One of our favorite things to capture here at Three16 Photography is surprise proposals! Although we love being wedding and family photographers, every once in a while the opportunity to photograph a proposal comes along and we jump at the chance to capture it. There’s just something about the suspense, raw emotion, and exciting realization of getting to spend the rest of your life with your best friend! So when Kyle reached out to us about capturing his proposal to his best friend Lauren, we couldn’t say no!

Kyle and Lauren’s love story started just about 5 years ago, in the Spring of 2014, at Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Although they were taking the same classes and frequently studying in the same engineering building, it wasn’t until meeting through mutual friends that they began to develop their friendship.

After graduation, Kyle stayed in Wisconsin and got a job working full-time. Lauren, however, had ventured to the other side of the states to Irvine, California to begin her career. At this point, they hadn’t technically begun to date, but Kyle was definitely interested! He hinted at the idea of visiting Lauren in California, and said he hoped she’d take him to explore the beaches since he’d never seen the ocean before! After a little bit of planning, he finally made it out to California and they got the chance to have their first date! While he was in town, Lauren showed him all the best beaches, local restaurants, and iconic tourist destinations in Orange County, including Newport Beach and Laguna Beach. It was just the beginning of a beautiful love story adventure!

In planning the proposal, Kyle decided on Newport Beach because that’s where it all started! It’s a special place that will always be in their hearts, and he told us that he wanted it to be a sentimental moment to remember how far they’ve come in their relationship from their first kiss on the beach years ago.

h all the rain we’ve been having in Orange County lately, we were a bit nervous that the weather would ruin the plans. But, fortunately, it was the perfect temperature yesterday and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky! Lauren and Kyle went for a stroll on the beach, and before Lauren knew it, he was down on one knee! She was so excited that she nearly tackled him to the ground!