In the past decade or so, there’s been a shift with how most proposals go down. It used to be more of a private moment for a couple. Since then, social media has continued to evolve and grow and with that, so has the concept of a surprise proposal. Years ago, you got all of the brownie points and looked like a rockstar if you hired a photographer to capture the big moment. With the rise in popularity of this moment being captured, it’s almost a must nowadays to make sure hire someone to document your proposal. So much so that there are even some photographers who can specialize in proposals. With that rise in popularity, and the viral nature of so many things in our culture today, sometimes there’s a bit of social pressure to one up the next person. C’mon you know what I’m talking about, we’ve all seen the reels and Tik Toks where someone rents one entire half of the city, zip lines off of a helicopter, does a somersault and lands right into being on one knee in right in the middle of the Cowboy’s star in Dallas Stadium while balloons and confetti fill the atmosphere. Okay, so these are very far and few between. It’s one of those things where it becomes more about the show than the essence of the moment itself. In the last couple of years, we’ve seen another shift take place. A lot of couples are moving towards still wanting to have this big moment, but also wanting it to be more secluded and private. Essentially the best of both worlds where you can document the moment but also not lose the personal feel of the moment when asking that special someone to spend the rest of their lives with you. Enter the adventure proposal! Or at least that’s what we have been calling them.
Being located here in the Asheville area most of the year, we have access to so many scenic and adventurous spots within an hour or two of the city. The surrounding Blue Ridge Mountains provide so many opportunities to go somewhere beautiful but also somewhere relatively private away from the crowds depending how far you want to go. If you’re someone who appreciates nature more, or privacy, or just a grand backdrop as an option, then an adventure proposal might be more for you. It’s a way to still highlight the importance of this moment while isolating from so many outside distractions. Enter Paras and Mira! Paras contacted us a few weeks before his planned surprise proposal to Mira and let us know from the get go he wanted to hike somewhere breathtaking, then propose with a beautiful backdrop. With this type of proposal gaining more popularity in the last couple of years, I sent him some ideas and soon after, we the perfect spot picked out. After discussing more of his vision, we landed on the idea of capturing a mountain top proposal in the morning as the sun was rising, and then getting dressed up for something a bit more formal that evening at The Biltmore. Paras picked arguably the most beautiful spot in NC to ask Mira to spend the rest of his life with him, Hawksbill. For any of you who’ve followed us for a while now, you already know, this hike is not to be taken lightly. Most people think their bi-weekly stroll at lunch with co-workers in Florida counts as “hiking” training for these kind of locations. I’m here to tell you, it does not lol. For those of you not familiar with this location, it’s only about a 40 minutes give or take, but the 2nd half is essentially straight up. It is strenuous to say the least. Especially on a day like the one where Paras proposed to Mira. For sunrise sessions, it means starting this long up hill trek completely in the dark. It also means frigid temps and just from experience, there’s always a good chance of wind, anytime you find yourself in Linville Gorge. Thankfully the temperatures were in the mid 20s as opposed to the predicted 13-17 degrees we had seen in the forecast. With that, you can almost never count on perfect weather for these remote mountain sessions and mother nature decided to let us sort things out in 20-30 mph wind that morning.
Our plan was to arrive and start our hike about 10 minutes before Paras and Mira in a hopes to get set up to capture his proposal right at the top as the sun was rising. Once we reached the top, our numb fingers fumbled through our gear to get all set up. We tucked in behind some rocks to have a little reprieve from the howling wind as the golden glow of the sun started to hit the horizon. Within a few minutes of getting set, we heard Paras and Mira making their way through the woods and up the final pitch to the summit. As we had hoped, we had the place all to ourselves on this beautiful morning. We simply said hi and commented on the wind like complete strangers as Paras and Mira made their way to the edge to get a better view, or so she thought. As she approached the cliff, Paras slid behind her to be on one knee as she turned around. Framed beautifully by the majestic blue ridge mountains behind them, she said yes and the embraced in what was surely one of the warmest hugs. We had planned for a little more time at the top on this morning but given the unrelenting wind, we decided it would be better to start making our way down the mountain and focus more on our session at The Biltmore that evening. After some late morning/midafternoon naps (and of plenty of coffee) we reconnected later that evening with these lovelys and they absolutely crushed their engagement session at The Biltmore Estate! The timing honestly could not have been better as everything was coming into bloom a little early this year! For us, our favorite part was in the conservatory. The lush greens, color blooms, and warm environment are just hard to beat this time of year! Paras and Mira’s chemistry on camera was undeniable and we were so fortunate to be a small part of their big journey to get here to Asheville! Congrats to this amazing couple and we hope you all enjoy following along!
