Femi came to visit Batare in Greenville on Batare’s birthday. Before they went out to dinner at Halls, they took a walk through Falls Park. They stopped by the Carolina Foothills Garden Club Sanctuary, where Femi proposed!

Femi and Batare first met during a medical school trip in Dominica, and they couldn’t believe they’d never met before. They spent most of their lives in the same city, they were undergrads at the same school at the same time, and they’re both Nigerian. Once they started a relationship, they moved around together until they were placed in different cities for their residencies, about 6 hours apart. They still visited each other often and found a lot of places they love in both cities.

When Femi and I talked through the proposal plan, we decided to have the proposal in Falls Park. It was close to everything else in Greenville, and Femi could easily get Batare dressed up by telling her they had a dinner reservation at a nice restaurant. Femi made a reservation at Halls Chophouse, a place they both like. We ended up choosing the Carolina Foothills Garden Sanctuary because it’s a little bit more private than the rest of Falls Park, but the scenery is still really pretty.

We had some really pretty light since a lot of the trees had already lost their leaves. Since their session was so close to the winter solstice, golden hour was pretty early in the day, so most people were still at work and not hanging around downtown while we were taking photos. Since Christmas was only a few days away, we got some photos with one of the big and beautiful Christmas trees downtown, and we heard the musicians playing Christmas music. Batare was so shocked in the first few minutes, but the shock became spontaneous laughing and hugging. You can just feel their happiness in these photos!

Check out some of my favorite photos from Femi and Batare’s engagement in downtown Greenville!