Tarin and April's Double Proposal in Banner Elk

“Once in awhile, right in the middle of an ordinary life, love gives us a fairy tale”

— Anonymous

Goodness, where do I even begin with these two. If ever a couple were more meant to be, I haven’t met them.

April contacted me a few weeks back asking if I’d be available for a surprise proposal on 2-22-22 on Beech Mountain while she and her girlfriend were in town for skiing. I knew I’d be traveling until the 20th but could make it work so we started all the furious planning. She sent me a playlist to have playing on a small speaker when they arrived, mailed a special sign to my house, and I agreed to pick up some flowers from a local florist and have it all set up before sunrise so she could walk up with her blindfolded bride-to-be and wow her. It was going to be perfect.

Fast forward a week, I get another message from Tarin asking if I’d be available on 2-22-22 for a surprise proposal on Grandfather Mountain….

Ummm…yes? Hmmm, how am I going to pull this off without either of them knowing? I just said yes and knew it would all work out one way or another. It was going ok, the plans for Tarin were a little simpler, I just had to be set up as a nature photographer in a particular location just before sunset when they walked up and then just redirect to them at the right moment. No problem.

And then the weather happened. It was going to be cold and rainy on the 22nd so both of them started texting me to see if we could reschedule a day early to sunset on the 21st… both were texting at the same time and both wanted the same thing. So after going back and forth and trying not to mistake who I was texting what, we finally worked it out to do Tarin’s proposal first and follow it an hour later with April’s.

The dilemma was that the two mountains were about 35 min away from each other and the second shoot required a small hike plus major set up on my part. I was determined to make this epic day happen for them though and agreed.

I got home from my travels at midnight the night before but got up bright-eyed and bushy-tailed with excitement. I gathered the sign, the speaker, the flowers - all scattered over the high country, made dinner reservations for them since they were skiing and couldn’t get away from each other to do so. April texted me a couple hours before the first proposal saying she had a sneaky suspicion Tarin was about to propose…I of course said that that would be crazy, and what are the odds… *wink wink… and after texting them both back and forth as the day progressed I got into place, possibly more excited than either of them.

As they approached, I tried not to make eye contact with either of them as I knew April would recognize me, which she did of course anyway because of my bright purple hair, but once she realized what was going on, she just played it cool like we had never met. The moment was magical of course anyway, people were cheering around us and we were all teary-eyed.

We walked around the mountain trying not to freeze as we captured a few “just engaged” photos and April and I shook hands as if meeting each other for the first time and then I said something about needing to get to another shoot and best of luck etc, and off I raced up to Beech to set up for the next moment.

April and I had spoken with Overlook Barn about using their Boulder View location because it had the best sunrise and was out of the way in case anyone else was using the property that day. Of course at sunset it’s not quite the same, but it was overcast anyway so it still worked out perfectly!

I had hoped to set everything up on top of the boulder but the wind was racing around furiously making it impossible. After setting it as best I could on the ground, I started scattering the rose petals as April had hoped for into a heart, but the wind had other plans. If I had known in advance what a struggle it would be I would have set up a timelapse on my phone to document the shenanigans. It must have been absolutely hysterical to the on-looking birds and squirrels to seeing me diving on the ground trying to wrangle featherweight roses with those high winds.

Nevertheless I persisted and five minutes later I heard their car roll into the parking lot, I dived for my camera and ran down to meet April to snag her phone (Tarin was still blindfolded in the car) and then I raced back up to the site, set up her video and stepped back in awe as the magic unfolded.

When Tarin took off the blindfold and saw me, she burst out laughing and exclaiming, “How?!?!” I told her not to worry about it, we’d discuss all the details later…

She read the sweet words April had pre-written for her in a letter while listening to James Arthur sing “Medicine” in the background, and I swear we could’t have timed it better if we tried…the moment she finished the letter and turned around to see April there waiting for her, the next pre-chosen song began. “Marry Me” by Train. *que all the tears.*

Lots of happy tears later, all three of us just died laughing at the insanity of the day. I was so relieved the secret was finally out as it was about to burst out of me otherwise, and they were both elated to find they were so in sync and in love.

If they weren’t already aligned in so many ways, they both also chose to engrave their rings. Tarin with “Forever Always”, their favorite memo to each other, also tattooed on their arms, and April with the date they had both said, “I love you.” It was truly a proposal for the books and will not ever be a day any of us could forget. We were all freezing from the double mountain top winds so they opted not to do any further photos, and we all grabbed a seat at Sorrento’s in Banner Elk to talk about everything and really take it all in. They told me more of their story and we made plans to hang in Atlanta soon and start making the next plans for the Big Day!

Babes, I am so honored to have been chosen to capture this moment in time for you. Thank you for trusting me with your memories and I cannot wait to celebrate with you in Georgia in 2023!

Photographer: Cynthia Viola

First Location: Grandfather Mountain

Second Location: Overlook Barn, Boulder View

Flowers: Shady Grove Gardens

The Rings: Cumberland Diamond Exchange

Handmade Sign: Etsy - Sterling Shore Co

Celebration Dinner: Stonewalls

Katherine and Michal's Engagement on the Blue Ridge Parkway

“When you trust someone, you don’t need to know everything.”

— Bob Goff

Kate and Michal had quite a journey traveling up to the mountains for their Engagement shoot, but that didn’t overshadow their excitement in the slightest. While we walked she would whisper “I love you’s” and he would tell her how beautiful her green eyes were in the evening light as if they’d just met.

It’s so beautiful to watch a love story unfold right in front of your eyes. They talked about how they’d met in undergrad, experienced a mud run together and how they knew from the very beginning something was different about “this one.” As they talked about their common career paths in Physical Therapy, they also dreamed about their future and potential matching Jeeps. They couldn’t be more natural together.

We began at Grandfather Meadows where they host the Highland Games every year, and finished nearby at Flat Rock Overlook just off the Blue Ridge Parkway. We couldn’t have asked for better weather!

I cannot wait for your big day in Roaring River this spring you guys! It’s going to be perfect!

Kim and Will's Surprise Proposal at McRae Peak

“Go as far as you can see. When you get there you’ll be able to see farther. ”

— J.P. Morgan

When you mix your favorite type of hike (challenging) with your favorite type of photoshoot (surprise proposal), you have a cocktail for the BEST DAY EVER!

The excitement of getting connected with Will late the night before started with a frenzied thread in the High Country Photographer’s collective I’m a part of. The photographer originally slated for this session didn’t realize how advanced the hike was and everyone in the group teamed up via dozens of texts back and forth to each other to figure out who was available and who could handle the hike. Once it came across my plate I dropped everything to make it happen! This is literally my DREAM photoshoot!

If you’ve followed me for any amount of time you know I am an avid hiker and up for any challenge, and well, surprises are my MOST favorite! I practically ran up the mountain I was so exited to get set up. Will and I texted back and forth all morning to make sure we were on the same page in case it poured the rain while we were hiking or if there was no signal. We had decided that I would be set up already when they arrived and we would just strike up a conversation and I’d offer to take their photo, at which point he’d drop to his knee.

It was FLAWLESS! He did SO great and she was super excited, and of course said, “YES!” They didn’t realize it, but I actually set up my phone on a mini tripod and recorded the whole thing as well! It’s SO sweet!

We spent the rest of the afternoon hiking back down the trail together, you can see how it’s a bit more advanced, involving ropes and ladders to navigate the boulders. Kim was overjoyed to show off her ring from very different angle and I was more than obliged to capture it. I simply cannot wait to follow the rest of their journey and hopefully share some more hikes!

Thank you for trusting me with your memories guys!! I love you already!