I’ve joked in the past about how South Africans are secretly taking over the world (sshh, it’s a stealth mission) but sometimes I really think we are taking over the wedding industry. Everywhere I look on the international scene I come across talented people with a connection to SA, and I have to admit, I love it. It makes me feel homegrown and cosmopolitan at the same time. Like I want to run down the streets of Manhattan pushing a crate of Castle (and if you don’t get that reference, don’t tell me, because you’ll make me feel old). Anyway, Claire Morgan is one of those people. Most of the year, she lives in Austria, where she shoots extraordinarily beautiful weddings, well, beautifully. For about six weeks she graces Cape Town’s photography scene, and this year, she used part of that time to shoot this absolutely beautiful beach engagement shoot of her cousin Elizabeth and her fiance Neil. Here’s their proposal story, as told by Liz:

It was the day before we were leaving for our overseas Contiki trip and we had decided the day before that we should go for a picnic somewhere. So we went to the shops, I picked out a few things for a breakfast picnic and we were set. Neil drove us around for a bit then started heading up Chapmans Peak because it was such a beautiful day. We packed out our picnic stuff and nibbled a little. Then Neil went to the car to ‘fetch his jersey’. It was boiling hot! He came to sit down again and didn’t put the jersey on, just put it in a ball on the picnic rug. Then he started talking about the last four years that we have been together, and seeing as he had barely eaten a thing I suspected something was up! Next minute he had a sparkle of a tear in his eye and he was on his knee… asking me to marry him. I answered with “of course I will”, we kissed, then couldn’t wait to share the news. So we each made a phone call and next minute both our families were with us with champagne, croissants and muffins – they were all waiting just around the corner! It was the most beautiful summers day in Cape Town, before we hit the cold European winter. Neil told me later that he wanted to propose on the Eiffel Tower but he was too nervous about transporting the ring and then possibly dropping it off the Eiffel Tower because his hands would be shaking and cold!