Hello there! Today I’m going to share with you an amazing adventure that Jeff and I had with Zoe and Justin at Negwegon State Park. You see, we were able to capture not only a live proposal, but also, we were able to do engagement photos directly afterwards! So, stay tuned to see more about this Proposal and Engagement Photo Session!

Where to start? Well, let’s start at the beginning. You see, I know Zoe’s mother, Dawn, because she hosts a Women’s Bible Study group that I attend. And after finding out that I am a photographer, and doing the family photos for our fellow Bible Study member, Beth, Dawn reached out to me to book a proposal and engagement photo session for her daughter Zoe, and soon to be son-in-law, Justin.

Of course, Jeff and I were delighted to do this for Dawn and her growing family, and we planned the session to take place at Negwegon State Park. It is by far, our favorite State Park in this new Northern Michigan area that we have the pleasure of calling home.

We did some warm up photos with Zoe and Justin when they arrived. We taught them what we call, the “Base Pose”, and did some banter to really get the real smiles flowing between them. They were easily amused at our antics, and started to really get into the flow of the photographs. We even had them practice a “first dance”!

However, Zoe didn’t realize that she was about to be proposed to, much to everyone’s delight. The photos above are taken by Jeff, where as mine from the proposal are below. You’ll notice something interesting… Thankfully Jeff and I were already in position with the pre-planned proposal, because Zoe happened to turn around early and saw instantly what was going on. (Hence her hands being thrown up into the air!)

Like we normally do, we just went with it. We let them have their moment and oh man, what a beautiful moment it was! I mean, just look at the excitement on Zoe’s face. We gave Zoe and Justin a moment alone after we got the photos we needed for the proposal. Once they were once again ready, we started down the path a little more, and had to wait for some hikers to pass us by. (Jeff captured one of them for posterity’s sake.)

Next we took some photos of Zoe and Justin having a fun time walking back and forth down the pathway. We had a ton of fun with them and this set of photos. And after this set, we started to head back to the cars, while looking for a mushroom I had seen along the way to our current position. Why? Well so I could take a cute photo of Zoe’s new ring on top of it of course!

It was at this point that Zoe’s mother, Dawn, decided to head back home. She felt comfortable that Zoe and Justin were in good hands for the remainder of the session. Unbeknownst to her however, is that we took them to the beach, instead of ending the session. I mean, how could we not?! It was such a perfect day, temperature wise, and light wise.

After the beach, we finally all said our good byes and thank you’s. We were set to head out with Zoe, Justin, Dawn and Dawn’s husband Mike, to their potential wedding venue the following day. (And it is AMAZING by the way.)

I truly hope you all enjoyed these photos as much as I (and Jeff) enjoyed taking them. We truly had a wonderful time with this proposal and engagement photo session at Negwegon State Park. If you are planning a similar event, please feel free to reach out to us! Until next time…

xoxo,
Jess