Mark & Ashley’s surprise proposal and engagement session at Rittenhouse Square in October 2022 was so sweet and joyful!

Planning with Mark

Mark and I hopped on a Zoom call a few weeks before he was planning to propose. We went over his game plan and narrowed down a few good spots to pop the question. It’s a good thing we did our research because there was an art show going on that weekend in the park! It luckily didn’t interfere with his ideal proposal spot, but we had backup plans just in case.

(Note – if you are planning a proposal in one of Philadelphia’s public parks, make sure there is not public event happening at the same time!!)

The Proposal

I arrived at Rittenhouse Square extra early to make sure Mark’s preferred proposal location was good to go with the art show going on. I sent him a text confirming Plan A and waited while he and Ashley got ready to leave! She thought they were going on a dinner date to Parc, a super nice French restaurant right off the square. (Guys, this is a great way to make sure your partner dresses up for a surprise proposal!) They were, in fact, going to Parc … but Mark had other plans before they got there.

I spotted them walking toward me and got in position while trying to be discreet. At the designated location, Mark stopped walking and turned Ashley to face him, holding her hands in his. I moved into the center of the walkway, motioning for people to get out of the way as I brought my camera up to my eye. Mark got down on one knee, pulled out the engagement ring, and Ashley’s jaw dropped to the floor! She said YES!!

Y’all, Ashley was SO surprised and SO happy!!! She kept looking down at her hand in disbelief as Mark watched her with pure love in his eyes. I’m so honored I was able to document this super special moment for them!!!

Rittenhouse Engagement Session

After allowing Mark & Ashley some time and space to start processing what just happened, I took them around the park for some engagement photos! I made sure to weave in plenty of far away photos so they could chat and process together while I took candid photos with my Zoom lens. It was also important that I included some park benches in their photos because Mark loved that vision. Those park bench photos ended up being some of my absolute favorites!!!

When 20 minutes had gone by, I walked Mark & Ashley to Parc so they could make their dinner reservation. I snapped one last romantic photo of them kissing with the “Parc” sign in the background to commemorate that part of their big day!! I’m so excited for this sweet couple and I truly cannot wait for them to get married. Congratulations, Mark & Ashley!!!!

Rittenhouse Square Surprise Proposal