Engagement season is fast approaching, and I’ve gotten to celebrate early this year with the two sweet surprise proposals I’ve shared this week!

Now living in Durham, Trevor wanted to plan a weekend getaway to the mountains for his girlfriend. Little did she know, he was also planning with me to coordinate a surprise proposal! As they were staying in Boone but taking a day trip to Asheville, we settled on Wiseman’s View as the best location, equally because of its accessibility in nice clothes and because of the breathtaking view.

Emmaleigh of Just Bloom Together, and I drove up early to stake out the perfect spot, the leftmost overlook. We didn’t want to ask people not to enjoy the view, but didn’t want to just sit waiting in the overlook for Julie and Trevor and accidentally ruin the surprise. So we hung out at the top of the steps so that I could immediately begin photographing as soon as they walked towards the overlook. And so that I could get a sweeping photo of the whole scene when Trevor dropped to one knee. It was a good thing Emmaleigh was there because there was a family in “our spot” when we saw our couple walk up, so we had to pretend to do a photoshoot of our own so we wouldn’t give anything away! Which made it all the more fun to introduce ourselves after Julie emphatically and tearfully said “YES!” to Trevor’s question.

Trevor’s second surprise for his now wife-to-be was that not only had I captured their special moment, but would be there for the rest of the hour to continue to capture their excitement. While noon is not generally regarded as the optimal time for photos, with a day as gorgeous and a couple as happy as these two, it really didn’t matter. We’d arrived just in time for fall colors, and as the brilliant sun shone through the leaves - catching both the colors and Julia’s new bling - I was practically jumping up and down with excitement.

Even without planning, these two had dressed perfectly for the occasion with Trevor’s purple perfectly contrasting its analogous fall foliage and Julia’s classic black remaining simple against the majestic mountains and her beautifully happy smile.

We ended our photoshoot in signature fashion, adding another layer to this couple’s experience to even better remember their sweet weekend. To create this ring photo, Julie and Trevor collected leaves they thought were beautiful. Then, being a wildlife biologist, Trevor pulled out his field journal so they could press the leaves and keep them. Julie has reportedly dried and kept every flower Trevor has given her, so this was a fitting way to memorialize his proposal. I love getting to be a part of any surprise, but especially one so thoughtful as this!