STORY | KEUKENHOF

Just Engaged by the Pond at Keukenhof

By Aleksandria Rudenko | Published 28 October 2026

Man in sunglasses and a white jacket kissing the forehead of his new fiancée among coral-red tulips at Keukenhof

Ravi and Nisha came over from Sri Lanka for a spring trip. Nisha thought they had booked a simple photoshoot among the tulips, but Ravi had other plans. By half past five they were just engaged at Keukenhof, both in white and laughing by the pond.

I photographed the proposal itself in digital. Then I loaded a roll of Kodak Ektar 100, a color film, for their first hour as an engaged couple. Moments like these are why I love my tulip photoshoots at Keukenhof.

Red Tulips Under a Gray Sky

Keukenhof opens for only about eight weeks each spring. In early April, the big trees by the pond were still bare, and the sky stayed a soft gray all evening. Against it, the tulips came out a deep coral red on Ektar. In the widest frames, the two of them stand small behind a sea of tulips by the water.

Couple in white standing by the pond behind a wide bed of coral-red tulips, tall bare trees and a gray April sky above them

Closer view of the engaged couple embracing by the water, red tulips soft in the foreground and bare branches overhead — The pond at Keukenhof, early evening in April

Closer in, on a curving path between coral tulips and beds of white flowers, Ravi pulled Nisha in, and she rested her head against him.

Couple holding each other on a curving garden path between coral tulips and beds of white and yellow spring flowers

Laughter After the Yes

They had both chosen white: a fluffy jacket for her, a smooth bomber jacket for him. Nisha could not stop laughing, the kind of laughter that only comes right after a big yes. A phone on a tripod nearby caught a few seconds of it.

By the pond, about forty minutes after the proposal

Ravi wrapped his arms around her from behind, sunglasses on, while she smiled at me. Between laughs, he kissed her forehead, and that frame opens this story.

Smiling woman in a fluffy white jacket held from behind by her fiancé in dark sunglasses, red tulips around them at Keukenhof

Just Engaged at Keukenhof, Hand in Hand

For the details, I went in close: his hands around hers, the new ring on her finger, the tulips soft and dark below. By the fountain, she curled into his jacket for one more quiet frame.

Close view of a man’s hands holding his fiancée’s hand with a new engagement ring, dark red tulips below, on Kodak Ektar

Woman resting against her fiancé’s chest beside a pond with a fountain, both dressed in white on a gray spring evening

Before we said goodbye, we took a selfie together among the pink tulips, the tripod still standing behind us. Two people, just engaged at Keukenhof, and a roll of film full of their first hour.

Selfie of a smiling couple in white with a woman holding a film camera, rows of pink tulips and a tripod behind them

Planning a proposal among the tulips? Discover how my tulip photoshoots at Keukenhof work.