I’m a sucker for a great love story.

I recently had the honor of being part of one for a young couple from Minnesota . . .

This is the essence of an epic rom-com and I’m here for ALL of it!

Marcus contacted me to arrange everything, and I was thrilled to help him pull it off. He said they were planning a road trip out here to spend a week at Ocean Shores, and he wanted me to capture the moment when he proposed to his middle school sweetheart on the beach. How romantic is that?!

Everything was coming together over texts and phone calls - all while Sylwia had no idea - excitement was building for both of us as the day approached. Here in Washington you never truly know what the weather will do, so we watched the forecast as it changed from day to day. My weather app showed a chance of rain in the morning then a ZERO percent chance the rest of the day. Sometimes I joke that I control the weather since it almost always works out perfectly for my photo sessions, so I felt fully confident in that forecast!

The day arrived and we had a plan.

I left early to allow for potential traffic, so thankfully I got there with plenty of time to spare. After almost 2 hours in the car, my top priority was finding a bathroom and making sure I knew the exact spot we were to meet. I parked near the hotel the couple was staying at, and to be sure I didn’t run into them too soon I went into the hotel next door to use their facilities. Then I chatted with the gal at the front desk to clarify the location and how to get there. When I described the trail I was planning to take down to the beach, she was quick to warn me about the local wildlife and that I may want to reconsider, especially if I had any knee issues. Say what?! She explained that bears & cougars had been sighted out there, and that I should make lots of noise… She specifically said, “Just play really loud music on your phone and you should be fine!” Ha! So then I was totally on edge as I started on my little adventure… Not worried about my knees so much, but definitely having thoughts of being eaten.

I found the trailhead with the sign saying, “BEACH THIS WAY” and with my heavy bag on one shoulder & giant camera in the other hand, I set off towards the ocean. Before long, I found myself inside a tunnel of super dense foliage. It was actually pretty cool, but I was on high alert. Staying focused... listening for any sounds of approaching beasts. My heart was racing a little, but I soon found myself back in the open air surrounded by tall beach grass with winding paths veering off in different directions. I chose the one that seemed the most logical but came upon a swampy area with deep water I wasn’t prepared to walk through. So I turned around to find a different path around.

Did I forget to mention that I’m slightly directionally challenged? Yeah.

So I’m walking through the dry sand, trying to hurry at this point because our meeting time was coming up quickly & I clearly had a hike ahead of me. Suddenly, I found myself walking towards a homeless camp… FIVE different people were wandering around - most of whom didn’t seem aware of my existence - which left me feeling a touch more unsettled. So I took a different path to avoid any direct encounters. By this point, I was completely turned around and couldn’t see above the tall grasses and bushes. I was ‘pretty sure’ which way the ocean was, but I couldn’t seem to find the right path to get me there. For a brief moment, I thought that I might need to call for help when I decided to bring GPS up on my phone. I tried walking towards the pin Marcus had sent me, but the little paths kept leading me to dead ends of thick foliage I couldn’t walk through. I finally found my way back to the main trail which took me straight through the homeless camp. Remember how I wasn’t worried about my knees?! They were starting to feel it by now and I was still pretty far away from my destination. Anxiety was fully kicked in and it was getting super windy, with dark clouds filling the sky. Thankfully, Marcus & Sylwia were running late from dinner, so it gave me a little breathing room!

Long story, but I eventually found our meeting spot and started taking random photos of the beach, clouds, and the ocean until they arrived… Hoping not to be obvious and give away the surprise! Once I spotted them, I could breathe again. Success. I made it. Whew!

What came next was nothing short of magical.

I was far enough away that I couldn’t hear anything they were saying because of the wind, but I was overcome with emotion as I watched everything unfold. They were facing each other, holding hands down by the water… then Marcus got down on one knee and Sylwia just melted ❤️