About a month ago, a good friend of mine sent me an email introducing me to his friend Harley: a Southern boy through & through! Raised & residing in Beaufort, South Carolina, he and his fun-loving, oh-so-sweet, Northern-gone-Southern girlfriend Chelcie were planning on visiting Ohio for a wedding over Memorial Day weekend, as Chelcie is originally from Chagrin. During this trip, Harley planned to propose to her in her hometown, surrounded by their closest friends & families. Even BETTER, he wanted to find a photographer to capture the moment too! 

I was SO excited for such a unique session, and couldn’t wait to meet this couple — I knew it would be such a special moment as Harley had every single thing planned out — INCLUDING text messages I was to copy and paste at specific hours the day of to trick Chelcie into venturing into our planned proposal location :) His excitement to propose was CONTAGIOUS, and I couldn’t wait!!

Despite cupcake smears, last-minute changes in plans, and an INCREDIBLE crowd of people due to Blossom shenanigans, Harley’s plan was perfect. I am so excited for these two and, while their proposal story is one of the best I’ve heard, I know that the future ahead of them is even BETTER. The love they share, the joy they have, and the excitement they possess — just makes me so happy!

Yeah, that’s one happy fiancé :)

We took a few quick photos post-hugging before Phase 2 of Harely’s plan: walking up to The Popcorn Shop for some ice cream!Yeah, they’re adorable :) We made a quick pitstop to the rocks on our way up — this was the planned proposal location, but when Harley brought Chelc down it was swarmed with middle school boys, so obviously he improvised! However, we couldn’t pass up a few gorgeous photos with the falls in the background!But then we were on to the ice cream! I mean, how precious are they?! And props to Harley for making sure Chelc had the ice cream cone in her left hand — check out that BLING!I had to include this random dude — while I was waiting for Harley & Chelcie to grab their cones, he stopped me and asked if I would take his photo too! HAHA!This last set just might be my favorite. We stopped by the bridge on our way out, and the lighting was amazing!

Love how these two can laugh and have fun together even when the ice cream is melting all over the place :)

Harley and Chelcie, I am so glad I was able to photograph this special moment in your lives. May this just be a glimpse at all the joy and love your future days have in store.Keep holding each other close…Look to each other and God when times get tough… And make sure you take time to appreciate each other each and every day :)

All my love, and best wishes to you both as you begin the oh-so-crazy but WONDERFUL process of wedding planning :) Congratulations again!!!

-Sami