You know how there are some basic questions you ask to get to know someone? “What do you do?” “Are you from this area?” “Where’d you go to high school?” (this little nugget is specific to the Louisville area…) “Do you have family nearby?” But if you REALLY want to get to know a married couple, ask how the proposal happened! You can learn so much about a couple from this little detail. You’ll learn who is the planner, how do they communicate, do they like surprises, are they sentimental? So much from one little question.

If you ask Elvis and Nina in 10 years about their proposal, you’ll learn a lot about them too! For one, Elvis is the consummate planner. From our first consult call to the group text thread (for him, his sister Divya and myself) to the many phone calls to family members, this proposal day was planned so carefully. Elvis’ love and thoughtfulness for his soon-to-be fiance shown through his careful planning.

And Nina! She is beautiful AND brilliant!! And you’d learn that quickly from talking to her, but also from hearing that part of the proposal was a chess match (and Nina always wins). It was really fun to watch them play this giant chess game as I hid behind a tree. Even though it was “a random chess set in the garden” (wink, wink), Nina spent some time really thinking about her next move (you can tell that from some of the images below). Divya had hidden the ring in the king piece, so once Nina won, Elvis revealed the ring and proposed!

To top it all off, Elvis had planned a hot air balloon ride at the end of the evening, taking off from the Parklands. Although some severe weather prevented us from a long flight, we still had some amazing moments up in the air. I’ve never been on a hot air balloon before, but I can’t wait to go again. It was an incredible experience. Being inside the balloon as it inflated with cool air was something I had no idea you could do…and the photos did not disappoint.

Elvis’ family took such an active role in this proposal – they helped scout out the location beforehand, set up the chess match, hid the ring in the king piece, waited for family photos afterwards and even got to ride along in the balloon. Family is clearly so important to Nina and & Elvis and it was sweet to watch them share in the joy.

Thank you for inviting me to be part of this amazing day, Elvis – it was such a pleasure to meet you both and learn so much about you from this colorful, exciting proposal.