Surprise Cotswold Proposal photos | Alek & Sara

Alek & Sara’s surprise Cotswold Proposal photos

This is a love story about a young couple’s surprise Cotswold proposal. A few days before Alek was due to fly to England, he emailed me asking if I was available to photograph his proposal. We emailed plans and ideas and before we knew it – we had a perfect proposal all set up. Sara was none the wiser.

Alek frequently plans little surprises for her, so she didn’t suspect a thing. Alek informed her that he had organised a photographer to take photos of her during her travels for the day. Sara thought this was a lovely and very sweet idea, and just went along with it.

The day itself

Midday on Sunday, as I pulled up in the parking lot, I noticed a guy wandering around. We made eye contact, and I asked if his name was Alek. Immediately we hit it off – and started chatting about the plans that we had made for the day. Without prompting, he could not speak more highly of Sara if he tried. He described Sara as lovely and said he couldn’t wait for me to meet her.

After walking around the surrounding area for a bit, we decided that underneath the tree next to the water was just too busy. We opted for a little bridge instead. After confirming the plan and timings, Alek went to wait behind a wall with a clear view of the bridge. We came up with a hand signal which would give Alek the go-ahead.

I went to Sara’s cottage where she was expecting me. She answered the door with a beautiful smile. She had a calm nature, excited for having some photos taken around the Cotswolds. We took some photos in front of her beautiful cottage, and I said to her that I knew of a lovely bridge to get some photos taken on. She happily went ahead and I told her where to stand.

The proposal

It was quite a sunny day, so I had to direct her to stand in the shade, leaving enough shade for Alek. I asked Sara to stand on the bridge and just look at me, and then directed for her to move her body towards the right a little. This caused her to turn her back on Alek’s hiding spot. This was the signal Alek needed.

He very calmly made his way on to the bridge. She was so surprised to see him, she didn’t notice he had a ring and was proposing until a few seconds later. He knelt down on one knee, and presented a beautiful ring box which he had made himself, it held great sentimental value.

Here are some photos of the momentous occasion. You can see their engagement photos that we took afterwards in another post here.