I met Keri at the Elk Manor Bridal Show back in October, which is coincidentally where we shot some of their engagement photos and where the awesome couple will be getting married! Once she opened up and told me her proposal story, I knew I had to work with this pair. They genuinely love each other. It shows in the way they interact and how much thought and prep Caleb put into his proposal. Our entire engagement session was one big laugh fest. And to top it off, they brought their fur child, Fin. Who literally stole the show by the end. But I digress… I am going to switch it up a little with this post.

This post is going to come from the couple themselves. I asked them each to write up how the actual proposal happened. It is one of those stories that gets you all teary eyed because Caleb put time and effort into planning this. And the kicker… THERE IS A VIDEO! Which is located below their recounts of the day.

From Keri:

“The whole plan was Caleb knows I love the fall so he wanted to do something then. So October 4th, on a cold wet post hurricane Sunday, he drove me out to the haunted house. I wasn’t expecting anything. It was a little weird looking back on now because it was 9 o’clock on Sunday, I had to work the next day and who goes to a haunted house on a Sunday?! Haha So we get there and we are the only ones there. I hate not knowing what’s going to happen (even in like movies I look up the endings so I’m prepared) and being alone in places so Caleb really played on those well. We got half way through and one of the guys working there separated us (which I was not thrilled about). I went onto like four rooms on my own and then came into this last room which was like the finale room, I guess. I was just standing in there like okay am I in the right place, where’s Caleb and what’s next? Then there was like a big bang which made me scream and then I see Caleb come in. Next I know he’s down on one knee with a ring, tells me this would be the last scary thing I would have to do alone and then of course ask me to marry him. He said this because my mother died in August 2014 in less than 48 hour of showing any signs or symptoms and being diagnosed with a brain tumor. So as a couple we had been through a lot in such a short amount of time together. Later he told me he was laughing the whole time I was on my own because he was in the back where the employees get ready just hanging out with them so he could see me on the screens and hear me screaming the whole time. It was definitely mixed emotions mostly pure shock from being scared and him actually proposing!”

Now from Caleb:

“Fall is Keri’s favorite season and she always spoke about having a fall wedding, so the first plan was some sort of corn maze/harvest festival scavenger hunt. Than I decided that something so romantic wasn’t very “us” and decided to get more creative. A year and a half ago Keri lost her mother to cancer and the whole idea of the haunted house proposal was that this would be the last thing she would have to go through “alone.” I contacted haunted houses in the area and Darkwood Manor (Luray, VA) was the first to respond and seemed the most excited to participate. One rainy Sunday night we arrived and I texted the owner while we were in line and let him know what we were wearing, he looked up, winked, and I knew it was on. About halfway through the house one of the actors informed Keri that he “must now take the boy for sacrifice.” The look of pure fear on Keri’s face was almost as priceless as the look of excitement when I got down on one knee. While Keri was tiptoeing and screaming her way through the manor I got to follow her with the manor’s owner behind the scenes and watch the terrified look on her face thought cracks and holes in the wall. In the final room the owner told me “there will be one more giant scare and the room will go dark,” shortly after I ran out and got down on one knee so when the lights came back on I was right in front of her. Once she caught her breath she started exclaiming “Are you serious?!?!” over and over, although she finally calmed down, she didn’t stop shaking for at least an hour, not sure if that was due to the haunted house or the proposal…”

Now for the video. It’s a bit dark at first, but it brightens up:

 

Seriously though… how amazing are those two stories? The fact that this pair found each other and I mean come on… who wouldn’t love to be proposed to at the end of a terrifying haunted house?! I can’t wait for their beautiful Elk Manor Wedding next year!

Now onto the photos!

xo

Jill