Surprise proposal during family and maternity portraits

This was such a fun recent family photography session that I wanted to make a quick blog post about it. I’ve done many surprise marriage proposal over the years in Myrtle Beach. However, I’ve never done one, that combined maternity portraits and family pictures at the same time!

I was actually contacted by the expectant mother to setup just a regular family photography session. About a week before the session, I was called by the father. He had an idea for a surprise proposal at the same time. All of his kids were going to be in on it and carrying some big “Will You Marry Me” signs for the pictures. The problem was getting the signs down to the beach, without her knowing about it.

Thankfully, we had his daughter’s boyfriend there to help set things up. They were driving in a separate car for the pictures and could bring the signs. I was initially planning on the boyfriend saying he needed to go to the bathroom when we arrived. Then I would take the rest of the family to the Atalaya Castle to start pictures while he ran the signs down and hid them on the beach. When we arrived, being pregnant, the mom needed to go to the bathroom for real. So that gave us a perfect time to hide all the pictures down on the beach.

We started out just doing normal pictures with all the kids by the castle, some pictures with his daughter and her boyfriend, and then some maternity portraits of mom and dad. It started out very overcast that day, but not long after, the sun poked out and it ended up being beautiful at the beach. Continue below for more about the proposal.

Family in front of the castle - Huntington Beach State Park — Family in front of the castle – Huntington Beach State Park

Portrait touching the belly - Huntington Beach State Park — Portrait touching the belly – Huntington Beach State Park

Looking back at each other - Huntington Beach State Park — Looking back at each other – Huntington Beach State Park

Young boyfriend and girlfriend in front of the castle - Huntington Beach State Park — Young boyfriend and girlfriend in front of the castle – Huntington Beach State Park

Portraits of the kids by the castle wall - Huntington Beach State Park — Portraits of the kids by the castle wall – Huntington Beach State Park

Leaning against the ivy wall - Huntington Beach State Park — Leaning against the ivy wall – Huntington Beach State Park

Romance by the ivy wall - Huntington Beach State Park — Romance by the ivy wall – Huntington Beach State Park

Family portrait under the oaks - Huntington Beach State Park — Family portrait under the oaks – Huntington Beach State Park

Leaning against the wrought iron windows - Huntington Beach State Park — Leaning against the wrought iron windows – Huntington Beach State Park

Fun pictures with the brothers and sisters hanging on the window - Huntington Beach State Park — Fun pictures with the brothers and sisters hanging on the window – Huntington Beach State Park

Sunset coming through the palms - Huntington Beach State Park — Sunset coming through the palms – Huntington Beach State Park

Family portrait on the secret beach path - Huntington Beach State Park — Family portrait on the secret beach path – Huntington Beach State Park

Making a heart on the belly - Huntington Beach State Park — Making a heart on the belly – Huntington Beach State Park

Surprise proposal with kids holding up “Will You Marry Me” signs

As we walked down the beach path, I saw the signs hidden over in the dunes. Thankfully she didn’t seem to notice. Instead of starting with dunes pictures, I told them let’s go ahead and walk down to the ocean. The kids grabbed the signs and started to follow us down. She wanted to turn around but I said to just keep looking out at the ocean for pictures. After the kids were ready, I had them turn around and she saw the signs and was completely surprised!

It really couldn’t have worked out any better, I loved some of the pictures I got with the kids all holding the signs backlit by the setting sun. After the proposal, we went back to the dunes for pictures and then some more family portraits as well. It ended up being a beautiful, fun evening that I don’t think they will forget. If you are planning even an unusual surprise proposal please let me know, it always seems to work out great!