This year I ran my 2nd annual Valentine’s Day Giveaway … and today I chose the lucky winning couple that will receive $1000 towards their photography package.  I am so happy to announce that Taylor and Michael had such an ADORABLE proposal story that I simply had to select them!

With their permission, I would love to share their story with you …

“It was Christmas Eve, one of my FAVOURITE days of the year. I love Christmas and so does Mike, It is the most wonderful time of year, filled with love and family. We had recently had a big ice storm, which left a lot of local destruction, but also beautiful scenery for the perfect Christmas setting. On our way to an early Christmas dinner, we kept marveling about how the ice sparkled in the fields and on the trees. Mike said that it resembled a field full of diamonds. Little did I know that this statement foreshadowed the events that were to occur later in the evening. When we got home from dinner we settled in with a glass of red wine to watch Mikes favorite Christmas movie, Its a Wonderful Life. It is one of those old movies that make you thankful for everything you have in your life. In the movie, there is a scene where the main character George Bailey asks his love interest Mary a question. He says, What is it you want, Mary? What do you want? You want the moon? Just say the word and I’ll throw a lasso around it and pull it down. Mike turns to me and says What is it you want Taylor? What do you want? You want a Christmas surprise? (He had rehearsed this line). He ran around the corner and came back with 2 KinderSuprises- another one of my FAVOURITE things. For Mike (a complete health nut) to buy me a KinderSuprise really was a surprise. I ate my kinder egg, blissfully unaware of what was about to happen. He ate his very quickly, which was strange considering he didnt like KinderSuprises. He opened his egg and said, I got a crappy toy, what did you get? I opened mine and inside the little capsule was the most beautiful ring I had ever seen, nestled perfectly in dark red confetti. The lighting in the room was dim for our movie and the shine and sparkle coming from the ring was absolutely brilliant. Mike had taken the time to cut the egg in half absolutely perfectly, removed the toy, arranged the ring in confetti and sealed the egg back up by melting the two chocolate halves together without any indication it had been tampered with. He also painstakingly unwrapped and re-wrapped the egg so it looked identical to the un-altered egg. I didnt comprehend what was happening at first and as Mike often tells people now, apparently I asked Is this real life? over and over again. He got down on one knee and asked me to be his wife. Of course, I said YESS! and we hugged, kissed and cried for a long time before we could compose ourselves enough to call friends and family with the good news! It was the most magical and loving Christmas I have ever had and it still feels like a fairytale. So simple, but so special. Thanks for considering our story :)”

Congratulations Taylor and Michael … I can’t wait to meet you!!

And of course a blog post isn’t complete without a few pictures, so here is my little Aylah wishing everyone a Happy Valentine’s Day!  And a huge shout of to my great assistants Courtney and Sara for helping me get these shots.