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Surprise Proposal almost gone wrong!

Sunset, beach, friends, dog, photographer (aka me). Everything was ready to go, until...

Proposal Photo Session on the beach in long Beach Island

the couple didn't show up on the beach, where they were suppose to be!


A few days prior, Joe and I discussed what he had planned for Kelsey and how he wanted to surprise her with a proposal on the beach. He wanted to take Kelsey down in #LongBeachIsland on E 16th Street down to the beach, walk along the water and use their dog as an excuse. Then, his friends would come running down from the dunes as a bonus surprise. Easy as that! We decided on 6.30pm.


Upon arrival, I went straight down to the beach to scout out the location. Elize, one of their friends texted me, that they were behind the dunes waiting for Joe and Kelsey to show up. She also sent me her map location, so I could see where they were. I looked at the map, then took a second look and realized...OH CRAP, her map and street names don't match with my location! Although we were both on E 16th Street, after I looked closer I realized there are TWO E 16th on this Island, one North and one South! OMG! I was literally sick to my stomach!


Just as I realized this HUGE problem, she texted me that Joe and Kelsay are walking down the beach...OH NO!!


I called her right away, explained her the HUGE problem and told her I would rush to the correct location as fast as I could, BUT it is still 30 min away. Then, I had to call Joe...telling him to wait and to just walk around to kill some time.




After I parked my car, I literally ran towards the beach, which was like 1/4 mile of a hike in itself. I passed their friends in the sand dunes, and went straight towards the beach, where I saw them in distance walking along the waves towards me. Then, I saw Joe going down on one knee, as I was still pretty far out. So I sprinted and took shots as I was running to get closer to them!


Right after the proposal, the friends joined in, and I was relieved it all worked out! I took this minute to recoop and take a deep breathe!



After a few minutes of hugs and teary eyed joy and laughters, we took a few group shots with their friends.



And here are some of my favorite images of Joe and Kelsey's #engagementsession:









Sunset is my favorite hour to shoot. As soon as the sun started to set, we walked back towards the dunes and took these images:







#goldenhour #sunsetshoot #longbeachislandproposal #engagementsession #southjerseyphotographer #portraitphotographernj #southjerseyphotography #anettmindermannphotography



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