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If you're going to pop the question, there's really no wrong way to do it. But there's definitely a very right way.

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I had the supreme privilege of photographing Steven and Tatyana's proposal, followed by a voyage in the San Francisco Bay with close friends. It was very well thought out, and pretty perfect. It was so cool that it was featured on How He Asked.

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What Would Steven Do?

Since Steven's plan went off without a hitch, I went ahead and asked him to offer some advice for future proposers:

"...My advice would be to take your time with it [planning] and do not rush it. It should only happen once so it has to meaningful and thought out thoroughly. Not only does it have to be well thought out but I think in order for it to be special it needs to reflect something in their [your] relationship and show how well you know the other person. I took almost a year of planning for mine because I wanted to make sure it was done right and had time to make some changes in case things didn't work out the way I wanted."

What really made the proposal special is that Steven and Tatyana previously spent their anniversaries cruising the bay with Adventure Cat Sailing Charters. And here they were again, but this time Steven had a big surprise.

Words Of Advice:

1) Take your time planning

2) Arrange for photographer/video in advance

3) Make the proposal unique to you and your fiance-to-be

4) Did I mention taking time to plan things out?

5) Find a mutual friend to help plan and execute the proposal - you know, an inside guy/girl

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What Does Cabe Creative Do?

Having photos and video from your proposal is a perfect way to share your moment with friends and family without them actually having to be present. Years later, you will look at these photos and probably wonder how you held it all together (maybe you didn't?). They are moments captured and are truly priceless.

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What We Actually Did

When Steven contacted me about photographing his surprise proposal, I was over-the-moon excited. So excited, in fact, that I completely forgot about how motion sick I can get. Luckily I planned ahead and took some medicine, which worked swimmingly for the duration of the 3 hour cruise on the bay.

For logistical reasons, Steven requested I arrange for a second photographer to help capture the moment so I contact my good friend and photographer Paul Bolger. We donned crew jackets and pretended to be photographers for the boat. We had them pose for a pretend photo and Steven quickly sprung into action, and popped the question.

This all happen on the dock in front of the boat on which they routinely sailed on for their anniversary. Hiding on the boat were all of their closest friends, ready to celebrate and congratulate. It was legendary.

It's Your Turn

If you are reading this, you are likely planning your own surprise proposal. This is an area of photography that I am very passionate about, and would love to meet with you or otherwise chat about your big or small plans. Please do drop me a line and I am happy to help in any way that I can.

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