William and Alexis | Sailboat Surprise Proposal | Charleston Wedding Photographer

William contacted me in October to ask me if I was available to capture his proposal to his girlfriend, and I immediately was super excited! I was also impressed that he was confident that he could keep it a secret until March of this year! Anyone that knows me knows that surprises are not my specialty so keeping all of his plans a secret for almost six months deserves an award if you ask me.

He told me that he had booked a sailboat tour with a view of the Charleston Battery and that his plan was to have a photographer on the boat disguised as a crew member. I was totally on board (no pun intended) with the idea! Photographing proposals is hands down my favorite type of session to shoot and not just because it is exciting and full of love, but the planning involved with it. I love the build-up and finally seeing it all come together. This proposal definitely was one that I knew would turn out to be one of my favorites.

So this March before all of the quarantine and social distancing started, the plan finally came together, and it was truly perfect! I arrived early to ensure that I was on the boat before William and Alexis arrived. I was pretty excited that Captain Jay went as far as putting my name as a crew member on the whiteboard. I will admit I am a nerd, so I was probably more excited than I should have been.

See below that is my name right there, so I believe I can officially put on my resume that I have been a sailboat crew member before, right? I helped take one line off to “appear” to be a helpful crew member, and I pressed a button to silence a beep, so I definitely feel confident I could sail alone.

Anyways, the two arrived and were dressed so adorable, come to find out that William even bought Alexis her dress… I kid you know he did not miss one detail for this surprise proposal.

As we sailed, we all chatted and waited for the light to be just right before the two made their way to the nose (I think that is what is called) of the boat, and shortly after this happened…

William asked Alexis to marry him, and of course, she said, “Yes!” She was shaking with excitement and honestly did not expect her night to end with a ring on her finger. I have said before William did not miss a single detail and made this proposal one of the most special proposals! Then he shocked all of us with one more surprise for Alexis. I could not believe that he had not told me about this one last surprise either, because it is HUGE. He went as far as having mock invitations printed out for their venue and date that he had already secured! I was in complete awe, and so was Alexis.

Afterward, it was time to make some magic and do some impromptu engagement photos, and boy did they turn out to be magical. The boat was a little rocky, and the wind was well windy and a little chilly. Still, the sunset did not disappoint, and it was precious to watch these two newly engaged love birds soak in everything bundled up on the boat. Check out some of my favorites from this epic surprise proposal!