Serenbe Proposal | Nicki and Craig

Two weeks ago, I got an email from Craig telling me about his plans to propose to his girlfriend, Nicki for their Serenbe proposal. I called him up to talk about what he had planned for his proposal. After talking with Craig for just a few minutes, I knew immediately that I liked him and that we would get along great. See, normally when photographing a wedding, I deal primarily with the bride. This obviously wasn’t the case with the proposal since Craig was keeping it a secret from Nicki! It was a great first experience working with the guy as point of contact! Craig couldn’t have been more awesome!

Their Serenbe proposal story has a few twists and turns, but God orchestrated it exactly as it should have been. Originally, he had a friend who was going to take pictures for him, but due to a busy schedule, he had to back out; so Craig went on the hunt for a photographer to do the Serenbe proposal pictures. He found me on Instagram by searching #atlantaphotographers! I just love social media!! How fun is that???

So those twists and turns? Well, we were originally supposed to have their Serenbe proposal happen on Friday the 17th. Nicki was coming home to Orlando from a mission trip in Honduras on that Wednesday, but got sick while down there. Unbeknownst to them at the time, she had Dengue Fever! Neither of them actually live in Atlanta, though. Craig is here this summer for an internship and was having Nicki come up to visit for the weekend. Craig really wanted her up here for their Serenbe proposal, so Nicki bravely pushed through it, packed her bags to fly up to Atlanta, and drove to the airport. Feeling absolutely terrible, she called Craig and just told him she wasn’t sure she could/should come up. They decided it would be best for her to go see a doctor and cancel the trip. Of course Nicki had no idea Craig was going to propose to her that day! But we are so glad she didn’t come up and got the medical attention she needed! You know, it can be a funny story down the road for the kids, “So Dad wanted to propose to me while I had Dengue Fever. I had no idea why he wanted me to come visit him soon badly!”

Fast forward to this Monday. Craig had called me to see if I was available. We worked it out for me to be able to still come down for the Serenbe proposal. I was psyched! We went to Serene Farms in Palmetto, just 30 minutes South of the city. In fact, it’s really close to where I grew up. It worked out perfectly, because I took Levi with me down there, dropped him off at my Mom’s, and then I headed over to Serenbe. More twists and turns: it rained the entire way down to Serenbe… but it didn’t rain a drop while we were there! The second I got into the car to go home, it started raining again!

Craig’s friend, James, was there with all of the supplies (thanks Shelby!) to set up this cute table with pictures, candles, a frame that said “Be mine forever?” and of course… the ring! James and I set up the table, I picked my spot to hang out and hide, and got ready for their Serenbe proposal.

Craig told me that he didn’t care if I wasn’t completely hidden because once she saw the table, she would know what was going on and wouldn’t even focus on me, so initially, I hid behind the bushes and snuck to take pictures. Eventually, I stepped out and got some really amazing pictures of the two of them during the process. I could not be happier with the result of these pictures! Just the pure emotion on their faces and how excited the two of them were… I smiled the whole time I took the pictures.

Afterwards, we went and took pictures around the gorgeous facility. I will share those in a later post, but I’ll share a couple for now. Be on the lookout for the session pictures later on! Congrats to Nicki and Craig! THANK YOU for letting me a part of this very special day for the two of you. I truly was honored to be able to capture these very special pictures for you!

I love Nicki’s reaction to seeing the table and realizing it’s for her. She told me that originally the thought it was for someone else when they started walking down the path, but then realized it was for them once she saw their pictures! Nicki was so cute! She kept saying “oh my gosh. Are you serious? This is happening?” He hasn’t even asked yet! They are both so excited! Love this one! Such a great picture of her taking it all in! Getting ready to give her the ring! Their faces are just absolutely perfect! “What a beautiful ring! I love it!”
“We’re getting married!!” “She said YES!!!!!” Great job James! Glad we were able to set up the table and make it look awesome! “WE’RE GETTING MARRIED!!!!!!!!” A couple of the pictures we took afterwards. I’ll be posting more soon!

Guys, you HAVE to plan this ahead of time (or ladies, get the bug in his ear ahead of time)! This was simply the best!! I cannot share how much fun this was! What wonderful pictures to have for amazing memories of when she said yes!