Mackinac Island is a the most quant island, located between Northern Michigan and the UP. Truthfully this was the most perfect spot for Tory and Clayson as they took this next step into marriage, with a proposal! And I was ecstatic to capture these memories on digital, but also on color 35mm film photography. I love my time in Michigan on the regular, and being a Mackinac Island Michigan photographer is an honor.
The Proposal
If you have never graced onto the Island of Mackinac (which can only be done on a Ferry, what!), no cars or motor vehicles are allowed and haven’t been for over 100 years. Due to this, Horses and bikes are the common mode of transportation on the island. Intimate horse-drawn carriage rides, horseback riding, and tours through the antique horse carriage museum are options of exploration. Mackinac is the place to be, to pull away from modern noise and enjoy the slow pace of the island. Consequently, Clayson knew this was the perfect location to pop the question to Tory on their quick vacation on Mackinac.
After weeks of planning together, Clayson and I brainstormed over phone conversations on how we were going to pull this off. Ideas were bounced back and forth, coordinating around Ferry times, beaches, rental times, and all the behind-the-scenes details that make a proposal seamless. Plus, this was a proposal that needed an intricate plan. This is because I was traveling the day after a double-header wedding weekend to make the Ferry time to Mackinac.
Clayson and Tory enjoyed date nights each evening together on their vacation, and this evening was extra special (for more than the obvious reasoning).
At the time of their last full day on the island, the couple shared dinner and drinks, and made their way over to a private carriage ride around the main loop of the island. Behind the scenes, I had arrived at the Ferry, made my way onto the island, walked East around the island, and perched myself in the pinned location we discussed. A glorious, Pride & Prejudice like fog was filling the island on this day, as cloud cover and rain were on the horizon. Tory and Clayson rounded the corner, Clayson took Tory by the hand off the carriage, and walked to the beach together.
Without a doubt, by this time of a proposal (nearing when the knee-drop is about to happen) my heart rate is very fast as my adrenaline has kicked in. I care deeply about people, telling stories, and about capturing moments exactly as they unfold. Furthermore, I have aways felt a strong weight during moments like these: proposals, the first kiss at a wedding, running back down the aisle, and all the little moments of emotion that are fast and fleeting. Hence, these moments mean SO much to those living it, and I only hope to do the best I possibly can. Read more about my values as a photographer here.
In the end, the moment was perfect. Clayson dropped to his knee, Tory immediately had tears welling, the hugs were tender, and the engagement ring was nontraditional and uniquely set. I came out of the bushes and surprised Tory, as I was the last person she thought she would see! Tory and I have known each other since Junior High, and this certainly was a full circle moment that we both shared.
Afterwords, we frolicked around the billowing grass, walked along the water of the beach, nestled underneath a willow tree. Every single corner of this Michigan island felt straight out of a movie. These moments were so worthy of being captured, and I fell deeply in love with the fleeting memories (so much so, the cover photo of my website is of Tory and Clayson’s run through grass–as of Jan 2025).
