Over the weekend, I had the absolute HONOR of capturing my brother proposing to his girlfriend! (My little bro has a fiance...crazy and so frickin exciting!)

Ryan had asked me if I would fly out to visit him at college sometime in the spring to take graduation photos and some couples' photos. I, of course, said yes (and taking any invitation to dip out of Colorado during our snowiest month....March). My flight had been booked and the date set for photos a month or two out.

About 3 weeks before I was set to fly to Phoenix, Ryan called me asking to talk photoshoot details. He said we're definitely set for graduation photos, and then really wanted to make sure we had time for couples pictures "because...the thing is...I got a ring." I literally squealed in my car in the Staples parking lot when he told me this!

So we sat there, brainstorming and hashing out a plan of how the whole proposal would take place. We ended up taking graduation photos on campus (Grand Canyon University) around noon (which also turned out amazing!), then we killed some time eating lunch and hanging out at her apartment before heading off to couples photos. We had wanted to wait for the sun to start setting so we could capture some STUNNING Golden Hour moments.

Ryan drove us (me, his girlfriend, and her best friend) to Papago Park where we started taking normal couples photos just to warm up and hope to throw her off even more, just in case she started getting suspicious. (Spoiler, she was not. She was very surprised! Job well done, Ry.) My brother suggested I get a big, landscape shot far away so I could get the big rocks in the background (the initiation of the plan), so I instructed them to walk up the hill a-ways. Her best friend and I waited at the bottom for them, watching with nervous excitement for my brother to get down on one knee.

All we could hear Teagan excitedly exclaim was, "Are you serious?! Are you serious?!" We gave them a few moments to hug and let Ryan put the ring on her finger. As soon as they turned to face us, Teagan's best friend and I ran up the hill to congratulate the newly engaged couple.

After some super sweet moments shared between friends and family over FaceTime, we resumed the couples' session (with perfect desert sunset lighting). We stayed around the rocks for a few photos, then popped over to a different part of the park with a little pond and a bunch of palm trees where Golden Hour really started to shine.

I may be biased, but I think this is my favorite session of the year. I am so incredibly happy for my brother and his new fiance. I cannot wait to have her become a part of the family and I'm so grateful Ryan asked me to be there to help execute the plan, take photos, and of course, celebrate with them and their college friends.

Cheers to my brother and future sister-in-law!