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Bianca LaParl and Christian McKeon pose for photographer Danielle Morien at sunrise in Delray Beach. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

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By Rich Pollack

Christian McKeon didn’t understand why his fiancée, Bianca LaParl, was waking him before sunup and telling him to get dressed and be ready to go out before the break of day.
Within 45 minutes, McKeon found himself on the beach in Delray next to LaParl, posing for engagement photos with a rising sun casting the backdrop.
“It had to be a surprise,” said LaParl, explaining it had been almost exactly a year since the two had decided to tie the knot but still hadn’t taken any quality engagement photos.
The timing also had to be perfect and luckily, they made it to the beach with just a few minutes to spare.
“The sunrise is about new beginnings,” LaParl said. “This is about us taking a step in the right direction.”
The idea for posing for the engagement photo on the beach came from Danielle Morien, LaParl’s close friend and a photography hobbyist who has a love for capturing beautiful moments with a camera.
As she and LaParl were planning the engagement photo, Morien knew that it had to be taken as the sun was rising over the horizon and that it had to be by the ocean.
“Seeing the sunrise from the beach is one of the most beautiful scenes in the world,” said Morien, who was born and raised in Delray Beach.
“The colors are never the same, they change every single day. Sometimes they are beautiful and vibrant, sometimes the sunrise is blocked with clouds, sometimes it is raining and sometimes you completely miss it because it rises so fast.”
To Morien, sunrise is symbolic of life and the challenges that come with it.
“I thought this would be a perfect start to their beautiful marriage,” said Morien, who brought her 4-month-old daughter to the beach with her that morning so she too could see the sunrise.