Today we’re sharing with you a proposal story that is very near + dear to the Exquisite Weddings team’s hearts. Newly-engaged Taylor is a fabulous past employee and we’ve watched the magic between her and Mike. We love that Mike surprised her with a memory she’ll never forget (+ beautiful photos! So important.). For the last week around the office we’ve been gushing over her gorgeous rose gold ring and their sweet story. Here is the story in Taylor’s own words, enjoy!
“Before the “when’s the wedding?” question, I’ve been getting a ton of “did you have any idea?” question. Considering the 4:30am wake up call, no makeup and very un-primed nails, you can bet I had no clue. Traveling to Albuquerque just for the hot air balloon festival was very not out of the ordinary for us. These last 4.5 years together we have traveled just about everywhere we can, so I never envisioned Mike proposing on one of our trips. We always joke that we vacation where many honeymoon (Santorini, Maldives, Thailand, Dominican) because I don’t see any reason to “save” places for one particular moment. The moment should always be now, and for Mike, that was surrounded by hundreds of hot air balloons. Normally for this event, you get to the fairground by 5am to fight the crowds and the festivities kick off at sunrise, when hundreds of balloons rise to the sky. Due to the cloudy weather, we were delayed a few hours, didn’t know if they were going to even take off, and little did I know Mike arranged a photographer for the occasion. Our photographer, Arielei Kinzer, stayed hours just to stalk us while we waited. With all the balloons, lack of sleep and cold weather, I was completely oblivious. Finally, hours later and soon after stuffing my face with a breakfast burrito (another sign I had NO clue), the balloons got the green signal and Mike got his. We went right into the thick of things when Mike stopped me and asked for me to put our GoPro away. I of course refused because that sounded like a ridiculous time to put our camera away. Then the next thing I know he was on his knee telling me he wanted to make our forever official. Everyone around us cheered and for the rest of the morning I swear I was the only person looking down (at my hand) instead of up in the sky.” -Taylor
P.S. If you want to drop a hint to your boyfriend or see this for yourself next year, see this link: Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta. Ah-mazing, right?
Photography: Arielei Kinzer Photography
Festival: The Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta
