James & Julie’s Marriage Proposal at the Hamon Observation Tower

In the weeks leading up to the proposal day, James thought hard about how to set it up so that Julie wouldn’t suspect, while at the same time ensuring it would happen on time — there would be a huge group waiting to congratulate them later that night. It turns out that Julie made it easy for him: they were going to see art exhibits at the de Young Museum, and conveniently, there is a lookout tower above the museum with a great view of Golden Gate Park which he would take the opportunity to lead her to.

I got there a bit early to scope out the place and to consider the angles and lighting. During that prep time, it was pretty funny reading James’s text messages to me and imagining his anxiety levels as the two wandered around the exhibits downstairs. Just as he thought he would be able to smoothly get her upstairs, I got the following text message:

“I shit you not there is a live opera holding us up right now”

He even attached a video of this, 100% as advertised 😂

They did eventually make it up for a beautiful proposal at the Hamon Observation Tower. I had my kids sit and read against the glass wall to stake out a spot, which they quietly vacated when J&J got off the elevator. You can see the rest of this happy story (and then a few photos at the Shakespeare Garden) in the photos below!