When you marry someone, you’re not just starting a journey with that person, but with their family and friends as well. Husband-to-be Jeff Payton knew this, and made sure to include all his fiance’s loved ones in a huge surprise that lead to their engagement. Jeff and his bride-to-be, L’Oreal Thompson, met through mutual college friends back in 2008 and started dating a few years later. It didn’t take long before Jeff knew that this was the woman he wanted to spend his life with.
Last year was a time of transition for L’Oreal. She moved from Baltimore and got a new job in Chicago to be closer to Jeff, which meant she had to leave her family behind. Once she moved, Jeff promised to make 2013 the best year of her life. He set out to make good on that promise and took months rounding up her family and friend’s for a secret engagement party to top off his proposal. With the help of her best friend and sister, they gathered L’Oreal’s family and college roommates/future bridesmaids at Texas Roadhouse in Fallston, MD.
While her family was setting up or “picking up her Christmas gift” as they told her, L’Oreal and Jeff stayed back at her house, where he planned to pop the question. Thanks to an OSU v. Michigan football game, he was able to occupy L’Oreal while her family and friends gathered at the restaurant. Nervous, Jeff waited until the perfect moment. He brought up again how this would be the best year of her life, and got down on one knee. “Will you marry me?” he mustered up the courage to ask. “Shut up, is this a joke?” L’Oreal replied in disbelief. Needless to say, it was not a joke. Eventually, she said yes and the newly engaged couple made their way to what she thought was a lunch date with her sister, but turned out to be 30 of her family and friends waiting to congratulate their engagement!
The two decided to capture their love in the first city they’ll call home together. Take a look at their fun, Chicago-inspired engagement shoot, shot by Kathleen Hertel. (Make sure to view the gallery to see all of their fun photos.)
Wedding Location: National Aquarium in Baltimore, MD
Engagement Session: Chicago, IL
The First Date
Our first date was in May of 2011 at the Pittsburgh Zoo & Aquarium because it was halfway between Baltimore and Columbus (where Jeff lived at the time). We had a wonderful time!
Favorite Thing to Do as a Couple
Our favorite thing to do as a couple is eat, laugh and watch football/Netflix. We love traveling and visiting the zoos, aquariums and museums in new cities. All in all, we just love being together and having fun! And napping. We love naps!
The Engagement Session
The theme and location for our engagement session was Chicago. It’s the first city we’ve lived in together, so we wanted to highlight some of our favorite places, such as the Lincoln Park Zoo, Navy Pier, Millennium Park and, of course, Molly’s Cupcakes over the course of two days (including a 5 a.m. wake-up call to shoot pictures at The Bean/Cloudgate). Our photographer, Kathleen Hertel, was a joy to work with and really helped us feel at ease! My hairstylist Lalitha Arnold and makeup artist Tia Dantzler of Fashion Fair Cosmetics were so awesome and helped me feel/look my best!
How Wedding Planning Has Been
It’s been fun, exciting and overwhelming at times, but relatively easy-going. A lot of the vendors and the venue had been planned since before we got engaged. Jeff even reached out to Kathleen before he and L’Oreal were engaged to be sure she’d be available to shoot their wedding. There have been a few hiccups along the way, but being pretty relaxed about the process and monthly Skype meetings with our day-of-coordinator Tami Smallwood of Blush Weddings have definitely helped!
Looking Forward to Most on the Wedding Day
We’re most looking forward to celebrating our love with our family and friends, dancing the night away and eating lots of cupcakes!
View more images in the gallery!
Vendor
Photographer: Kathleen Hertel
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