Surprise Proposal – Wilmington, NC

Jacob reached out to us about the proposal to his girlfriend, Charlene, just one week before the day he proposed!! Jacob and Charlene came for a trip to North Carolina all the way from California and are not from the Wilmington area, so he asked us for help choosing a location to pop the big question. Jacob said he wanted it to be at the beach and/or near some water. Fort Fisher in Kure Beach, NC came to our mind first because it is such a unique place with windblown trees and both river and ocean views. We travel a ton and we have never been to any other place like Fort Fisher. After looking it up online and checking out our website (which is full of Fort Fisher photos), Jacob decided that it was the place he wanted to propose. We picked a time and gave Jacob all the information he needed to find us on the day of the proposal.

Proposal photography is an adrenaline ride. Especially when you have never met the couple or person proposing face to face. There are so many unknown variables… What do they look like? Will he see us to make sure we are in place before proposing? Where exactly will he propose to her? Do we have the best angle/vantage point to capture her expression? As a photographer it doesn’t get much more high stakes than a proposal. We try to navigate the unknown variables the best we can. We had Jacob send us a photo of them two. We dropped a pin on Google Maps so he would know exactly the location we would be waiting and sent him a photo of us. As they approached we got into place and acted like we were having a “normal” family outing.

Jacob found us and the perfect spot to propose. She said “Yesss!!” and we captured it all flawlessly. Charlene was so surprised. They were “going out to eat but making a pit stop to sightsee for a bit before their reservation,” but it had been raining all day and was still overcast at the time so Charlene was a little thrown off by why he was pushing to be outside and walking around a park. But the rain held off and Jacob was able to pull it all off without raising too much suspicion. After Charlene said yes, we did a quick engagement session to mark the moment in their love story with some beautiful photos. Congratulations to this Californian couple who made a once-in-a-lifetime memory here on the east coast in North Carolina!! Cheers you two!!