South Africa’s Favourite Newly Engaged Couple

When Aqib reached out to me a few months ago to plan his proposal I don’t think either of us could have imagined how everything would unfold. We went back and forth on location ideas - with the main focus being on a beautiful backdrop and catching Laiqah’s reaction. When I arrived at Maiden’s Cove I saw a lot of tour busses and even more people, which was not in the plan of a quiet proposal shoot. Aqib and Laiqah were down the road at Plato grabbing coffees as the decoy plan to go on a walk for the proposal. I was in comms with Aqib and tentatively changing the location to somewhere quieter, but as I was waiting the crowds dispersed around the cove. When he messaged to let me know he was a few minutes out - I just asked a handful of students who were directly in my shot if they wouldn’t mind moving for a few minutes while I captured the moment. They were really excited and asked if they could watch and I said of course, just act natural. I don’t know exactly what happened but I’m assuming a few texts were sent out to other students who were there and as Aqib dropped to his knee - these huge cheers broke out behind us. It was the most incredible moment of Ubuntu and celebration between strangers.

I’m getting goosebumps just typing out what happened. It’s hard to explain how beautiful it is when a community comes together to celebrate strangers. I’ve been capturing proposals for years and I love being part of the best days of people’s lives - but this was something I’ll never forget. There’s nothing like the incredible spirit of South African’s coming together to celebrate joy. Everyone is asking for an invite to the wedding so it seems like we’ll need a stadium to pull this off. It would be incredible to keep this good cause going and raise funds for charities while celebrating their love. If any brands and vendors are keen to get involved - reach out in the comments or email me.