--- title: Master of Disguise Hides as a Bush at Sister's Engagement description: It's actually really easy to hide during a couple's proposal — all you need to do is dress as a bush among nearby forestry. canonical: https://time.com/5689102/sister-engagement-bush/ author: Rachel E. Greenspan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-09-30T15:21:52.000Z article:modified_time: 2023-12-12T21:23:03.000Z og:title: Let's Celebrate the Master of Disguise Who Impersonated a Bush During Sister's Engagement og:description: Halloween costume alert og:url: https://time.com/5689102/sister-engagement-bush/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4480a364bb19404b/698a03a14ee26221b331656e/bush-sister-engagement-costume.jpeg?branch=production&width=1048&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1048 og:image:height: 590 og:image:alt: bush-sister-engagement-costume og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Let's Celebrate the Master of Disguise Who Impersonated a Bush During Sister's Engagement twitter:description: Halloween costume alert twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4480a364bb19404b/698a03a14ee26221b331656e/bush-sister-engagement-costume.jpeg?branch=production&width=1048&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # We Are Gathered Here Today to Celebrate the Master of Disguise Who Impersonated a Bush During Sister's Engagement > Sponsored content. 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It curates the day's top headlines with TIME's reporting and analysis across politics, world affairs, business, health and culture. It is free to join at time.com/newsletters. #### How do I sign up for The Brief? The Brief is available free at time.com/newsletters, where readers can select it along with any of TIME's other six newsletters. There is no subscription required to receive it. #### Is The Brief free? Yes. The Brief is a free daily email newsletter from TIME. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes The Brief? The Brief is led by editor Richard Hall and draws on reporting from TIME's newsroom. Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. by [Rachel E. Greenspan](https://time.com/author/rachel-e-greenspan/) ## Rachel E. Greenspan Updated: Dec 12, 2023 9:23 PM UTCPublished: Sep 30, 2019 3:21 PM UTC  Therese Merkel by [Rachel E. Greenspan](https://time.com/author/rachel-e-greenspan/) ## Rachel E. Greenspan Updated: Dec 12, 2023 9:23 PM UTCPublished: Sep 30, 2019 3:21 PM UTC It’s actually really easy to hide during a couple’s [proposal](https://time.com/5468947/nypd-couple-engagement-ring-times-square/) — all you need to do is dress as a bush among nearby forestry and you’ll see it all go down. Take advice from Therese Merkel (not to be confused with [Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel](https://time.com/5531179/angela-merkel-german-cars-threat/)), whose expedition allowed her to witness her sister’s engagement at Picnic Point in Madison, Wisconsin. This [creative icon](https://time.com/5684108/meghan-markle-prince-harry-baby-archie-outift/) shared photos of the event on Twitter on Sept. 23.  Therese Merkel “Sister got engaged this weekend,” she said, “and I dressed as a bush in the wilderness to watch/capture the moment.” What are sisters for, if not to over-costume oneself for a proposal? > [](https://twitter.com/theresemerkel/status/1176227318957858816) In an interview with TIME on Tuesday morning, Merkel said she hatched the plan with her soon-to-be brother-in-law, Andrew Philibeck. While there was a separate photographer on-site, Merkel filmed the proposal from within her costume. “I was a little concerned about ruining the whole romance vibe,” she tells TIME, but once she and the photographer revealed themselves to sister Rachel Merkel, chants of “she said yes!” abounded, and vibes remained romantic. “I was just like fist pumping like a woolly mammoth.” As for whether she was surprised, Rachel Merkel said it’s just par for the course for their family. “My sister popping out was like the best thing, next to Andrew proposing,” she says. The tweet has more than 100,000 likes, so their ingenuity has clearly been celebrated far and wide. Some people were so inspired by her heroic act that they, too, wanted a costumed relative at their future engagement. “If no one does this for me I’ll be sad,” wrote one user. > [](https://twitter.com/actosanctum/status/1176607014706798593) Merkel is even leveraging her notoriety by aiming to get noticed by [_The Ellen Show_](https://time.com/5677054/brad-pitt-on-ellen-2019/) and [Lil Nas X](https://time.com/5652803/lil-nas-x/). “Willing to dress up as a plant prop on stage if you’re low on seats,” she said, tagging [Ellen DeGeneres](https://time.com/5672526/ellen-show-archie/)‘s program. > [](https://twitter.com/theresemerkel/status/1176690346291580928) She also inquired about getting Rachael Ray cookware, because we can’t all start a [wedding registry](https://time.com/5684790/jennifer-lawrence-wedding-registry/). ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5689102/sister-engagement-bush/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5689102/sister-engagement-bush/"},"headline":"We Are Gathered Here Today to Celebrate the Master of Disguise Who Impersonated a Bush During Sister's Engagement","datePublished":"2019-09-30T15:21:52.000Z","dateModified":"2023-12-12T21:23:03.000Z","description":"Halloween costume alert","url":"https://time.com/5689102/sister-engagement-bush/","keywords":["Newsfeed","viral","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4480a364bb19404b/698a03a14ee26221b331656e/bush-sister-engagement-costume.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Rachel E. 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