had been recruited to photograph the whole thing without her knowing. He sent me photos of a few spots around Detroit after he got out of work one day, and he also gave Lex's best friend, Laura, the same information. We eventually met up so everyone knew the plan and where the proposal was supposed to happen.
The goal was to have the Detroit skyline in the background. Jake and Alexis both went to Wayne State and had lived in Detroit together for years, so having the city be part of the proposal made perfect sense.
The plan sounded great.
The weather had other plans
The original plan involved the Dodge Fountain at Hart Plaza. When I arrived, it was raining.
Not pouring. Just that annoying little rain that makes you wonder how long you're going to be standing outside getting progressively wetter.
Then Laura realized the fountain wasn't even on, and there was basically nobody in the park.
Which was a problem because my job was to somehow look like a completely normal person who just happened to be hanging around Hart Plaza with a camera while waiting for my brother to propose.
So I brought my best friend, Jessie, with me as backup. Our brilliant plan for blending in was to stand behind the plaque explaining Hart Plaza and the Dodge Fountain and pretend like we were just... interested in reading it.
Apparently, we looked like sketchy teenagers smoking weed. At least, that's what Alexis told me afterward. Honestly, I can see it.
I was also wearing what I can only describe as my teenage boy disguise. I looked oddly like my brother did about 15 years ago, which was actually pretty convenient. Jake later admitted he had about a 50% confidence rate that one of the random teenage-looking boys in the area was me. He didn't actually know for sure, but he felt confident enough that I was somewhere nearby to keep going with the plan.
And then, thankfully, our saving grace arrived.
About five minutes before Jake and Alexis were supposed to show up, a Princess cruise ship let a bunch of people out. Suddenly there were actual people walking around Hart Plaza. Three of them even had cameras. Perfect.
If Alexis happened to see mine, I could blend in.
The rain also started easing up right as Jake and Alexis arrived, which felt like a small miracle considering everything else that had already gone wrong.
Meanwhile, Jake and Alexis were having their own little Detroit adventure
While Jessie and I were hiding behind a plaque looking suspicious, Jake and Alexis were spending the day together.
Jake took her to a nice Italian restaurant in downtown Detroit and then planned stops at some of the city's famous landmarks. They went to Campus Martius, the Spirit of Detroit, the Joe Louis Fist and the Transcending Arch before eventually making their way toward the Dodge Fountain.
They were taking photos along the way with a disposable camera, which was perfect because I was nowhere near them during this part of the day.
I was supposed to blend into the background, not follow them around like a very obvious secret photographer.
The problem was that I had no idea how Jake was going to convince Alexis to walk all around Detroit in the rain while wearing heels.
When we realized the fountain situation wasn't exactly going according to plan, and Jake sent a text that simply said:
“Go find the on switch.”
As if that was an option.
Thankfully, the rain wasn't enough to completely ruin the day. They kept going, and eventually they made their way toward the Transcending Arch and then back toward the fountain.
At one point, I even managed to sneak a photo of them walking toward the Transcending Arch.
Now it was time to actually pull this thing off.
The selfie was my cue
There wasn't really a perfect place for me to hide that also gave me the camera angle Jake wanted.
So I stayed behind the plaque with my face and camera hidden as much as possible and waited.
When Jake and Alexis arrived at the fountain, I could finally see what was happening. Jake took a photo of Alexis, then went in for a selfie.
That was my cue.
I turned my body, took about a half step sideways and started photographing.
Then, in the middle of all of this, Alexis started to walk away.
Jake grabbed her by the shoulders and repositioned her so she was standing where he wanted her. It made me laugh because of course, in the middle of the biggest surprise of her life, he was still making sure she was standing in the right spot.
And then he got down on one knee.
I had one camera ready with the exact angle Jake wanted, so I started firing away. As soon as I had those shots, I immediately switched to my other camera with the zoom lens so I could get the more intimate moments without being right in their faces. You know the ones: the kiss, the ring, the reaction, the hug, all of it.
