In this post, we’ll take a look at what I would consider a masterclass in executing a proposal and staying calm with challenges.
Lo reached out with just a couple of weeks to go until his proposal and, luckily, I still had the date available to make it happen for him. We were restricted to a very specific date as his soon-to-be fiancée, Isabelle, was on a trip to Jeju Island with friends and had absolutely no idea Lo would be flying in from the United States to surprise her. So, not only was Lo working with me to plan the location and timing, but he was working with Isabelle’s friends in order to ensure they could deliver her to that spot at the right time.
With the short notice, I was unable to get down to Jeju Island in advance to scout, so we would be making a general plan in advance and I would fly in one day early to make final preparations. I arrived at our location, Hyeopjae Beach, the day before at the exact time we were planning for and texted some sample locations to Lo for him to choose from. I knew he would be at the airport by that time and should be able to communicate quickly. Some time passed before I got a response and it wasn’t the one I was expecting.
Lo’s flight had been canceled and he was in the process of attempting to rebook it. Those who read the news might remember the “CrowdStrike BSoD” back in July. That outage meant that Lo would not be able to fly. With a little bit of perserverance and Lady Luck on his side, he managed to get a flight several hours later. But, it would mean that he would miss his connecting flight to Jeju and, thus, not make it down in time for our schedule.
I quickly checked my own flights and was able to reschedule mine for the following morning before heading back up to Seoul to work with another client. That gave us an additional 14 hours to work with and the ability to move the proposal to the following morning.
In the end, Lo was able to reschedule his flight down to Jeju so that he was watching the sunset from the window of the plane at the time he should have been proposing on the beach. I can’t imagine what was going through his mind, but I wanted to make sure everything went off without a hitch for him the following morning.
We met on the beach at 7:30 the following morning ahead of Isabelle’s arrival and quickly had to shuffle our chosen location around a little as the tide was incoming. The sky was overcast that morning, but it gave us a lovely soft blanket of light over the scene and slightly cooler temperatures to work in. We quickly settled on a final location, chatted through some last final preparations, and began our wait.
Lo faced the ocean to obscure his face and I did my best to stay between him and the approaching group of people in order to delay Isabelle’s recognition of him for as long as possible. As her friends delivered her to the edge of the rock shelf, I stepped aside, Lo turned around, and her disbelief was palpable. She made her way as quickly across the volcanic rocks as her flip flops would allow and embraced Lo tightly.
Lo had a wonderful speech prepared and, although we were all out of earshot, the resulting emotions were written all over Isabelle’s face. He took things slowly and shared plenty of words and hugs with Isabelle over the next couple of minutes. This gave me plenty of time to capture a lot of different moments and angles for them before it was all said and done.
For our post-proposal session, we moved up the coast to Aewol. While Hyeopjae can be a nice spot to visit, during the summer, the beach is completely covered in parasols and chairs for visitors to use, so there aren’t so many options for beautiful scenery. Aewol, on the other hand, has some beautiful clifftop areas and a gorgeous view over the ocean.
Lo’s dedication to keeping this moment a surprise and making it happen no matter what was extremely impressive. His clear communication with me, even during all the issues he faced, meant that we could make the necessary changes and bring the moment to life. In the end, though, it was his love for Isabelle and his expression of it that really make this an unforgettable proposal. Congratulations, Lo and Isabelle!
If you’re interested in having your own proposal photographed, please do reach out. I’d love to hear from you. Don’t forget to follow my Instagram for more posts and photos from all over Korea.