KAITLYNN + JASON

photo | Sara Abdulaziz Photography

KAITLYNN + JASON

Call me crazy, but I actually had a few guidelines set in place for the proposal. Jason knocked all three of these out of  the park!

1. I wanted my family to be there
2. I wanted my best friend Courtney to be there
3. I wanted a photographer to take pictures while he proposed

Jason went on a road trip to visit his brother in San Diego over the summer. He mentioned this to my uncle at a family function, and my uncle told him to come up to Lake Tahoe while he was out on the west coast to visit. Naturally, I was jealous and wanted to go too, so I booked my ticket to Tahoe and called my best friend Courtney (who lives in Carson City, Nevada) to let her know that I would be up there for the Fourth of July. We started making plans on what we wanted to do while we were up there; considering that it would be Jason’s first time to Lake Tahoe, we wanted to do a lot of exploring and sightseeing.

I flew into Tahoe on July 3rd, and Courtney picked me up at the airport. We drove to my uncle’s house to meet up with Jason, my Aunt Norma and Uncle Dan. I got in very late that night, so once we got there, we ate a quick dinner and went to bed. We made plans that the next morning to all go on a quick hike and then go to the neighborhood bbq for the Fourth of July. *It is important to note here, that Tahoe is one of my favorite places to travel, and that the Fourth of July is my favorite holiday.*

The next morning, Courtney and I got ready and dressed festively for the 4th. Jason told us that we were going to go on a short hike, so we would get to the bbq on time. Once we got to the top of our hike there was the most beautiful view of the lake. Jason told me that he wanted to take my picture and posed me with my back facing him. After standing there awkwardly for about 30 seconds, I asked if he took the picture, and he said yes and that I could turn around. I was so overjoyed and surprised to see him down on one knee. The next thing I remember was hearing the shutter of a camera going off, and I quickly ripped my red and blue visor off of my head (which he told me not to wear on the hike, but I did anyway). He had a photographer strategically placed where I couldn’t see, who captured the whole moment.

After taking multiple pictures with the photographer, we headed down to the neighborhood bbq. As it turns out, it was not a neighborhood bbq, but an engagement bbq! Much to my surprise, my mom, stepdad and grandma were all there waiting for us, as well as Courtney’s parents. We popped some bubbly and celebrated the rest of the 4th with a firework show on my uncle’s boat in the middle of the lake. It was the best day ever, and I couldn’t have imagined a more perfect proposal!