A covert COVID engagement, today’s Real Engagement from Edmonton wedding photographer Elishya Marie Photographer is filled with great fashion, true love and a helicopter! Don’t take our word for it – the amazing love story is a must-read. Hear it all and meet the Creative Team after the jump!
From the photographer:
In The Beginning: Elishya (Photographer) & I (The Bottled Bronco) had been dying to work together but Covid had other plans and was determined to keep us apart. We kept dreaming of styled wedding shoots and then the idea of a Proposal Shoot came up! Proposal Planning is a service that we have had ready to launch for some time, but I didn’t have any photos to help sell our service. Elishya jumped on the idea of a proposal shoot immediately and we got to work …. But the idea of having a couple who either wasn’t engaged yet or had already experienced the magic kind of took away from the thrill and excitement of it all. We didn’t want to ruin the moment for a new couple who hadn’t experienced it yet nor did we want to potentially over shadow an existing experience. This is when we decided that it needed to be a real proposal and the hard work started!!!
Finding a man who is brave enough to trust a stranger with the most important and secretive day of his life thus far is not easy, especially when proposal planning isn’t a thing here in Alberta. After a lot of hunting we found the perfect match, Steve! Steve has been my husbands friend since University and I absolutely adored him girlfriend. I slid the idea past him and in true Steve fashion he was on board and game for anything, well, almost anything. His one stipulation, even though he thought it might be silly and wasn’t sure if it was something we could pull off was …. He wanted a Helicopter!
Well HELI-YES WE CAN!
The Lies: With Covid keeping Steves engagement ring at the jewelers, we had lots of time to nail down the specifics, and lots of time to convince his soon to be fiancé Kennedy that she was going to be a model in an upcoming fashion shoot! We partnered with Moda Boutique to Launch the new Edmonton fashion company for this shoot, but once again Covid had other plans and held the clothing shipment leaving Moda to scramble, but they certainly did not disappoint with the Chic, Edgy and Fun outfits they pulled together!
The Day Of: Had us hustling to set up and get inside of our Hair and Makeup Rental Suite as it down poured outside. Through the lack of natural light, humidity and sweaty Covid face mask, Asia MakeUp Artistry still managed to apply the most flawless, glowing makeup I have ever seen and was an uplifting source of entertainment for the rest of us while she did it! Just like that Keneddy was ready for her fashion modeling debut with spirits already high the clouds blew over and the Sun came out leading to beautiful shots all throughout our 3 different outfit changes.
The A-Team: Stuck around excited for the secret plans to unfold later in the evening while watching Kennedy absolutely nail her fashion shoot on her own private residence! Now our photographer Elishya is who truly pulled everything together not only is she a phenomenal Lifestyle & Wedding Photographer but she also does Branding sessions and … let … me … tell … you, this girl can direct and pose her models while being so supportive you’d thing you just won a beauty pageant! Ever shot I found myself wanting to (and sometimes actually) cheering in the background.
The Helicopter: Started circling as we were just finishing up our last outfit. Coming in and landing on Kennedys property, she was pretty concerned and confused until she recognized her boyfriend step out of the helicopter and come towards her. After a brief embrace and some words whispered in her ear Steve dropped to a knee and proposed to Kennedy leaving us all in suspense shortly followed by happy tears as we watched the tears roll down her face as she nodded yes. With no time to waste the couple along with out trusted photographer hopped back on the helicopter for Kennedy AND Elishyas first flight! The helicopter took the couple to a private sandbar island where the popped champagne, enjoyed the sunset and took some time to play in the river. Before they knew it there were landing back at her home, looking down at the rest of us waving in excitement!
It was a fantastic day in every sense that could not have been done without the love and hard work of all our fellow vendors! Celebrating others love with them will forever be my favorite memories.
Sources
Elishya Marie Photography/The Bottled Bronco/Asia O Makeup Artistry/ERHelicopters/Stylest The Moda Boutique
