{"id":20548,"date":"2026-08-10T01:40:44","date_gmt":"2026-08-10T01:40:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/photography.stephanieip.com\/journal\/?p=20548"},"modified":"2026-10-06T18:38:45","modified_gmt":"2026-10-06T18:38:45","slug":"catalina-island-backcountry-proposal-photographer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/photography.stephanieip.com\/journal\/catalina-island-backcountry-proposal-photographer\/","title":{"rendered":"A Private Proposal in the Catalina Island Backcountry | I & S"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t

The Story<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

Sean already knew the answer. He just hadn\u2019t asked the question yet.<\/p>

He and Irene were already married \u2014 a civil ceremony in the Bay Area, practical and intentional, the kind of thing you do when school and timing and life don\u2019t bend to romance. The wedding was real. The commitment was real. What was missing was the moment she deserved: the ring she had always wanted, the question asked the right way, the memory she would keep.<\/p>

The Catalina trip was the plan. A honeymoon-style getaway, framed as an anniversary celebration. She thought they were going on a backcountry tour, and little did she know, Sean had planned all along, making sure the crew was in on this whole surprise.<\/p>

<\/p>

<\/p>

<\/p>

<\/p>

<\/p>

<\/p>

<\/p>

<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t

The Ring<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

Months before the trip, Sean had gone to the mall with his cousin. He told Irene they were browsing. He slipped away to a Bulgari store, put down a deposit, and spent the next several weeks texting a Bvlgari representative about a ring being shipped from Europe. Since the ring had to be custom made into her size, it had to be made, shipped, tracked, and collected just days before they leave for their honeymoon trip to Southern California.<\/p>

<\/p>

He picked it up without her knowing. He hid and packed it carefully, and carried it to the island as if it is just another carry-on item.<\/p>

<\/p>

<\/p>

<\/p>

<\/p>

<\/p>

<\/p>

<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t

The Backcountry Tour<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

The tour began at 5pm, pick-up spot at previously discussed parking lot in Avalon, with driver Orlando in a black Jeep Wrangler. Orlando, originally from Panama, has lived on Catalina Island for 29 years, who knows every road, every animal, every story the island holds. He is a natural storyteller, no convincing needed.<\/p>

The team of 3 had coordinated before this day. The cover story was set – Orlando would play his role as a tour guide, Stephanie as the photographer that\u2019s part of the tour.<\/p>

What followed was one of the most memorable drives I have been on.<\/p>

Orlando took us up Stagecoach Road \u2014 the same single dirt road that once connected Avalon to the island\u2019s interior by six-horse carriage, a trip that took two hours going up and eighteen minutes coming down, which tells you something about the horses and something about the cowboys. He talked about William Wrigley, who bought the island in 1918 and planted 500 eucalyptus trees along the road at his wife\u2019s insistence after she nearly died of fright on her first descent. He explained island dwarfism and island gigantism \u2014 the phenomenon that makes the Catalina fox smaller than any mainland fox, and the bison subtly different from those in Yellowstone, and everything on the island fascinatingly shaped by its isolation.<\/p>

He talked about the bison. All fourteen originally brought to the island in 1924 by novelist Zane Gray, who needed them for a Western film and then \u2014 somewhat irresponsibly \u2014 simply left them when filming wrapped. Fourteen became four hundred.<\/p>

On our tour, we saw nearly a dozen of them that afternoon, including one enormous male ten feet from the Jeep who seemed entirely unbothered by the cars and laughters.<\/p>

Planning your own proposal on Catalina?<\/strong> We’ve put everything we’ve learned from photographing on the island into one place: Guide to Catalina Island proposal and wedding locations<\/a>.<\/p>

<\/p>

<\/p>

<\/p>

<\/p>

<\/p>

<\/p>

<\/p>

<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t