It was January cold — the kind that gets into your bones — and I was very casually, nothing to see here sitting on a bench near the Old Town waterfront with my longest lens. Michaela had no idea I was there while Brian tried really hard to play it cool.
The plan: birthday hangout with friends in Old Town, quick stop by the waterfront on the way.
Brian pulled it off perfectly. They swung by the water, and that was when he got down on one knee.
Michaela squealed and wrapped him in the biggest hug — and a few friends who had been lurking nearby came running in immediately after. Big hugs all around, that specific brand of relief-meets-joy from people who’ve been keeping a secret and are finally allowed to be excited about it. It was the sweetest thing to watch!
The backstory on these two is genuinely one of my favorites.
Brian coached baseball for the same American Legion program he played for growing up. Michaela’s younger brother was one of his players. So Brian knew her family, knew her name through mutual friends, had this whole web of connections to her before they ever actually met — and then she started showing up to her brother’s games. He noticed her. Said hello a few times. They talked. Stayed mostly friends through college, and then after graduation, something shifted. As Brian put it: the rest was history.
The slow build. The already-knowing-her-people before knowing her. It was the sweetest and most perfect foundation.
I’m keeping this short because this surprise proposal in Old Town Alexandria was too sweet.
After the big moment, we grabbed photos with the group and then just the two of them — still buzzing, in that cold morning winter light — before everyone went to snag their reservation for birthday, and now bling, celebrations. These two have since become husband and wife, and I had so much fun getting to go back and relive where it all started.
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