Taylor Swift Surprises, Serenades Emerson Alum at His Engagement Party

Emerson alum Ross Girard, middle, was surprised by Taylor Swift at his engagement party thanks to his fiancee Alex Goldschmidt.

Getting engaged is a momentous occasion. Now how about having Taylor Swift surprise you at your engagement party and serenading you with one of your favorite songs? This is what happened to Emerson College alum Ross Girard ’08.

Emerson Today spoke with Girard about the day he went for a hike with his soon-to-be fiancé Alex Goldschmidt.

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Q: Where did your fiancee ask you to marry him? I see it’s atop a mountain/hill spot.

Girard: Alex proposed at the Wisdom Tree on Cahuenga Peak in Los Angeles, where we had gone on a hike for our second date three years ago. It was a day filled with surprises that started with the proposal, continued with a surprise engagement party with friends, then my family who flew across the country to be there appeared, and finally Taylor Swift serenaded us.

Q: How did you and Alex meet?

Girard: A mutual friend had been trying to set us up for some time but for one reason or another it didn’t happen. Then, we matched on Tinder and decided to go on a date. We clicked well from the start and never looked back.

Q: Were there friends with you on the hike and did they take the photo?

Girard: My longtime friend and fellow Emerson alum Hannah Elder [’09] joined us on the hike. When we moved to LA after graduating, we linked up to take weekly hikes together in Griffith Park, and have continued the tradition off and on over the past 5+ years. Her role in the surprise proposal was to invite me out for a hike so it would feel like a normal day, and then she asked me to invite Alex to come along with us. Alex told me he wanted to take a photo recreating the pose we did on our second date and Hannah took the photo. Right after this, he dropped to one knee and asked me to marry him. At that point a professional photographer appeared seemingly out of nowhere and took a bunch of photos. 

Q: So how surprised were you when Taylor Swift walked into the restaurant?

Girard: The surprises continued after the proposal, with me walking into a full-on engagement party when I thought we were just meeting a friend for lunch. After walking in, I turned a corner and saw that my family and Alex’s family had flown in as well, which was incredible. So at this point, I believed all surprises were over. Then, Alex asked everyone to gather round for what I thought was going to be a speech, but turned out to be an intro to Taylor Swift. I was completely surprised.

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Q: Had you met her before that day?

Girard: I had met Taylor backstage last summer during her Reputation tour. She was very nice and surprisingly knew who I was from seeing Alex’s posts on social media. We took a few photos together and then saw her show, which was incredible.

Q: Do you think Taylor will come to your wedding?

Girard: After all the surprises that I’ve endured the last few days, who knows? We’ll have to plan the wedding first and see!

Q: You’re a film/commercial producer. What are some of the projects you’ve worked/working on?

Girard: Presently I work as EVP, Production for a production company called Campfire in Los Angeles. We recently had a Netflix Originals docuseries premiere called The Innocent Man, which we’re very excited about. We also produced a new Netflix Originals dramatic comedy series called Special, which will be premiering on April 12. Aside from these shows, we’re in production on a Netflix Originals feature thriller called Rattlesnake, as well as three documentary features, and a documentary series.