Every once in a while I photograph a proposal I know I’ll be telling stories about for years. Mackenzie and Sean’s day in Ocean City is one of those. It had everything. A nor’easter rolling up the coast on Memorial Day weekend. Thirty to forty mile an hour winds. A groom-to-be who refused to move the date. And about a hundred of their closest people hiding in a beach house a few blocks away, waiting for surprise number two.
Sean and I planned this one for about a month, and it was a big one. He wasn’t only planning a proposal. He was planning two surprises at once: the question itself, and a full surprise party right after with all of their loved ones. Thank goodness for the moms on both sides, who took on a ton of the party planning, and for the dads, who were outstanding to work with. It takes a village to surprise one person this thoroughly.
Ocean City, NJ was founded in 1879 as a Christian seaside resort, which is why it remains one of the only dry cities in New Jersey. The 2.5-mile boardwalk runs the length of the beachfront and anchors a shore town that draws families and couples year after year. The 14th Street Fishing Pier, where Sean and Mackenzie’s proposal happened, juts 840 feet out over the Atlantic and doubles as one of the most dramatic covered structures on the Jersey Shore. It was built for catching bluefish, but it turns out it also photographs exceptionally well in a nor’easter.
Rain or Shine Meant Exactly That
The plan was to propose underneath the 14th Street Fishing Pier on the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend, around five o’clock. All week the forecast kept getting funkier and funkier, and by the weekend it was official: a full nor’easter was parking itself on top of the Jersey Shore.
I usually build a backup date into every surprise proposal in case the weather goes sideways. Sean didn’t want one. His exact energy: we’re doing it, rain or shine. So we made backup plans for everything else, and I told him we’d set up under the pier so we’d have at least a little coverage from the rain.
Which is a great plan, right up until the rain starts coming in sideways at thirty miles an hour.
Scouting in a Nor’easter
I always get to a proposal spot early to set up the exact placement: where he stands, where she faces, where the light and the background line up. My associate photographer and I walked out to check the spot and were completely soaked within minutes. Not damp. Soaked. Just from looking at it.
I always mark an arrow in the sand showing exactly where I want the couple positioned. The arrow I drew that day was gone within a half hour, erased by the storm. So I redrew it, took a photograph of the exact spot, and texted it to Sean so he knew precisely where to stand and which direction Mackenzie should be facing.
At one point I walked over to the Music Pier, which was completely empty, and floated the idea. You want to do it here instead? Nope. We’re good. Fishing pier. Let’s go. You have to respect it.
The Blanket Moment
Normally I’m completely incognito at these. I blend into the scenery and you’d never know a photographer was there. That works great on a normal day. It does not work when you’re one of the only human beings on an empty beach in pouring rain. There was nowhere to hide, so I stayed as discreet as I could, and to this day I have no idea what Sean said to get Mackenzie onto that beach in a nor’easter. She was an absolute trooper.
She walked out holding a blanket around herself, and right as Sean dropped to one knee, she let it go. The wind grabbed it and carried it about five feet, perfectly out of frame, like the storm had been choreographed into the shot.
And her reaction? I’ve photographed hundreds of proposals over 21 years and I have never seen anyone jump like Mackenzie jumped. Like she was playing hopscotch. Like a jumping bean. Pure joy in the middle of a rainstorm, and she could not have cared less about the weather.
Mackenzie and Sean also booked my surprise proposal cinema collection, so we had video rolling the whole time. Usually I mic up the groom for these so you can hear exactly what he says when he drops down. Under a pier, in a nor’easter, with the ocean roaring? No microphone on earth was surviving that. Some moments you just have to watch.
Dom Pérignon in the Rain
After she said yes and finally spotted me, we photographed together on the beach for a few minutes, then popped a bottle of Dom Pérignon right there in the storm. Champagne spraying, rain pouring, two soaked and very engaged people laughing on an empty beach. Honestly, the weather made it better. You can’t fake that kind of energy on a sunny day.
Surprise Number Two: A Hundred Loved Ones
Here’s where the day went from great to unforgettable. After the proposal, Sean headed off with his friends, and I went ahead to the house a couple of blocks up where the second surprise was waiting: about a hundred of Mackenzie’s closest family and friends, all hiding, all in on it.
She walked in and the place erupted. We have her reaction in photographs and on film, and it’s right up there with the proposal itself. We spent the rest of the evening capturing all the love in that house: group photographs with friends, family photographs, all the hugs and happy tears you’d expect from a room that had been keeping a secret that big.
The Details That Made the Party
I have to talk about the food, because the detail level was outrageous. They served chicken and waffles held together with toothpicks topped with little hearts, and the hearts had syrup inside them to pour over the chicken and waffles. That is the kind of detail I usually see at weddings, not engagement parties. The cake was incredible. The cookies were incredible.
All of that came from SASS Kitchen & Taco Bar out of Hammonton. If you have seen their grazing tables, you already know the level of detail they bring. Every single bite looked as good as it tasted.
And because this is Ocean City, they brought in trays of Manco & Manco pizza. If you’ve spent any time on the Ocean City boardwalk, you already know. It’s the best pizza at the shore and everyone knows about it. Having it show up at the party was the most Ocean City move possible, and I respect it deeply.
Planning a Rain-or-Shine Proposal at the Jersey Shore?
Some of my favorite photographs of my entire career happened in weather most people would cancel over. If your date can’t move, you need a photographer with a plan for every version of the forecast: the covered spot, the backup location, the way to keep a ring dry in sideways rain.
I’ve been photographing surprise proposals across South Jersey and the shore for over two decades, and the storm days are honestly some of the best ones. If you’re earlier in the planning process, my guide on how to plan a surprise proposal at the shore walks through timing, locations, and how we keep the secret.
If you’re weighing other shore locations, my Jersey Shore wedding venue guide covers Ocean City, Cape May, LBI, and everywhere in between.
Ready to Start Planning?
Tell me what you’re thinking. The town, the date, the person, all of it. I’ll help you figure out the rest, rain or shine. Fill out my proposal inquiry form here and let’s make it happen.