Falls Park Engagement | Batare and Femi

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!

If you want photos like these, check out where to take engagement photos in downtown Greenville, where to elope in upstate South Carolina, and my info for engagement and elopement photos!

Ready for the best day ever?

Photo by Shehzad Ziaee

My name is Christine (Scott) Gow and I’m an elopement photographer based out of Greenville, South Carolina. I’m a wife and a beagle mom. The three of us have visited beautiful places in every corner of South Carolina, to include all 48 of our state parks. We love finding new outdoor places to visit, but we also love hanging out on the couch and watching Pixar.

One thing I love about South Carolina is that it’s not just the beaches and colorful houses that you imagine when you picture it. Whether you’re looking for mountains, beaches, or anything in between; I can help you find the perfect place for the two of you and make it as smooth of a day as possible. No matter how you two choose to spend your day, I’m happy you’re doing it the way that you want.

I can’t wait to meet you!

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Chimney Rock Engagement | Molly & Ethan

Right before Christmas, Molly and Ethan had come down from Indiana to explore different cities in North Carolina. After spending a couple days in Asheville, they headed towards Charlotte, and decided to stop at Chimney Rock State Park. They liked the idea of the big rock overlooking everything, and they don’t see a lot of mountains where they live.

Chimney Rock is a unique area—some scenes from Dirty Dancing were filmed around here, and Chimney Rock State Park itself was one of the filming locations for The Last of the Mohicans. To get to the overlook, there are about 500 stairs, but there’s also an elevator that goes 26 stories through a mountain. Since it was December, the tunnel leading to the mountain had red and green uplighting, giving a Grinch-looking effect, and the railings leading to the overlook were decorated with wreaths, bows, and garlands.

It was a cold morning, but it quickly warmed up because it was sunny and there was no wind. I knew I was the first car to park at the bottom, so I watched the parking lot from the overlook until I saw Molly and Ethan drive in. I took pictures at the top until Molly and Ethan got to the top, and then I pretended to just take photos of the scenery. They looked out over Lake Lure together to take in the view, and Ethan got down on one knee. He gave her a beautiful vintage-looking ring!

After taking some photos at the overlook, we headed down to the Lake Lure Flowering Bridge to get a change of scenery. Since it was a Tuesday morning in the winter, there was nobody at all in the park or at the Flowering Bridge, and we had both places all to ourselves! After we finished taking photos, Molly and Ethan got to spend the rest of the day celebrating their engagement!

Check out some of my favorite photos from Molly and Ethan’s engagement at Chimney Rock!

If you want photos like these, read more about Chimney Rock and my info for engagement and elopement photos!

Ready for the best day ever?

Photo by Shehzad Ziaee

My name is Christine (Scott) Gow and I’m an elopement photographer based out of Greenville, South Carolina. I’m a wife and a beagle mom. The three of us have visited beautiful places in every corner of South Carolina, to include all 48 of our state parks. We love finding new outdoor places to visit, but we also love hanging out on the couch and watching Pixar.

One thing I love about South Carolina is that it’s not just the beaches and colorful houses that you imagine when you picture it. Whether you’re looking for mountains, beaches, or anything in between; I can help you find the perfect place for the two of you and make it as smooth of a day as possible. No matter how you two choose to spend your day, I’m happy you’re doing it the way that you want.

I can’t wait to meet you!

Planning Resources

South Carolina Mountain Engagement | Stephanie & John

John and Stephanie live in Houston, but decided to make a fall trip to the mountains of North Carolina and Tennessee. They’d never been to the Carolinas or Tennessee before. Stephanie remembered seeing Pretty Place Chapel on TikTok and decided that she wanted to see the sunrise there while she was in the area. She and John saw that it would be open for sunrise on the Monday that they would be there, and decided to go then.

John knew that this was where he wanted to propose to Stephanie. He showed a coworker some photos that had been tagged there on Instagram and they came across my photos of a couple who got engaged there a few weeks earlier. He went to my blog post about them, where I’d also linked all my info for visiting and having photos taken at Pretty Place. He sent me an email, we set up a time to talk, and we made the plan to go!

The windy road to Pretty Place from Greenville is one lane in each direction and goes up a mountain through the woods.  I always get nervous driving there for sunrise because so much of that drive is in the dark. But when I’m almost there, I’ll notice that the sky has turned from black to dark blue, and I’ll start to see reds and oranges coming through. It was cold when I got there, but I was relieved to see that there weren’t a lot of cars in the parking lot. I easily found a seat in the aisle that felt like the right distance from the cross. John had sent me a selfie they had taken that morning, so I knew who they were when I saw them.

Stephanie asked someone to take a photo of them in front of the cross on her phone. She went to take her phone back, but when she saw that John was on one knee, she gave her phone right back the person and went back to the cross. After Stephanie said yes and everyone cheered, John pointed me out to Stephanie, and both of them gave me a big hug.

After we took some photos around the chapel, we went down to Bald Rock and Wildcat Wayside, where there were almost no people. It was so quiet and peaceful! Bald Rock Heritage Preserve has a rock face that overlooks Table Rock Mountain. Even though there’s graffiti all over it, the view is still beautiful. We also took some photos at the stream by the parking lot, where a lot of red leaves were floating. After we finished taking photos, Stephanie and John went back up to Pretty Place to soak it all in, then went out to eat in Brevard.

Enjoy Stephanie and John’s fall engagement photos in the mountains of South Carolina!

If you’re looking for a photographer, read about my elopement and engagement photo services! If you like these locations, read what I have to say about Pretty Place and Mountain Bridge Wilderness!

Ready for the best day ever?

Photo by Shehzad Ziaee

My name is Christine (Scott) Gow and I’m an elopement photographer based out of Greenville, South Carolina. I’m a wife and a beagle mom. The three of us have visited beautiful places in every corner of South Carolina, to include all 48 of our state parks. We love finding new outdoor places to visit, but we also love hanging out on the couch and watching Pixar movies.

One thing I love about South Carolina is that it’s not just the beaches and colorful houses that you imagine when you picture it. Whether you’re looking for mountains, beaches, or anything in between; I can help you find the perfect place for the two of you and make it as smooth of a day as possible. No matter how you two choose to spend your day, I’m happy you’re doing it the way that you want.

I can’t wait to meet you!

Planning Resources