Danielle and Evan’s Sophisticated Outdoor Engagement Session in New York

Danielle and Evan’s romance began when Danielle spotted Evan across the room at a party. When she “casually” bumped into him, Evan looked into her eyes and knew he couldn’t let the opportunity to dance with her pass him by.

Read all about Danielle and Evan’s elaborate surprise proposal as well as their sophisticated New York City engagement session.

Bride & Groom: Danielle & Evan’s
Occupations: Attorney & Network Security Consultant
Wedding date: April 14, 2018
Wedding location: Queens, New York
Location of Engagement shoot: Brooklyn Bridge Park

Tell us how you met and all about the proposal. Evan and Danielle met on April 11, 2014 in New York City. Danielle had recently relocated to NYC from Chicago to start her career as a Public Defender. They were with separate groups of friends at an annual party called “Grits & Biscuits” at Irving Plaza. The place was extremely packed and at some point, during the night Danielle saw Evan across the hallway they were standing in. Danielle tapped one of her friends and jokingly told her, “hey, that guy looks a little like J. Cole.” They both started laughing and Danielle decided to yell “Jermaine” (J. Cole’s first name) a few times across the hall to see if she could get Evan’s attention. However, the music was so loud that Evan did not hear her. Danielle kept trying to make eye contact with Evan but he never looked directly into her path. Shortly after, Evan left the hallway with his friends so Danielle decided to keep her eyes on him. He walked back into the crowd and she followed s lightly behind him. He stopped at some point and started dancing. Danielle thought it was the perfect opportunity to walk by and “slightly” bump him. Evan looked back and Danielle said “excuse me” in the cutest little voice and tried to walk away. Evan quickly grabbed her hand and asked where she was going. They ended up dancing the night away and the rest is history.

Danielle’s sister Dominique was Miss Illinois United States 2016. In September 2016, Dominique told Danielle that PBS was honoring Dominique as one of Chicago’s “Most Influential Young Professionals” and that PBS was sponsoring a banquet for the award. It sounded legit so Danielle told Evan that they had to fly to Chicago in December for her sister’s event. Little did Danielle know that this was going to be her surprise engagement party. On December 17, 2016, the pair were rushing to get to Rosemont, IL where the event was supposedly taking place. Dominique told Danielle that a PBS rep was going to tape an interview with her then interview some of her family and friends. Evan and Danielle got to the venue and saw Miss Illinois paraphernalia all around the restaurant. Danielle entered a private room. There were cameras set up and a woman wearing a PBS shirt. Everything looked pretty legit. Danielle’s family was seated around the room at multiple tables. The interview started and everything still seemed quite normal. Once it was over the “PBS rep” went to the front of the room and started asking people to come to the front to say a few words about Dominique. She eventually got to the table where Danielle and Evan were sitting and asked Evan to come up to the microphone. He walked up and grabbed the microphone and started speaking about Dominique. Danielle thought that it was a bit odd for Evan to be speaking about her sister since he had only known her for about a year. Danielle was recording him with her phone and then at some point he stopped talking about Dominique. Evan and Dominique both looked at each other with smiles and told the family and Danielle that we were being punk’d. Everyone was very confused and started looking around. Danielle’s mother started clapping very loudly and laughing and then Danielle heard the back door open. Suddenly all her closest friends and Evan’s family came walking through the back with gold balloons that spelled out “Marry Me”. Danielle dropped her phone in shock and started to cry. The rest of her family was also kept in the dark about the proposal so they were in shock as well. Danielle was finally able to stand and walked to the front where Evan was standing. He got down on one knee and asked her to marry him. Of course, she said yes!! Her mom then pulled a large black table cloth off the front table and everything was for the engagement. They had a personal menu that said, “She Said Yes” and 40 of her closest friends and family members ate with them and gave them their well wishes.

Describe your engagement session. Our engagement shoot took place on a very sunny afternoon in Brooklyn Bridge Park, Brooklyn, NY. We were able to explore many of the new additions to the waterfront. It was also where we spent a lot of time during our first date. Our theme was Jonesing for Jackson which is a play on both of our last names. It is also the hashtag that will be used at our wedding #Jonesing4Jackson. We wanted to go for a GQ editorial type of shoot with a “summertime fine” feel to it.

What did you do on your first date? We went to a sushi restaurant for dinner then spent the rest of the evening talking and walking around Brooklyn Bridge Park.

What’s your favorite thing to do as a couple? We love to travel and experience new things as a couple. We also love trying out restaurants around Harlem where we live.

How has wedding planning been so far? Wedding planning has been easier than we expected. We were able to get a lot accomplished very early which has kept stress to a minimum.

Tell us what you’re looking forward to most on the wedding day.
We are looking forward to celebrating our love for each other with our family and friends. We can’t wait to wow our guests and show them what true love looks like. It will truly be a night to remember.

Vendors:
Photography: Eric Vitale Photography