This proposal was one of those that all just slotted into place simply and easily. Arron reached out with a rough idea of what he was hoping for, which is always a great place to start. He knew that he wanted a bouquet of flowers, a violinist playing nearby, and somewhere relatively private with some nature around to propose.
Initially, I shared a few of the parks in Seoul to get things started, and also offered up the pagoda at Olympic Park if he wanted a Korea-specific touch to the images. Arron loved the idea of the pagoda and so we decided to plan for it. It is a spot that’s quite well-known for its avenue of cherry blossoms in the spring. Even in summer, though, it’s a popular spot for the elderly to rest as they take walks in the park. As with any session when we want to have fewer people around, morning time is the way to go. So, I checked with Arron to see if he’d be comfortable going for a sunrise walk in the park to avoid the crowds. He knew he’d be able to make it work, so we decided to plan for it.
As for including the violinist into the mix, the idea I came up with was that during their walk, they’d hear the sound of a violinist “rehearsing” in the park and Arron would suggest they go to check it out. As they arrived and listened through the first piece together, Arron would put his bag down off to the side and pick up the sneakily hidden bouquet of flowers nearby. At this point, the violinist would back away and begin to play a piece that Arron had chosen for this moment. The rest, as they say, would be history.
Early summer in Seoul means that the parks are full of deep greens before the autumn begins to kick in. We leaned into the beautiful tunnel of trees, grass-covered ground, and dark trunks of the cherry blossoms to make this session really special. With the hot and sticky weather, we didn’t go far and ended our session before the heat of the day settled in, leaving Arron and Keerthana full day to explore the city and enjoy their engagement.
A big congratulations again to the couple, as well as a big thankyou for being such good sports early in the morning! If you’d like to have your own proposal photographed in Seoul, please get in touch! Also, follow my Instagram for even more photos and updates.