Carmen + Markay: {Engaged} -Munaluchi Bride

Carmen and Markay are happy kids at heart: they absolutely love Disney. Their light and fun but still romantic engagement session was set in the Downtown Disney area; it’s so reflective of who they are and what they love :) Ronald Carter of R. See Photography did an amazing job of capturing this couple’s essence.

The Bride: Carmen Carlisle
The Groom: Markay Fairley
Occupations: Bride – Government Researcher; Groom – Producer, Pianist

The Meeting ….. “In October 2008, Carmen drove up to Oakland, CA with some friends to see a Chante Moore show ….. Markay was a part of Chante’s band for that show. Before the show, the band and all of Carmen’s friends went to hang out in San Francisco and were officially introduced in the van. Markay had seen Carmen a few times before that and always thought she was taken or not interested, but this was the first time they officially met. The day moved forward with nothing special happening and we all returned home.

Fast forward to February 2009 and Carmen was taking money at the door at an open mic night event called First Fridays in Studio City, CA. Markay and a few friends walked in and Carmen greeted them. Carmen had to because she was told that “[His band] Mulatto gets in for free” and she asked some of them for money anyway, so she had to act nice in front of the boss. Later in the night Carmen was drinking some hot chocolate and talking to someone, Markay walks up and asks “How is the hot chocolate?” and starts a conversation. At the end of the conversation, Markay invited Carmen to a concert he was going to and asked for her number to hang out more. She thought it was platonic, because another one of his band members asked her to go to the same show, and she thought he was in a relationship. Markay had a plan ….. It turned out he was single and interested. The two continued talking and dating making it official on February 24, 2009. Three years and a day later, Markay proposed to Carmen on top of the Stratosphere in Las Vegas, NV.”

The Proposal …..“In December 2011, Carmen and Markay decided to go to La Vegas, NV with a few of their closest friends to celebrate their three year anniversary. [Unknown to Carmen,] Markay was planning a proposal for that weekend. On Saturday, February 25, Carmen planned for everybody to go to the top of the Stratosphere. The whole group of friends let her think she was planning everything. Everyone was taking pictures of the beautiful view 855 feet in the air overlooking Las Vegas.

In the midst of standing among friends, Markay pushed through and told Carmen, “I love you and want to spend the rest of my life with you.” He dropped down to one knee and Carmen is in disbelief. For months, Markay had been telling her he wasn’t ready, so he could throw her off and not see it coming. He did a really good acting job, because Carmen still didn’t really believe it when he got down on one knee, but when he put the ring on, it all made sense. He had been dropping hints for the past couple of days, but Carmen was so oblivious.

She said yes and they are currently planning to Wed in Jamaica in a destination wedding in October 2012.”