DC Cherry Blossom Surprise Proposal Photos | Washington, DC | Jordan and Julia

Planning a surprise proposal around DC’s cherry blossom season isn’t an easy task, but Jordan pulled it off and completely surprised Julia! These two traveled in from out of town, and Jordan had to make the difficult decision of which weekend to pop the question. It’s always tricky to predict exactly when peak bloom will be, but we also had the added complication that large crowds could mean the National Park Service would shut down the Tidal Basin entirely! So Jordan picked the week BEFORE peak bloom was predicted, just to be on the safe side with crowds, even if that meant fewer flowers. But the stars aligned, and some warmer weather meant that the cherry blossoms ended up reaching peak bloom a week early!

In order to get Julia dressed up and out on the National Mall at sunrise, Jordan opted for the “planned photoshoot” method of proposing. So Julia knew they were meeting me for photos, but she just thought it was a special event that Jordan planned as part of their trip to DC!

Check out this awesome ring box that Jordan used to propose! So perfect for a cherry blossom proposal. And Julia loves pink, so he did an amazing job picking out this engagement ring!

Sunrise is the best time to get photos at the National Mall! Typically the Reflecting Pool and Lincoln Memorial are packed with people, but Jordan and Julia had it all to themselves.

After a few minutes of photos with overcast skies, there was a break in the clouds and we got some absolutely amazing golden sunrise light coming through!

Then we made our way over to the Tidal Basin for the cherry blossoms! It was nice and quiet here too which is so rare. The combination of a sunrise session and the blooms appearing ahead of schedule was the perfect situation!

So excited for these two to start planning forever together!