Josh and Lisa are engaged! With some sneaky planning—which is no easy feat when you live and work from home with your significant other during COVID—Josh asked Lisa to be his wife with a snowy, thoughtful proposal at The Palladium in Carmel, Indiana.
They’ve shared the news with their family and friends, which means I can now share photos from Josh and Lisa’s engagement on the blog!
Josh & Lisa have a very quarantine dating story.
Josh and Lisa’s dating story is about as 2020 as it gets! You see, just a few months before the world shut down, Josh and Lisa met online through The League—a dating app for ambitious people.
At the time, Lisa lived in downtown Chicago, and Josh lived in Lafayette. Despite the distance, Josh and Lisa quickly hit it off and bonded over their love for cooking, interest in the arts, and faith. They quickly met one another’s families and were enjoying dating and their new but quickly serious relationship. Little did they know, however, that just a few months into their relationship, they would end up living together!
You see, in March 2020, Lisa traveled to Lafayette to see Josh for a couple days. COVID was certainly being talked about, but the US didn’t seem too concerned.
But, while Lisa was visiting, the world shut down. The US banned international travel, and both Indiana and Illinois announced stay-at-home orders.
Josh and Lisa had a decision to make. Would Lisa go back to Chicago—leaving both Josh and Lisa to quarantine alone—or would Lisa simply stay in Lafayette?
For the sake of their mental health, being able to socially distance (Lafayette is much more spread out than Chicago), and because—well—they liked (And still do!) spending time together, Josh and Lisa decided that Lisa and her cat (Oliver) would stay in Lafayette until stay-at-home orders lifted.
So, Josh and Lisa went from doing long distance to sharing a home and workspace. And, they loved it!
Stay-at-home orders lifted a few weeks later, but Josh and Lisa had fallen into a comfortable rhythm and didn’t want to go back to doing long distance—especially since Lisa’s company was
asking employees to continue working remotely anyway. So, Lisa stayed in Lafayette, and when it was time to renew her lease, she decided to give up her Chicago apartment and make Lafayette her home.
Josh and Lisa only dated for a few months before COVID resulted with them quarantining together, and now, Josh and Lisa joke that Lisa came to visit and never left. Basically, COVID brought Josh and Lisa together, and now, they’re getting married!
Josh proposed outside of the Palladium in Carmel, Indiana.
After the last year, I think it’s safe to say that most married couples can attest that if you can quarantine together, you can do anything together. With this in mind, it may come as no surprise that Josh and Lisa began talking about marriage just a few months into sharing a home.
By January 2021, they’d looked at rings, discussed potential wedding plans, and even decided that their wedding would be in Lisa’s hometown. By the end of January, Lisa knew the ring had been ordered, and she patiently waited for Josh to pop the question. In the meantime, she made sure her nails were always painted and photo worthy. She’s a planner!
Knowing it was going to be difficult to prevent Lisa from getting suspicious, Josh crafted the perfect plan to distract Lisa.
Because Josh’s family only lives about an hour from Lafayette, Josh and Lisa see Josh’s side of the family pretty regularly. But, between quarantining for two weeks to safely see Lisa’s family and then going to see Lisa’s brother and his family, it had been a while since Josh and Lisa had seen Josh’s parents, brother, and sister-in-law.
So, when Josh suggested that he and Lisa spend Friday evening with his parents in Tipton, Indiana and then meet his brother and sister-in-law in Carmel for lunch that Saturday, Lisa didn’t give it a second thought.
Josh and Lisa hung out with Josh’s parents on Friday evening at their house and stayed the night. This is a bit of a side note, but it’s too funny not to share! Much of Josh’s time spent at his parents’ was spent fixing the snowmobile. As a result, he went to his parents’ house in clothes ready to work. After Lisa went to sleep, he realized he’d forgotten pants for the next day. In a panic and knowing it wouldn’t be acceptable to wear snowpants to propose or to their reservation at Vivante, Josh drove home while Lisa was asleep to get jeans. She had no idea and laughed so hard when Josh told her after popping the question!
The next morning, Josh and Lisa packed up to head to Carmel to “have lunch” with Josh’s brother and sister-in-law. As they left Josh’s parents’ house, Josh shared his location with me (iPhones are the best!), and I hid on Hotel Carmichael’s porch while I waited for Josh and Lisa to park and walk through the gardens around The Palladium.
Lisa still wasn’t at all suspicious, and the two walked hand in hand through the gardens. However, when they got to the predetermined spot that Josh and I had discussed in front of The Palladium, Josh asked Lisa to stop. He took a step in front of her, got down on one knee, and asked Lisa to be his wife. As you’ll be able to tell by the photos, Lisa said, “Yes!”
After they officially became fiancés, hugged, and relished the moment, Josh told Lisa that I was hiding and had captured the whole thing on camera. Lisa is the photography producer for a magazine and really values photos. Needless to say, she was thrilled that Josh had arranged for this special moment to be documented!
Josh and Lisa then allowed me to take them around The Palladium to grab a few photos of the two of them and Lisa’s ring in celebration. Just wait until you see how elated these two were and how gorgeous Lisa’s ring is!
Side note: Josh’s brother and sister-in-law weren’t actually invited to lunch. Josh and Lisa had lunch at Vivante after their photos, just the two of them, as fiancés!
Congratulations, Josh & Lisa!
Now, in all honesty, Josh’s proposal plan was a difficult secret to keep. You see, Lisa and I are friends, and when we met for coffee in January, she told me that she had a feeling Josh was going to pop the question soon. Then, later that week, Josh texted me and asked if I could photograph the proposal.
I probably seemed like a pretty lousy friend for a couple weeks, but I didn’t want to take any risk of accidentally sharing Josh’s plans with Lisa. Sorry, Lisa!
Josh and Lisa don’t have a date officially set yet, but wedding planning is in full swing, and they’re hoping to get married in Iowa in 2021 (venue availability and COVID depending).
Josh and Lisa, Zach and I couldn’t be more excited for you guys! We’re thankful to call you friends, and I’m so honored that you trusted me to photograph your proposal.
Congratulations, you two! I pray that you’re always best friends, the life you share is full of blessings, and that every trial brings you closer together and closer to Christ.
You’ll be Mr. and Mrs. before you know it, and I hope you love your photos from your oh-so-sweet proposal at The Palladium in Carmel, Indiana!
Winter can be brown and gray in Indiana if there isn’t snow on the ground. To combat this issue, Josh decided to propose in Carmel, Indiana knowing that The Palladium and other buildings were gorgeous and would distract from grey skies and trees without leaves. However, Josh and Lisa got lucky! Indiana got snow a few days before Josh popped the question, giving Josh and Lisa’s proposal photos both gorgeous buildings and fluffy snow! 
I swear, Lisa always looks adorable. She says she had no idea Josh was going to propose that day, but doesn’t she look like she woke up knowing that that Saturday in February was going to be the day?!
When you realize you’re engaged and your amazing fiancé arranged for the special moment to be captured on camera!
While they were posed, I told Josh to tell Lisa what his thought was before he got down on one knee. He told her that he couldn’t believe he forgot his pants at home and how he’d sneaked out to drive home and get them. Lisa died! I love this little detail of their story!
Isn’t Lisa’s ring gorgeous?! Josh did so well! 
