Hannah and Laura were super excited to spend the day posing for an elopement style portrait session at Hug Point out on the Oregon Coast. Laura was juiced to spend the evening taking pictures with her girlfriend and their dog at a beautiful location, but she didn’t know that the day was actually an elaborately planned opportunity to capture Hannah’s real life proposal to her.
The idea for a surprise proposal blossomed quickly after Hannah and Laura penciled in the date for a photoshoot near Cannon Beach. Hannah and I planned over text, phone calls, in person meetings and even videos mocking up how the ring transfer would happen in order to keep Laura believing that it was “just a photoshoot” until the very last minute.
Jenny and I met Hannah and Laura at an off the beaten path cliffside location at first and we could tell from the get go that it would be a great day. The first location was beautiful but we were all buzzing (except Laura who was blissfully unaware) with nervous energy as the proposal was going to happen as we headed to Hug Point for some additional portraits.
When we got the beach, I took the couple to grab some photos near the cave while Jenny told them that she was ready-ing the site for a “mock ceremony” at the further end of the beach. As we walked towards Jenny we saw that the candles had been lit and arranged on the rocky structure that was reminiscent of a church altar. According to plan, Hannah held a “prop” notebook, except inside of the notebook was a handwritten card that Hannah began to read to Laura. After a few sentences, Laura began to realize that these words were not just for a photoshoot but she was actually being proposed to. It really sealed the deal when Hannah slipped the ring out of a pocket in the back of the notebook and got down on one knee. Both Jenny and I confirmed that this was the real deal by having some tears in our eyes as Laura fully realized that this day had been planned for her.
We celebrated the “yes!” by popping a bottle of champagne and enjoying some moments of sunset and grabbing some post-proposal photos by the waters edge. We parted ways as Hannah and Laura went to celebrate their engagement at The Bistro. It was a relief and an excitement that all the planning paid off with a proposal that went even better than we initially imagined. I am incredibly grateful to have been a part of such a special day for Hannah and Laura and can’t wait to see them in the near future as beautiful brides!
