Proposal at Domain Chandon | Yountville, California

When I initially chatted over the phone with Chris about his Proposal at Domain Chandon, we "bonded" a bit over the rivalry between Duke and UNC...my husbands family are huge UNC fans...Chris, who is from North Carolina himself, not so much.When I looked on the map to find this winery, I realized it was just 3 minutes away from the first proposal shoot I ever did...and 2 years later, I still get nervous and excited!I explained what I normally do about making sure to find a good spot with shade (I was meeting them at the winery after their bright and early hot air balloon ride, so I knew the sun would be nice and high!), making she to position himself so that I could see her reaction, etc. Chris NAILED it!Meanwhile, Rachel's friends told her "I bet he is going to propose! Maybe he will do it on the hot air balloon ride!". But Chris knew Rachel didn't want a big crowd for "the moment". And can I just say...we got SO LUCKY! About a week ago when my husband and I came to visit to do some location scouting, there were people everywhere. Not crazy, but enough to worry me a tad that we wouldn't have to designated space to ourselves. But wow, I think the fact that it was early and a weekday, when they came out to the front of the winery (with me, trying pretty unsuccessfully trying to hit behind a bush while still see whats happening) there was NO ONE in sight! Guys! It was incredible!I watched (and pretended to take photos of a tree...Rachel said afterwards she thought it was a little weird but that maybe I just really liked the scenery?) while Chris set up his gopro and told her to take off her jacket and sunglasses for a quick photo...but instead, it was set on video! And then after he popped the question, the tour busses started to arrive. Talk about perfect timing!I feel so lucky that I get to call Sonoma County home, and that I have the privilege meeting and working with such amazing people. Congrats, Chris and Rachel! It was an honor to photograph your special moment!Want to see more of my proposal work? Click here!