• Engagement Ideas & Rings

When Abalene showed up to a styled shoot with her friend, Chelsea Mead of Honey Designs Jewelry, she thought nothing of it. Little did she know, her boyfriend was waiting there with a big surprise! During the shoot, Jack got down on one knee and asked Abalene to spend forever with him. With a perfectly curated proposal, complete with custom paintings of their fur babies watching over them, it's no surprise that she said, " YES!". 

Chelsea Mead of Honey Designs Jewelry curated all of the elements for this lovely proposal at Locust & Vine. Warm colors and rich velvets give the entire affair a cozy vibe, perfect for proposing! Kati Best Photography helped keep the secret and went along with the "styled shoot" until the big moment came. Katie's Blooms even made a special engagement bouquet for those must-have ring shots. To see more from this fun proposal, check out the full gallery. Keep reading to hear more from Chelsea Mead of Honey Designs Jewelry about how she and Jack pulled off this big surprise!

A SURPRISE PROPOSAL 

Abalene owns a successful local spa business in the Cincinnati area, called Organic Glow Skincare & Spa, that she started from the ground up. She's been doing my nails for a couple of years along with facial services. We've partnered together on plenty of wedding-related content image shoots so she had no reason to believe this would be any different when I asked her to model for one of my shoots at my favorite local creative suite, Locust & Vine. Fast forward to the day of the shoot, and Abalane has prepped a ton of outfits, completed her signature spray tan, and is clueless about what's about to go down. She had no idea that I had actually prepared Jack for the photo shoot before she even asked about his availability and we had planned the whole day behind the scenes. 

INCORPORATING THEIR FUR BABIES 

Working closely with Kati, one of my photographers, we led them through what would normally be a styled content shoot, swapped outfits, products, and jewelry, and then ultimately separated Abalene and Jack to prepare for Jack to finally propose. Abalene had made it clear, to both Jack and me, how great it would be to have her animal babies at their proposal someday, and knowing we couldn't bring pets to the studio, Katie, owner of Fox & Fern Paper Goods, painted the perfect pet portraits so that they could still be in the experience. 

POPPING THE QUESTION 

Abalene was so focused on the shoot she didn't even notice the pet portraits or personal touches until Jack was already down on one knee, which was fun for all of us. One of the best personal attire elements was a custom dried floral hat created by Katie of Katie's Blooms as well as a personalized custom proposal bouquet. Abalene and Jack celebrated with a champagne toast and we finished the day with some real engagement photos to tie a bow on Abalene's dreamy engagement surprise.

• Couple: Abalene Waterman
• Flowers: Katie's Blooms
• Hair, Makeup & Beauty: Organic Glow Skincare & Spa
• Jewelry: Honey Designs Jewelry
• Paper Goods & Calligraphy: Fox & Fern Paper Goods
• Photographers: Kati Best Photography
• Venues: Locust & Vine