Last year in April, Garreth approached me with the idea to propose to his girlfriend. At the time, he wasn’t sure how, but he knew he wanted it to be memorable.
Will her friends be in on it? How and where should it happen? Should we capture stills or only video? I thought, why not plan for both over the course of a year and create deeper relationships in the process.
A few weeks later before his proposal, Andrea (his fiancé) posted this on her Instagram page:
How timely? Andrea felt it, but she didn’t know what type of connections were being made on her behalf in those very days leading up to May. One of the biggest moments of her life was about to take place on May 25, 2018. Halston, one of Andrea’s good friends coordinated a night out at Prohibition with her girls that day and had Garreth, Cornelius (a good friend), and myself pleasantly crash the evening.
We parked our cars in the Mar-Ten Parking Ramp that’s located right across the street and used that as our base of operations. In the most authentic, run-n-gun documentary style of shooting, I grabbed my gimbal, wireless mic kit, light setup, and 4K camera. Strapped him up with his lavalier mic and here’s the magic that was edited together 72-hours later.
Garreth titled his proposal “To Everything After This.” Here’s an excerpt:
So, I’m at a point in my life with the woman who I can’t function without when I’m away from her my body shuts down. I get sick. She’s been with me through every step as my development as a young man and I’m at a point now where I just want to make something official with her.
A year later on the same date, it was a gorgeous day to run around town with them and capture a round of engagement photos for their save the date wedding invitations. Garreth and Andrea had an amazing outfit selection. We found angles, amazing light, and one of the best spots in Nolo’s Kitchen and Bar and the Guthrie Theater on May 25, 2019 to get our shots. Check out their session with me before Garreth and Andrea get married later this year in Jamaica.
When you’re summoned to hold great responsibility, it’s only right that you meet that same ask with intensity, valor, and respect. Seeing Garreth and Andrea on their journey to marriage holding their responsibility to one another at the center of everything they do and reminds me of this quote I’ll leave you with until my next entry:
Love is the most transformative energy that exists. Black love holds the power to empower, if it’s displayed and received correctly, it leaves no room for hate or fear. It’s beautiful, inspiring, important and necessary. It’s the prototype and the foundation. We, as black people, inspire the world, and it’s entirely important for the generations above and after us to see this displayed as a norm and not as a rarity. It changes the way our children look at themselves, the way that we are perceived and also the way that we look at one another when choosing a partner. —Denquea
Contributing Vendors
Makeup Artist: Brittany Ross
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