Surprise Proposal: Brewster Inn Cazenovia, NY

Adam and his girlfriend, Danielle had been together for roughly 5 years. He knew he wanted to ask her to be his wife, so he reached out to set up a surprise proposal session with me. He knew only two things about the proposal at first: that it would be taking place at the Brewster Inn and that it had to be kept a secret. Thankfully, Adam had the help of Danielle’s good friend Selin to ensure that the planning of the surprise wasn’t spoiled. The tricky part was, Danielle knew that Adam would be proposing at some point, so if she caught wind of Adam having the ring, or hiring a photographer it would be game over.

Selin acted on behalf of Adam, and they shared the plans for the surprise proposal with me: Take Danielle to Brewster Inn Cazenovia for dinner. The Brewster Inn was also keen on the surprise, as the plan was that once they arrived, they would be told that their reserved table was going to be an extra ~20 minutes, and suggest to take a stroll down by the water. Selin and her partner, Alex, lived out of state and Danielle had not seen them in a while—so they planned to be waiting by the water for Danielle to spot them.

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Adam knew Danielle would be hella excited to see Selin and rush toward her the moment she recognized her. This would give Adam the chance to scoop the ring from Alex unnoticed and then get down on one knee.

Enjoy these captured moments from their milestone moment!

I always get super nervous when taking on surprise proposals, because if the propose-ee happens to spot me chillin’ in the area with all my camera gear, it tends to set off a red flag. Luckily, there happened to be a wedding taking place at the Brewster Inn, so I hung around the reception tent and struck up a conversation with their DJ to make it appear as if I were associated with that event.

Wishing all the best and sending all the love to Danielle + Adam in their new engagement, and sending love and props to both Selin + Alex for being serious MVPs in keeping the surprise a secret.