Perkins Cove Surprise Proposal in Ogunquit, Maine

Tom contacted me last minute with a desire to have his proposal to Mary captured on the drawbridge at Perkins Cove in Ogunquit, Maine. Like REALLY last minute, the night before we established contact, and then the day of, we arranged everything via email and phone conversation on the same day. I LOVE surprises that involve a proposal, so I was SUPER pumped to coordinate this! 

Tom wanted to propose right on the drawbridge as it is a special spot for Mary and himself, so we sent maps and photos to each other arranging the EXACT spot he would get down on his knee and ask for her hand in marriage, and we also drew out exactly where I would be for the moment too. We agreed it would be perfect if they were on one end of the bridge and I was on the other end. 

I went down a little early to ensure parking for myself, and to scope out the area in person as I had never been there before. As I approached the drawbridge, I watched as it went up and down several times for taller boats to make their way into and out of the bay. I walked up the steps and saw how it operated, and learned from a local that this is one of the only public-operated drawbridges in the area. So anyone who was up on the bridge, near the operator button, could push it and operate it. 

As I stood by, taking photos of the bay and seeing the views from the bridge, a local and I were chatting about how they LOVED to operate the button, and they offered me to close the bridge since I mentioned I had never been there or done that before. I was pretty excited! I even asked them to take a little video of me doing this as it felt pretty epic to me! 

When the boat said thank you as they passed by, I was then confirmed it was time to press the button to lower the bridge again. Upon doing so, ONLY ONE SIDE WENT DOWN!!! I was not sure what to think!!! I was hoping maybe that just meant the other side needed to be pressed, or it may be a quick fix, as this was a HUGE barrier to the proposal plans we had in MOMENTS! A family member that owned the bridge just happened to be nearby and informed me that this happens often when a lot of tourists are around and operate the bridge a lot. She then told me that this usually takes DAYS to fix. This made my heart PANIC, I knew I couldn’t text Tom as he was with Mary and we had to somehow make a new plan! I did decide to text Tom, however, his phone was off.

Standing on the bridge, I see the two of them walking towards me, and Tom gave me a good head nod to inform me it was them and it was about to happen! I decided that I would just stand near this spot and let whatever was going to happen, happen and capture it as it went down. Tom and Mary walked up the stairs and Mary was looking over the bay at the boats and sunset. Tom walked out on the half down bridge, but Mary was not sure how to feel about that. Tom walked back to where she was looking over the edge, and I just started snapping photos as I saw him start to pull the box out from his back pocket.  

Tom got down on his knee, Mary turned around and was absolutely SHOCKED!!! He asked Mary if she would Marry him, and she said YES! The entire moment worked out so beautifully and Mary’s face was pure joy and excitement! She had no idea, and they were so happy and in love, even the people down in the street began to cheer! 

Afterwards, we went down to the dock and took photos with the hilariously broken bridge in the background. What a funny story to tell for ages! The joy shared between the two was radiant! I love LOVE, and this was one of my favorite moments to capture!

We walked over to the other side of the cove and snapped a few more photos before parting ways. This was such a fun proposal to capture and I wish Tom and Mary a happy engagement, weddding and marriage! 

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