Dusten & Mike {Surprise Engagement | Charleston, SC}

I have to say that this is one of my most favorite shoots EVER (so far!).  Not only did I get a chance to shoot this fun couple in one of my favorite spots downtown early on Saturday morning (with beautiful lighting and gloriously uncrowded streets), it was actually a well-rehearsed scheme to get this gorgeous girl to say YES!

Mike contacted me several months ago with a proposal to help HIM in his proposal to Dusten.  I have to hand it to him – he has to be one of the most creative guys I have ever met!  Together, over emails, texts and phone calls, we (okay he, but I was the one having to act!) cooked up this elaborate plan: I was to approach them as they arrived at a restaurant for breakfast, introduce myself as some kind of photojournalist (ha!) and ask them if they would help me out with a story I was working on for some magazine about romance in Charleston.  I was to take them around and do an engagement-type session with them (without actually being engaged yet) doing the couples lovey-dovey thing.  At the end, I was to ask if they would mind doing a fake proposal – Mike had sent me the actual ring box with a super-faux ring inside to use as a prop.  He fake-proposes to her, I say “thank you guys, you are so amazing and wonderful for helping me out, want to see some of the shots from today?”, so I turn Dusten around to look at the shots in the camera.  Meanwhile, Mike swaps the fake ring for the real deal.  I say “Oh, darn, the one of you proposing was in really funny light.  Mind doing it again?”.  He does – this time with the REAL ring (which, by the way, there’s NO mistaking its authenticity) – and she is blown away.

Now, despite Mike’s incredible attention to detail, I had serious doubts that this could possibly work!  Like, who gets UP at 7:00 in the morning to go out to breakfast when they’re on vacation (people WITHOUT kids, anyway)?  Would she actually want to get all dolled up like she would if she KNEW she was having her picture taken?  And wouldn’t she be skeptical to accept an offer from a totally random stranger on the sidewalk who wants to take their picture (side note and very-little-known-fact-about-me: I actually do have my SAG card from when I appeared in a Clearasil commercial in high school so I must not have been THAT bad of an actress!)?  Was he SURE she was going to say “yes”?

All those little doubts kept me up all night long and gave me the biggest case of butterflies I have had in a verrrry long time.  I waited for them in front of the restaurant (Toast downtown – it’s delish!) wanting to throw up behind a tree, I was so nervous!  (Side note 2: Waiting in front of the restaurant I run into a friend from high school and her entire family who live in Florida and happen to be in town for a wedding and who I haven’t seen in YEARS!  Seriously, this town could not be any smaller.  I’m like “Hey! So nice to see you and your beautiful family, and hey you look just as gorgeous as you did in high school, and your son is PRECIOUS, and yes I’d love to catch up, but really I must pretend that I don’t know you right now because I am trying to keep an eye out for these total strangers that I only know through teeny-tiny pictures sent to me via text and I can’t miss this moment because, well, it’s just this amazing surprise and I don’t want to ruin it . . .” ).

So, they showed up.  I recognized them.  Gave them my spiel.  She BELIEVED me!  Had a really fun time walking around downtown and giving these Atlantans the nickel tour of the city.  She said YES!!  And all those butterflies (between Mike and me, we must have had a few flocks of them) just flew away . . .

Congrats to Dusten and Mike!  I felt so honored to be a part of this special day in your lives – thank you for sharing it with me.

Okay, so here is the FAKE proposal – they totally got into it!  Love the goofy look on his face.

And when I said the shoot was over, would she like to take a look, she asked to do ONE more shot – this one (and I was more than happy to oblige):

Now here’s the real deal.  At first you can tell she’s playing along, and then he opens the box and she sees the REAL bauble . . .

Mike’s sister and her husband traveled all the way from Tennessee to join us at the end of our little charade and spend the rest of the weekend with the happy couple.  She was even game enough to take MY picture with Dusten and Mike when they asked for one 🙂  This is definitely one shoot I will never forget!