Donald picked Château des Charmes for this, about a ninety minute drive from Toronto and built to look like it was lifted out of the French countryside. Pale limestone, a steep green roof, a round tower on one corner, and a fountain sitting in the middle of clipped boxwood and rose beds. I got there early and found a spot well back across the lawn, far enough that a long lens was the only way to reach them. That is the part of a surprise proposal nobody ever sees. You stand out in the open pretending to photograph a building while the two of them walk up the path with no idea.
Ashley still had her handbag over her arm when he went down on one knee by the roses. Her hand went straight to her mouth. She was still holding the bag when she folded into him. After that the whole property belonged to them. They kissed beside the fountain with the green roof behind, she held her hand up so the ring caught the sun, and somebody produced a bottle of champagne that she carried overhead into the vines like a trophy.
We spent the rest of the evening in the vineyard. They ran a grass row hand in hand. He lifted her off her feet, backlit, and I let the highlights go. Out in the lavender the estate had a door standing on its own, wrapped in white and purple flowers, and they went back down on the grass in front of it and did the whole thing again, laughing this time. The last frames I made are the two of them walking away into the sun at the end of the rows. Their backs, the vines, and nothing else.
