Surprise Niagara Falls Proposal
Austin proposed to his girlfriend Rayne on a trip to Niagara, Ontario. His original idea was to pop the question in front of Niagara Falls, and then further surprise Rayne by having her family there hiding at the park. I was so pumped when I was asked to photograph the event. A big surprise proposal in another country with a beautiful backdrop? What could be more exciting?
The morning of the proposal, I was sent out to find the spot where this would go down. In my flurry of driving a rented Kia Soul, pre-coffee while remembering to convert miles to kilometers, the rain was pouring down and I realized I needed more rain gear. I thought, “Surely these waterfalls are large enough that people sell ponchos at every corner drugstore.” So, I pull into the first thing I see, a Duty-Free shop. Turns out, they mainly only sell liquor and perfume, and once the parking gate is down it will not open up again for your car. I followed where the arrows in the parking lot pointed, and then abruptly stopped when I realized I was on a bridge in-between Canada and the USA. I didn’t quite have enough time to go through border patrol three times, so (as one does) I did whatever I could think of that would be illegal enough to catch a guard’s attention. After explaining my story to not one, not two, but seven border patrol, they wished me well on my endeavors… after searching the Kia, my camera bag, and running my driver’s license. Unfortunately, I didn’t have my passport with me and I was wearing a t-shirt with someone’s mug shot on it. I’ve got a great smile though.
At proposal time, it as still raining hard enough that the collective vote was to move it inside anyway, and then go to the falls once the rain stopped. Austin proposed amidst floral flamingos and cacti, she said YES, and then we explored the rest of Niagara, together. Shoutout Border Patrol, this goes out to you.
