Rahul and Nikki

Rahul’s proposal to Nikki

Rahul planned to propose to his lovely girlfriend Nikki, down at the Montalto Winery in Red Hill on the stunning Mornington Peninsula! (I saw the ocean on the drive back!! Very important!!)

Rahul roped me into his game plan a few weeks before the day (actually, he contacted me the day after I photographed the lovely Rami and Jordana’s city engagement, so I was still on a high from that and super chuffed to get to do it again!), and we quickly got down to planning the nitty gritty of how we’d do this.

The winery has a cellar door and restaurant, but one of their coolest offerings are private picnics set up further out into the winery grounds (75 acres!!).

So Rahul booked one of those, worded the venue up that he would be proposing, organised a stunning Marry Me sign for Nikki for when they made it to the picnic site (up on the hill overlooking the vinyard!)

Their picnic site itself was amazing - three courses plus a grazing tray to start with, spaced out over a couple hours, with a fire pit, picnic rug, undercover area, little bench with cushions to overlook back to the winery.. the works!

(There’s a dozen or so different picnic spots over the property - obviously Rahul worded up their office he was going to propose during his picnic and I reckon they gave him the best picnic spot, just to help out, heheh)

So we had it all organised - Rahul and Nikki were starting their visit with half an hour at the cellar door and then walking their way to the picnic site where I would be waiting (and awkwardly trying to hide behind a tree so Nikki didn’t see me on the walk up).

I got there just after they were meant to be in the cellar door, snuck into the restaurant and worded up the host that I was there and asked where to go, all while trying to hide incase Nikki spotted me and my big camera and got suspicious - the host hid me in their kitchen so I didn’t have to go through the cellar door, hahah! Such dedication to the cause!

I got up to the picnic site, where one of the groundsmen was setting up their starting grazing platter and lighting the fire - he hustled off on his golf cart (half his luck!) and I worked out a plan of attack (aka hiding behind the biggest tree I could find!) until Rahul and Nikki made their way up.

As you can imagine, once they arrived, Nikki caught on pretty quick! After spotting me (and a crucial shoe change!), Rahul got down to business..

.. and she said yes!

With the hardest part over, I finally got to meet the lovely Nikki I’d heard so much about, and Rahul explained the story behind his choice of ring-box.

Nikki is a big Harry Potter fan, so Rahul organised a Golden Snitch, just for her, to keep the ring safe! It even came engraved with ‘I open at the close..’. I’m like a 5/10 Harry Potter fan, but even I know that reference :)

After that, we all had a couple hours to spend leisurely wandering around their area and taking cute photos.

And of course I left them alone for a bit to enjoy their delicious-looking food and have some private time as an engaged couple!

How stunning is this picnic space?!

We were lucky to be situated right next to grove of olive trees, which made for probably my favourite image of the day…

I just love those little moments between the more obvious poses. But these two make it hard to pick a favourite shot!

We even tried our own version of the Princess Diaries ‘foot-pop’! (Which, to be completely honest, I think I could have shot better, but we try next time!)

(don’t look too closely at the heel on the ‘popping’ shoe.. soft ground that day!)

We wandered down the path a bit to explore, met some chickens and some sheep, and got some more variety in background!

Gotta get that ring in the shot!

After a few breaks for their meals, a lot of wandering through the trees, and a couple last snaps, I headed off and left them to their dessert delivery!

Such a special day, so well organised and well taken care of by the venue! Would absolutely recommend, not even for a proposal of course, just for a nice day out if you enjoy a wine and a wander!

Congrats, Rahul and Nikki!