*an occasional series about marriage proposals*
Max and Adrian went to the same high school in Towson, but different years, and didn’t end up connecting until 2012. Max was starting his own photography business and needed to boost his portfolio. He looked through his Facebook feed to see who, if anyone, would be interested in being a model for a photo shoot. He and Adrian were randomly friends and he saw she had a professional profile picture, so he messaged her, and they decided to meet at Towson Tavern two weeks later. The conversation flowed freely and, even though it was all about work, they had a lovely couple of hours. Everything was planned out for the photo shoot, but plans fell through and it never actually came to fruition. Months go by, and the following spring, Max was doing a photo shoot at La Cakerie for Baltimore magazine when he ran into Adrian in the parking lot while he was packing up his gear. They reconnected, exchanged numbers, and vowed to keep in touch. Again serendipitously, four days later, Max was leaving the Waterfront Hotel & Barwhile Adrian walked in the door. Naturally, he decided to stay and over Natty Boh and vodka drinks, they reconnected yet again. The next few years can only be described as a whirlwind romance, as they moved to Chicago for a stint before settling in Sarasota, Florida where they now live.
But when it came to the proposal, Max knew he wanted to do it back in their hometown of Baltimore and thought it was about time to actually get that photo shoot done. The sunflower fields at Clear Meadow Farm are in bloom for two weeks out of the year and Max said that would be the perfect time to do the photo shoot while they were home visiting family and friends. This was clever since Adrian could get her hair, makeup, and nails done without thinking anything was suspicious. Five years after they had first met, almost to the day, Max drove Adrian up to the sunflowers at Clear Meadow Farm. Little did she know another photographer who Max had hired, named Rachel Parker, was waiting in the fields to capture it all. Max and Rachel texted so they knew where to meet and, before the fake photo shoot happened, Max asked Rachel if she could get a shot of the two of them. He said the buzz-phrase that he had established with Rachel to let her know that it was about to go down, “Hey, would you mind getting one more?” Max got down on one knee and launches into the proposal while the two of them start crying and Rachel snapped away.
Max revealed that Rachel is a friend of a friend and they popped the champagne, showed off the ring, and took more pictures in the field. Later than night, Max surprised Adrian at (where else?) the Waterfront Hotel where friends and family had gathered to toast the newly engaged couple.
If you have a great proposal story, email us at: [email protected], subject line: POP THE QUESTION.
