I absolutely love proposals! The extra excitement because of the element of surprise. The guy is excited, and completely nervous at the same time. The girl, completely shocked and bursting with happy tears… I just love it so much!

And the moment she says “yes!” is always so magical. There is SO much joy and love in the air that you can’t help but smile (and sometimes shed a tear, but hey I can’t help it!) And Justin and Julie’s proposal was no different.

Setting up the Perfect Proposal

Julie and Justin met at Michigan State University. Julie was on the Michigan State Dance Team while Justin played baseball for the Spartans. After college Julie and Justin moved to North Carolina together. Julie, Justin, and four of their friends came up to Traverse City for a getaway, and Justin had plans to propose.

Everyone, except for Julie of course, knew the plan. Their friend, Rachel, was kind enough to plan a lot of the details and was actually the one who found me via Instagram!

After she and I chatted details, she relayed the information to Justin, to keep Julie from getting suspicious. Rachel truly wanted her friends to have the perfect moment, the perfect proposal, and for Julie to be utterly surprised. We all need a friend like her!

Well, as they were walking around The Village at Grand Traverse Commons, a local spot with great food and shops, Justin got down on one knee, and Julie was so shocked in the moment, saying “yes” immediately and giving Justin the biggest hug. You can tell how surprised she was in the pictures!

After the proposal, Julie did admit she was a bit suspicious earlier in the week and all their friends gathered for hugs, and to get a good look at the ring!

A beautiful ring with heartfelt meaning

Now let me tell you about this ring as it is extremely special to Julie. When talking about getting engaged, Julie took four diamonds from her grandma’s bracelet that she wears and gave them to Justin. She told him he could do whatever he wanted with them, she just wanted them to be in the ring somehow.

Well, Justin did a great job designing the ring, it’s absolutely GORGEOUS! After the proposal and sharing the moment with friends, Julie, Justin, and I went down a path to take some engagement photos. These two were both on cloud nine. They were constantly smiling, giggling, hugging, and kissing. I felt like I barely needed to pose them because the utter happiness in the moment was picture-perfect. A little later, Julie’s parents showed up as well to share in on the joy.

I hope you can feel the love and joy from these pictures like I could. Congratulations Julie and Justin!