It was a warm sunny day in Brooklyn when Hillel and Bassie took a walk through Grand Army Plaza. Her hand in his, they strolled along the route that Hillel had meticulously mapped out. As far as Bassie knew, it was just another day spent with the man she loved, but he had other plans. He played it cool while they strolled through the park, but inside he was going over the words to say when they finally stopped at the fountain… where the ground covered was in rose petals.

I know Hillel from our time in Brooklyn College Student Government, so fun! I, funny enough, saw him at the campus Hillel all the time! I was overjoyed when he asked me to photograph his proposal to his then girlfriend Bassie! He’d prepared a whole plan including a path of how they’d walk there (with satellite images from google earth!) and circled exactly where he’d want to propose, right in front of the beautiful fountain there! Hillel had his friend Berel set up the flowers and rose petals in advance and they walked over after spending the day together.

How sweet is that??

Bassie and Hillel knew each other as friends of friends in college but really met later in an LSAT prep class. I can only imagine how fun that must have been and the sparks between these two! They are SUCH a sweet couple and even just hanging with them for a short time, I could tell how in love they are!

As they approached the fountain, Bassie saw a circle of rose petals and a bouquet of roses on the ground, and her face lit up! It was so sweet watching him hold her hands and say those sweet words he’d prepared before proposing. Bassie started crying when he kneeled down and asked her to marry him!

They had a beautiful and intimate proposal followed by engagement photos at the fountain and arch at Grand Army Plaza.

Fun fact: The bench from these proposal photos is where Hillel asked Bassie to officially be his girlfriend!

Toward the end of the session, Bassie was already on the phone telling her family the exciting news! They already knew, of course, and they would be meeting them back at home to celebrate shortly.

Bassie and Hillel are now happily married, and I am honored to have helped photograph their love story! I’m so happy for the both of them and it still makes me smile looking back on these photos!