Kate + Mike Engagement Photos

My friend's now-husband has expressed his disappointment to me over never having received his engagement photos I took during his proposal. Come to find out, my friend simply never shared those photos with him... sigh. I am making this post to share their engagement "photoshoot" with them, 2-ish years later.

Mike planned a romantic surprise for Katelyn on the beach at Assateague, a sentimental place for the two of them. Both of their moms and I arrived early to set the scene for their romantic, "spur-of-the-moment" sunset walk on the beach. The couple enjoyed dinner at a nearby favorite restaurant while Denise, Patty, and I set up a blanket, pillows, photos, champagne, music, and a giant bouquet of roses (made by yours truly), and sprinkled rose petals around the newly-designated proposal area. Patty and I brought our DSLR cameras and were in charge of stills, while my trusty digital camera was subtly posed on a tripod in the sand to take video.

The three of us had all arrived plenty early (and nervous/anxious!). When we were finished setting up, we still found ourselves nervously adjusting, trying to make sure every last detail was perfect for the soon-to-be-arriving couple. A few nearby beachgoers had become invested in our mission and were also awaiting the couple's arrival.

Mike's mom, Patty, situated herself for some distance angles, and I positioned myself a little closer, for some zoomed-in shots. Kate's mom, Denise, was in charge of iPhone video (hello, Instagram post!) and alerting us to when she saw Mike and Kate approaching. Finally, Denise sounded the metaphorical alarm bells and let us know that she'd spotted the couple on their romantic, "spur-of-the-moment" (as Kate was led to believe) sunset walk.

I quickly got eyes on the couple and ran to start getting pictures of their walk towards "forever". Unbeknownst to me at the time, Kate was busy trying to incorporate her latest TikTok into this romantic walk. Worried I would be seen, I ended up informing and then immediately hiding behind a family that was walking to their spot on the beach, grabbing a few photos as I hid! Luckily, neither Kate nor Mike spotted me. I photographed as they walked down the beach, ultimately ending up at the blanket and pillows we had laid out for them.

"All This Time" by OneRepublic played as they approached the setup and Kate realized what was going on. Mike nervously got down on one knee (if I recall correctly, so nervously that he completely omitted the speech he had prepared) and popped the question (again, if recalling correctly, I do not believe that any question was ever formally asked... but with a ring like that... say less?!). Kate did indeed say yes! The couple slid the new ring smoothly on and shared a kiss, looking around to find Patty and Denise hovering nearby on camera duty. After all the commotion, Kate finally looked around and saw ME-- yes, I was there too, still snapping photos!

I ran up to Kate and gave my best friend a giant hug-- I'll never forget how happy I was for her! I'll also never forget grabbing her left hand to see the bling bling in person for the first time (I'd only seen FaceTime shots before), and being teased with a "that's the wrong hand!". Turns out, the bride-to-be had offered her right hand ring finger to future hubby during the engagement during all the nerves. We quickly realized the mistake, and did a quick re-shoot (for photo keepsake purposes!).

Overall, it was a beautiful engagement for a beautiful couple.

Hi Kate + Mike, & congratulations! Happy 1+-year anniversary, from me :)