Inspiration Nation: Dream City Proposal at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston

Wednesday, February 10, 2016

Dream City Proposal at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston

Is this perhaps the cutest proposal ever? I think that’s pretty safe to say. Because when Boston blogger, Corporate Glitter thought she was signing up to model for a photo shoot organized by Annmarie Swift Photography, she got the surprise of her life turning around to find her boyfriend, Matthew on bended knee. Kuddos Matthew – you’ve officially set the bar for boyfriends everywhere.

From the Bride-to-be…Matthew and I began looking at rings together about six months ago. I wanted the proposal to be a surprise, but preferred to be a part of picking out the ring. We looked a few times before finally deciding on what shape and style I liked: an oval diamond in an oval halo setting.

Fast forward to the end of December. I received an email from Annmarie Swift, a Boston area wedding photographer that we have been lucky enough to shoot with a few other times. The email stated that she was in need of another winter session for her magazine and asked if Matt and I would be interested in doing the shoot with her. I asked Matt right away if we could do it, and he told me he had to check his work schedule but thought it would be okay. I emailed Annmarie right back letting her know that we would LOVE to be models again.

Annmarie and I went back and forth a few times, discussing hair, makeup and of course, the perfect dress! This session was supposed to be a “formal anniversary” shoot, so we decided on a beautiful blush pink tulle gown with sequins embroidery. She even asked if we would bring our dog, Sam, and we discussed how cute a floral wreath for him would be.

January 23 came and I decided to go get my nails done that morning with a girlfriend of mine. We joked that maybe Matt would propose at the shoot. After doing my hair and makeup, Matthew and I made our way into the city and arrived at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston just before 3:00 PM. The conversation on the ride there consisted mostly of how our dog Sam was going to react to being in the city, and how cold it was going to be in a backless dress. Matt never let on that he was nervous or anxious.

Once all of the people cleared the front steps of the MFA we shed our jackets and began shooting. When I say it was cold, I mean it was COLD. I didn’t mind though because I knew this was going to be another wonderful shoot with an amazing photographer, and Matt and I would have the photos to cherish forever.

After about 10 minutes of posing just the two of us and with Sam, Annmarie told Matt to step aside as she wanted to take a few full-length photos of my dress. She was on the steps and I was standing below her. She instructed me to keep looking at the column behind her and to not move. A second or two later she told me to turn around and throw my arms around Matt.

My heart dropped as I turned around to see the love of my life, down on one knee, with the most beautiful ring in his hands. As I stepped closer to him he said the sweetest words and asked me to marry him. I was completely surprised and overwhelmed with happiness that I actually had to ask Matt later that night if I said yes! (I did J) And now we have the most amazing photos of the best moment of our lives.

Little did I know, the whole shoot was Matt’s idea! He had emailed Annmarie, coordinated the day and even met up with her at the MFA a few days prior to go over the plan of action. But the surprises didn’t stop there. At home there were more roses, chocolates, champagne chilling on ice and a very special handmade piece – a wooden sign that read “Katie & Matt 01/23/2016” that Matt had carved himself.

We had made dinner reservations earlier that week to celebrate Matt’s birthday, so we got changed and headed to the restaurant. When we arrived, we were led to the back where both of our families were sitting at a large round table to surprise us (well, me) – another one of Matt’s ideas! We had a delicious meal and got to show our families the proppsal photos that Annmarie had already edited and sent back to us.

I cannot even begin to explain the amount of happiness I felt that day, and continue to feel each day after, know how much time, thought and effort my wonderful fiancé put into making the proposal such a magical moment. It was the greatest day of my life and I cannot wait to marry my best friend!