Surprise Marriage Proposal at Coronado Beach with Karen and Christopher
To the altar we go!
Christopher and Karen met in high school and have been together for eight years now. They are both engineers who enjoy being out in nature, hiking, backpacking trips, and visiting national parks. They both also love film photography and there is no bigger compliment for a photographer than being hired by another photographer. They currently live in Washington but used to live in Los Angeles and visited San Diego pretty regularly. When Christopher was thinking of where to propose to Karen, he thought of Coronado Beach AKA Karen’s favorite place to be. Christopher booked a surprise trip to San Diego and topped it off with the biggest surprise of all - a marriage proposal.
Christopher knew for years that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with Karen but wanted to wait until their lives settled down and stabilized. A couple months ago, he realized now was the time and began formulating a plan.
When organizing a proposal, I am only in contact with one person in the relationship obviously and it is important to get a sense of who both of them are as individuals as well as their relationship as a whole. I knew I loved and wanted to work with Christopher, but needed to learn more about Karen! I knew the moment she met me, she was going to be incredibly overwhelmed so I wanted to know what makes her feel comfortable and secure. Simply showing up and shoving a camera in their faces is not the way to go. This is a very, VERY special moment and it is up to me as the photographer to elevate it without interfering.
Christopher being the person that knows Karen best told me that low-key and personal is more her style. They both like to keep to themselves and avoid being the center of attention. We decided a weekday would be ideal to dodge large crowds and keep their proposal as intimate as possible. Once a date, time, and place were set, the only thing left to do was pop the question!
I spotted them in their beach chairs and hunkered down in a sand bunker. They stood up and walked a little bit down the beach. The moment was upon us. Christopher got down on one knee and my shutter went off at high speed. I gave them a moment to themselves and slowly began to approach. After Karen said yes and the ring was placed on her finger, it was time for some couples portraits. Correction… engagement portraits. Yay!
We splashed around in the ocean, played around on the lifeguard stand, and captured some truly incredible, candid moments. I walked away from this shoot feeling great about what I had captured and couldn’t wait to start the editing process! When I got home and began backing up the images, I received a message on Instagram from Karen. She said,
“Hi Mallory! I just wanted to say thank you so so much for taking our photos today! I felt like I was really overwhelmed and awkward in the moment but you made both of us feel super comfortable!”
My goal going into a proposal is to capture the moment authentically while creating a fun and stress-free environment. Proposals become core memories and that responsibility is not lost on me. Hearing from a couple that their proposal story played out exactly how they had hoped will always bring an insanely large smile to my face. Thank you Christopher for choosing me to be your photographer on this very special occasion - I am forever grateful.
Planning to ask the love of your life a big question? Let’s make it perfect. Contact me here to get started!