And somehow, I was standing out in the open with a giant lens on my camera and Alexis still had absolutely no idea I was there.
She didn't even see me
This is probably my favorite part of the whole story.
After Jake proposed, Alexis still didn't notice me for several minutes.
I was now standing in the wide open, with a camera, with a massive zoom lens, taking pictures.
Her best friend Laura even ran over to celebrate with them, and Alexis STILL didn't notice me.
Finally, Jake had to wave at me. Only then did she look over and realize that I had been there the entire time.
And honestly, her explanation afterward made perfect sense.
“I think I blacked out during it.”
I can confirm this happens. I did the exact same thing when I got engaged.
So, Alexis, I completely understand why you didn't notice the random teenage boy who had been hiding behind a Hart Plaza plaque suddenly appear with a giant camera. You had more important things going on.
Of course we took engagement photos in the rain
Once the proposal was over, we weren't quite finished.
The rain started pouring, so we decided to just embrace it and take some engagement photos around Detroit anyway.
I had brought a clear umbrella with me, and we also used their black umbrellas. We took photos with Windsor across the river, the Renaissance Center and the Spirit of Detroit in the background.
And honestly? They turned out SO cute.
There's something about rainy engagement photos in Detroit that just works. The umbrellas, the city in the background and the slightly moody weather ended up making the photos feel completely different from what we originally planned.
At this point, I had also gotten completely soaked.
So after we finished photos, I changed clothes in my car because what I had been wearing was no longer appropriate for going anywhere other than directly home.
Very glamorous.
Jessie headed home at that point, and Jake's friend joined us for the next part of the evening.
The celebration
Jake had arranged for everyone to meet at Pine Hall's rooftop bar. Because it was raining, we ended up inside instead of on the rooftop, but that didn't really matter anymore.
The proposal had happened. Alexis had said yes. I had successfully photographed it.
The fountain never turned on. It rained. I looked like a teenage boy. Jessie and I apparently looked like we were smoking weed behind a Hart Plaza plaque. And somehow, everything worked out.
Which honestly feels pretty fitting for a surprise proposal.
You can plan every little detail and then the weather decides to do whatever it wants. A location might not look the way you pictured it. The person you're trying to photograph might walk in a completely different direction. You might spend an hour trying to figure out how to look like you belong in a park when there is literally nobody else there.
You just have to roll with it.
And that's something I've learned from photographing proposals in Michigan. Rain does not automatically mean you have to cancel everything or that your photos are going to be ruined.
I've now photographed more than one proposal in the rain, so I feel pretty confident saying that I can handle a little weather.
Bring the umbrella.
Bring the backup plan.
And maybe bring a suspicious-looking best friend to hide behind a plaque.
I'm so glad I got to photograph this one
Getting to photograph your brother's proposal is a pretty special thing.
I knew Jake was going to propose. I knew roughly where it was going to happen. I knew I had one job. And I still had no idea exactly how it was all going to play out.
That's probably what I love about proposals in general. Even when you're the photographer and you've been given the secret plan, you're still waiting for that moment when everything actually happens.
For Jake and Alexis, that moment happened in Detroit, in the rain, with the fountain turned off and a handful of strangers from a cruise ship wandering around Hart Plaza.
And somehow, it was perfect.
Congratulations, Jake and Lex.
And Lex, I'm glad you eventually noticed me.
Planning a Detroit proposal?
If you're planning a surprise proposal in Detroit, Michigan or anywhere else in the state, I'd love to be the person hiding behind the plaque, blending into the crowd and capturing the moment you ask the biggest question.
Just maybe check whether the fountain is turned on first.
Hi, I'm Brooke!
I'm the photographer behind Be Photographed, a Michigan wedding and proposal photographer based in Lansing. I photograph proposals, engagements and weddings throughout Michigan, including Detroit and the surrounding areas.
And yes, I am very comfortable photographing in the rain.
Comments