A Rainy-Day Pivot Proposal at Clemson: Chris & Evan’s Engagement

There are certain proposals where everything goes exactly as planned, and then there are the ones that turn out even better because they didn’t. Chris and Evan’s engagement is definitely the second kind.

Chris is one of my closest friends, so planning this proposal with him felt extra special. We’d been trying for weeks to nail down the right date, the right moment, the right spot. Eventually we landed on November 30th at Station Cove Falls, a waterfall tucked away in Upstate South Carolina. It was going to be peaceful, scenic, secluded, and everything you’d want for a proposal.

Except it absolutely poured.

Like, the kind of rain that makes you laugh because what else can you do? I was already waiting for him to get out of church, and we were checking the radar like crazy. Eventually we just looked at each other (over text) and said, “Okay. Pivot time.”

We ended up choosing the Samuel J. Cadden Chapel on Clemson’s campus, and honestly? It was perfect. A soft drizzle, glowing pavement, and an atmosphere that felt unexpectedly intimate.

Evan was completely surprised; you could see it instantly in her face. Chris read her a letter he’d written for their one-year anniversary, pouring out everything he loved about her, and then dropped to one knee. The moment felt sacred, emotional, and exactly right, even though it wasn’t what we initially planned.

If I’ve learned anything as a photographer, it’s that rain doesn’t ruin a story—it just rewrites it in a way you couldn’t have imagined.