I love being an Atlanta proposal photographer! With 18 years of photography experience under my belt, I have years of experience shooting weddings and proposals. Starting in 2021, I started focusing more on shooting proposals. It’s been a fun journey to get to where I am! In 2025, I shot almost 50 proposals, hitting 47 for the year! One of my favorite things about being an Atlanta proposal photographer is getting to plan with the guys ahead of time to plan the perfect proposal for their girlfriends.
This post will help you with planning the best Atlanta proposal. I hope you find this post helpful!
1) When to Book Your Photographer
As an Atlanta proposal photographer that averaged out almost one proposal a week last year, I was booking anywhere from the week of the proposal to 3 months out. Unless it’s a weekday proposal, I don’t generally even like to book proposals more than 3 months out as I’m often times still booking weddings for this time frame. On average, most of my guys last year booked me 3-4 weeks out. I find that a lot of times, guys will plan the proposal months out with all of the details, but won’t think of hiring a photographer until more last minute or last in the process.
2) Where to Do Your Proposal
I have guys coming with a very precise vision, location, etc. for their proposal while I have other guys who have literally no idea where they want to do their proposal except that they want to get engaged in Atlanta. I have a lot of guys reach out wanting Piedmont Park, but have no idea where in the park they want to do it. A lot of my clients are coming from out of town of their Atlanta proposal and getting engaged while they’re on a vacation or visiting family for the weekend. If you have somewhere that is special for the two of you, these are often the best proposal locations. Sometimes it’s in the backyard of your future in-laws, your first date location, or even at your first home together.
For my out-of-town guys who don’t have a personal connection to the city, they often come with a general idea, but sometimes none at all. I don’t mind helping narrow down the Atlanta proposal locations with my clients.
3) Does Your Location Require a Permit?
A lot of locations require a permit and payment to use their property. Does the location you want for your proposal have one? If it’s a public place like Piedmont Park, you won’t need a permit. If it’s the Atlanta Botanical Garden or one of the vineyard/wineries in North Georgia, you will. Please do not ask your photographer to take pictures “under the table” or something. It puts us in an awkward position to have to say no. Respect the location and their rules and pay for use of their facility or don’t go there.
I often have guys asking me for a proposal at Atlanta Botanical Garden, but they don’t realize that a permit and payment is required. They will often do a backup option that I provide, usually Piedmont Park.
For example, Gibbs Gardens doesn’t even allow any kind of professional photography, so I can’t even do a proposal there, yet I’ve been asked if I could “be a friend of theirs” to shoot it. The answer from me will always be no. I will always uphold myself to the professional standard and abide by the rules of the venue. I usually know if a location requires a permit/payment, so I can help you with this.
4) The Setup Beforehand
Will you have someone set up the location ahead of time with a WILL YOU MARRY ME sign or something else that “gives away” the proposal? Will there be any kind of indication when she shows up that you’re about to propose? I always talk to my guys about if and what they would like at the location. Most of the guys I work with do not have anything set up beforehand, but this is something to consider. If you are going to do this, who is going to set it up for you? The guys often have her friends or family set it up or they can hire me to do it for them. You can have a proposal planning company do it for you! I even have a proposal add-on that my guys can purchase for the setup of a proposal if they’d like to have me do it.
5) Will There Be Anyone Around?
This is one thing I definitely tell my guys to consider. All of my guys should consider privacy vs public proposals and whether or not she will be okay with having people around when it happens. This includes strangers in a public location as well as family members to be there to watch the moment happen. Generally, I recommend to have family members show up after the moment vs having them there for the proposal. Having family adds a different dynamic to the moment. Plus, the few proposals we have had parents at the actual moment, they were LATE! It ruined the moment as the girl eventually figured out what was going on before the moment.
Another thing to consider is whether or not your public proposal location might be a busy public proposal location. I have a lot of public locations where I can provide ideas for my clients on where we could do it in a move private setting vs in front of lots of people.
The time of the year also impacts whether or not people will be around. A December proposal on an overcast day is going to have significantly less people around than a prime October afternoon at Golden Hour. There was one time I showed up during a prime time and prime season with a prime spot where we had to literally wait in line for their turn to propose. We made it work, but it was a little crazy getting it to happen!
6) The “After Party”
After the proposal itself, you will have me for up to an hour for an engagement session; but in that time frame, will we do anything else? As mentioned above, you can have family members show up for a celebration. Oftentimes, I have guys planning a proposal party afterwards at a nearby location. I will usually take less engagement pictures and say “goodbye” and then show up at the proposal party location ready for the party and pictures of her second surprise of the day. I always love getting to do these kinds of surprises with my clients! Sometimes we do the full engagement session and then an hour or so later in the day the guys will have a proposal party planned. I can always cover that as well!
Good luck planning your proposal! I hope we get to chat and I can assist you in planning the most seamless and perfect proposal!
