Kristian caught Carrie completely off guard with his Ritz-Carlton Bacara proposal on the couple’s late-summer trip to Santa Barbara, California. He’d been dropping hints that they would probably get engaged around the holidays, so when he dropped to one knee on a foggy, early September afternoon, she was totally surprised!
Kristian asked Carrie to be his wife with a gorgeous east-west oval diamond solitaire ring (exactly what she’d been dreaming of!) in yellow gold. Carrie said “yes!” with tears streaming down her face, thoroughly shocked and thrilled to be accepting Kristian’s proposal at the same resort where they’d spent their very first weekend away together almost a year ago.
As Carrie slipped her new ring onto her finger, Kristian pointed up the hill to me, where I’d been posing as a fellow hotel guest. I’d been pretending to casually enjoy the cool ocean breeze, while REALLY keeping one eye trained on the two of them as they strolled “leisurely” to the spot where Kristian and I had chosen for him to pop the question.
Before heading to their celebratory dinner reservation at The Bistro, Carrie and Kristian went down to resort-adjacent Haskell’s Beach to get some moody portraits on the sand. Even though we didn’t get the typical Santa Barbara sunset on the beach, the fog that had rolled in over Ellwood Pier made for some beautiful lighting and a unique backdrop!
Congratulations, Carrie and Kristian!
Venue: Ritz-Carlton Bacara
