THE LOCATION
I squeal with excitement anytime someone emails me to capture them out in Imperial Sand Dunes. It has easily become one of my favorite spots to photograph, because of it’s otherworldly vibes, epic landscape and silence. It’s one of those spaces you enter wondering when you boarded the space ship. The first time I made the trek to the Imperial Sand Dunes was with Sirena and Quincy (peep their engagement session here), where the sun was out full force. The next two times, with Emetisse + Payum and Erin + LA, it felt like the sand had shifted to make entirely new dunes, sculpting a unique backdrop for each couple. For Arielle and Jonathan, we entered the dunes on a gloomy day, which made the light creamy, elegant and sweet. Though Arielle was hoping for some golden hour goodness, they received an epic cloudy sunset instead. I thrive off magical spaces like this!
THE PROPOSAL
Arielle shared,
He went ALL out for the proposal! It was a proposal tour! We flew into San Diego from the East Coast to spend Memorial Day weekend with our family. He had a limo pick the two of us up for “dinner”, but we proceeded to take a gondola ride in the Coronado Cays. Then, we had drinks in Coronado at the very first place we had gone as “boyfriend and girlfriend” 3 years prior. Afterwards, we went to the beach near Hotel Del and he had champagne, rose, petals, a blanket, and a sign waiting for me to pop the question (along with a hidden photographer)!
After he proposed, we went downtown for the real dinner. This turned out to be a surprise engagement party with 30 of our closest friends and family who flew in from out of town – it was phenomenal! Not to mention, he flew to San Diego the week earlier when I was on a business trip and went to each of my family members to get their blessing in advance. Needless to say, I cannot wait to marry him!”
Proposal stories are special to me for two reasons:
(1) You are so damn in love, it’s the moment you know “this is my forever person!”
(2) However orchestrated or simple the affair, it’s ALWAYS a reflection of your relationship. There are sprinkles of your values lying within the scheme of events.
(3) I think I’ve always been a closet hopeless romantic – it melts my freakin’ heart to hear these stories!
I would LOVE to hear your proposal story. Feel free to share it with me in the comments below!
