Wedding photographer accidentally captures wrong couple getting engaged - then finds mystery couple

Jacob Peters then set about finding the mystery couple he had captured

(PeopleImages/iStock)

After photographer Jacob Peters rose out of bed at 2am, hiked for an hour to a beauty spot in Arkansas with 30lbs (13kg) of equipment, and set up to shoot a couple’s proposal from afar, he knew it was all worthwhile when he captured the romantic moment between the lovebirds.

But when he texted the groom-to-be to congratulate him and the man apologised for being an hour late, he realised he’d made a huge mistake. He’d captured the wrong proposal.

A few days before, the soon-to-be finance from Wisconsin contacted Peters and asked him to photograph his sunrise proposal at Whitaker Point on the Hawksbill Crag trail, which overlooks a forest. He wanted to surprise his girlfriend with the photos.

To make sure he was ready to capture the proposal as the sun rose behind the couple, Peters woke up at 2:30am, and finally set up his equipment in the forest at 6am. As there was no signal in that area of the National Park, Peters could only wait for the couple to arrive.

“Around 6:17am a young couple shows up. It's them. I'm sure of it. A little late but still not too late,” he wrote on his photographer Facebook page.

“They go up onto Hawksbill Crag. Hang out for a few minutes and then it happens. He pulls out a ring, kneels down behind her. She turns around and starts crying and hugs him and it's obvious she said yes and all went well.”

"I stick around for 10-15 minutes after, just taking photos. Then they sit down watch the sunrise and I figured my job's done, I'll pack up and hike out," he added.

At around 9am, Peters texted the groom-to-be to congratulate him and to reassure him that the photos were "beautiful".

But to his surprise, the groom-to-be replied: “I'm confused, we never saw you and we got there a little late, are you sure it was us?”

“Basically I spent six and half hours, $40 in gas and food, 450 photos, and took the wrong couple's photos,” he said.

Peters then called on Facebook users to help him find the couple he had captured.

After the post was shared hundreds of times, Peters updated Facebook users that the couple, from Dallas, Texas, had been found and had received their photos.

“Thank you to everyone who shared,” he said, adding: “The internet never fails to amaze me.”