This couple’s marriage proposal story has to be one of the most charming we’ve heard. Dale Sharpe, 34, successfully popped the question to Karlie Russell, 29, under the Northern Lights in Norway recently – months after his first attempt went disastrously wrong.
Sharpe had hoped to propose to Russell during a trip to Iceland last year and hid the ring inside a bottle of hand cream, but things didn’t go quite to plan. When the couple’s luggage was found to be overweight, Russell binned the hand cream – along with the $4,000 ring.
Sharpe didn’t realise what had happened until he was desperately looking for the ring weeks later. He saved up to buy a new ring and when the couple planned an epic two-month work trip through Iceland, Norway and Finland, he hoped finally to ask Russell to marry him.
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Sharpe had planned to pop the question seven years to the day after their first date, but the lights looked so beautiful on Monday that he couldn’t resist. “It was the most amazing display of colour in the Aurora that we've ever seen,” he told Daily Mail Australia. “I wanted to take full opportunity and make it happen at its absolute best. The moment was right, it felt good, so why not.”
Russell said she was shocked, despite the fact Sharpe had set up lights and a camera to capture the life-changing moment. "I kept talking over him, saying what are you doing, what are you doing," she said. Luckily for Sharpe, she said yes, and the pair are spending a few more weeks in the Arctic Circle before heading home to Australia.
Sharpe first decided he wanted to propose to Russell in front of the Aurora Borealis five years ago, and the pair have visited the lights together around 30 times. "I hadn't heard or seen anyone do it before, and I wanted to do something different from everybody else,” he said. "We both love chasing the Northern Lights and photographing them together. So it seemed pretty fitting."
The pair, both landscape photographers who spent their first date taking pictures, have a shared passion for beautiful visuals and took a stunning proposal photo beneath the Northern Lights, which has been shared all over the world. Anyone else pinning it to their secret wedding Pinterest board?