Surprise Proposal & Mini Engagement | Stephanie & Juan

Palos Verdes • Los Angeles • California

Stephanie Ip Photography

Posted on January 25, 2022

Juan first reached out to me and we discussed a few ideas that he had in mind for his proposals. I like that he had done some research and provided me with what his vision would be on the day he goes down on one knee.

The little details do matter for planning a successful surprise proposal.

For the two of them, having been together for 5+ years, he knows that this proposal will get him a definite Yes! He was totally confident, which I like!

Especially for this kind of event, you want to be as confident as you are, and our job is to come in to make it happen for you and your soon-to-be Fiancee!

As our usual practice, we like to be prepared and prep our proposer with a few suggestions before all this happens, so scouting out the location was one of the many things we do ahead of time. When we went to scout out the location, we like to take sample pictures and a video showing the proposer what we had in mind, and here’s the version we did for Juan!

FUN FACT ABOUT US

Bryan, my husband and photo assistant,
really enjoyed going down on one knee for our impromptu scouting shoots for the proposer.

On the day, we went “picnic” with Shadow, our best undercover disguise and companion for a lot of our outdoor shoots! Most of the time people smile when they see Shadow’s cute demeanor, and for this day it was no different! Stephanie, the girlfriend of Juan at the time, had her eyes on Shadow, and moved her gaze up towards me. When we locked eyes, I was nervous and thought to myself, “Shoot! Did she notice my cameras?!”

For any proposal shoots, believe it or not, the photographer can also be nervous as well, as we don’t want to look creepy and suspicious with the cameras, and end up ruining the whole plan!

I am glad, Stephanie was just admiring the cuteness of Shadow, and wanted to let me know she liked her. Phew!

Well, needless to say, the proposal went absolutely well! There were no hiccups, and we captured some of the amazing celebratory shots by the rocky beach with sunset! It was a magical evening for them, and we are so happy for Juan and Stephanie for starting their next exciting chapter of their lives together, congratulations!