Santa Barbara Proposal Photography

May 22, 2021

This Santa Barbara Proposal Photography was so special to me! Spencer is my husband’s best friend from childhood and he was even a groomsman in our wedding. And if this tells you anything about our friendship, this first time I met and hung out with him, he fake proposed to my husband! So when he called me to help photograph his proposal to Dani, I couldn’t wait to start planning. We went through a lot of variations of the plan including a couples trip to Catalina Island, but due to Covid restrictions, we settled on a “couples weekend getaway” to Santa Barbara. Dani knows I’m a photographer and has always wanted to do a session with me. So we disguised the proposal as a “just for fun” couples session. Pretty smooth huh?

The original spot that Spencer scouted out weeks before turned out to be under construction when we arrived. So we had to come up with plan B on the fly. As we are driving around the hills overlooking Santa Barbara looking for a “good spot for some photos” we could totally tell that Spencer was getting more and more nervous. We finally pulled over and settled on a spot off the side of the road. I then got out my camera and started our “session”. During a pose I had them face back to back and that’s when I gave Spencer a signal to take a knee. When she turned around he read a prepared small speech to her. After the proposal in the hills of Santa Barbara, we walked around downtown and ended the night with pizza and champagne back at their hotel room while they called their family and friends. They plan on getting married in the next couple of years after Dani finishes law school. (but honestly I wish it could be next week- ha!)

It was such an honor to be a part of this special moment for them. I can’t wait to follow along on the rest of their journey together!