Barbara and Christian were taking a fall trip from Florida with their families through Pigeon Forge and Asheville. Barbara had seen photos online of Pretty Place and wanted to come see it for herself. Christian knew when he saw the photos that Barbara would love to get engaged there, so he and I coordinated a plan. We watched the visitation schedule closely to coordinate with their open hours and the dates Christian and Barbara’s families would be nearby. Eventually, we saw that it would be open for sunrise on a day when they could be in the area, and we planned for that.

For the whole week leading up to the proposal, right up until I got in the car, the forecast said there was a high chance of rain. Pretty Place Chapel is covered, but I still brought my umbrellas for the shots we took outside of the chapel. There was rain on the drive up, but it had totally stopped by the time we got to the chapel. I wasn’t sure if the chance of rain, or the fact that it was a weekday, would keep some people away, but when I saw parked cars along the road before I could see the chapel at all, I knew the answer. It looked like a whole church service! When I reached the chapel, the fog was so intense that it just looked like a white sheet behind the cross. Within just a few minutes, that fog turned into low clouds that hung around the mountains, just in time for a beautiful sunrise to come through! The sunrise and clouds over the mountains behind the cross literally looked like the pictures people share on Facebook and Instagram on Easter Sunday, except it wasn’t a picture. As people came and went through the chapel, I moved down the seats in the aisle until I reached an aisle seat on the second row.

Christian and Barbara stood in line down the aisle to have their photo taken while I took photos of the people before them to get the lighting right. When Christian’s mom took a photo of them on her phone, Christian got down on one knee. Barbara was so excited! So many people started cheering and taking their picture, and Christian pointed to me as the one to look at. I waved my arms and people started to back off. When we moved out of the chapel, Barbara said, “Oh, I forgot to say yes!”

We moved away from all the people in the chapel and off to the side. There is a tiny overlook over the mountains that had a small line forming, so while we waited in line, I took some photos of Christian and Barbara with the trees. The foliage was some of the best I’ve seen in South Carolina so far, and we went further into the woods to just get some photos with the trees.

What a way to start a fall morning! Check out some of my favorite photos of Barbara and Christian’s engagement at Pretty Place Chapel! For more information about visiting Pretty Place, check out this post!