Leah and Jacob were engaged at Chimney Rock, right above the clouds on a perfect spring morning!

They decided to spend the weekend in Asheville for Jacob’s birthday. Jacob drove up from Orlando and Leah flew in from Chicago. They were planning to check out Chimney Rock, which they heard was beautiful, and hike to Hickory Nut Falls. What Leah didn’t know was that Jacob’s friend Courtney, who is now an event planner, was actually the one planning the whole day, and that the timeline started with getting engaged!

Jacob, Courtney, and I got on a Zoom call and looked at the maps, since none of us had ever been to Chimney Rock State Park. There was a windy 3-mile road from the entrance to the park to the base of the overlook. From there, we could either take an elevator or a 500-step staircase to the overlook. We decided to get there right when it opened for two reasons: the light would be better when the sun was lower in the sky, and it would be less likely to be crowded that early on a Saturday. I had no idea if we would have cell service, so I told Jacob what my car looked like and we came up with a plan for me to signal to him when I’d found the spot with good light and a good background.

After driving through fog for a while, I started to see some blue skies. I texted Jacob when I was waiting at the entrance, and he texted me that his car was right behind mine. I booked it to the elevator—if I got in there before them, it would have to go back down and back up before they would be up there with me, which would buy me some time to pick out a spot. For a minute, I was the only person up there, which was pretty surreal. Then, it was just the three of us. I stood across the overlook from where the clouds covered the mountains, and Jacob walked over with Leah and got down on one knee. Of course, Leah said yes, and we took some pictures in that “we just got engaged” feeling!

We were all so amazed at how beautiful it was up there that day. The American flag was at half-staff, which made for some cool framing, but also served as shade when I had Leah and Jacob facing the sun. I went up to the Opera Box for a few photos to show them with the whole overlook. We had to come back to the spot where they actually got engaged because the clouds went away, showing the view we had come there for in the first place. By the time we finished up, it still wasn’t too warm or crowded, so Leah and Jacob could still do their hike. I caught a few photos of them telling their family and friends the news before they left! Since the engagement was so early in the day, they had plenty of time afterwards to celebrate being engaged.

Enjoy these photos of Leah and Jacob’s spring engagement in the mountains of North Carolina!