Jasmine and Michael's Endearing Downtown Memphis Engagement -Munaluchi Bride

Having met on a popular dating app, Cupid certainly aimed true when bringing together Jasmine and Michael. After a few days of chatting online they went on their first date, and like online and over the phone – in person they connected just as quickly. Jasmine recalls how, “immediately, I knew that he was a special person because I could talk to him so easily…” It wouldn’t be long before Micheal was planning their perfect proposal, placing them on the path of happily ever after…

Read all about Jasmine & Michael’s love story, proposal, and wedding aspirations, in their endearing Downtown Memphis engagement.

Bride & Groom-to-be: Jasmine & Michael
Occupations: Digital Communications/Marketing Specialist & High School Math Teacher
Wedding date: June 9, 2018
Wedding location: Memphis Botanic Garden in Memphis, TN
Location of Engagement shoot: Downtown Memphis

How did you meet? We met online on June 25, 2016 through the dating app OKCupid. I paid to see who had liked my profile, and Michael was on the list. I checked his profile out, and thought he seemed really nice. I didn’t send him a message, but I liked his profile back, and he sent me a message the next day.

Tell us your proposal story. We got engaged on June 28, 2017 on our one-year anniversary, and we did a recreation of our first date by going to a minor league baseball game and then walking around downtown. Michael proposed to me in front of the fountain in Court Square, a park off Main Street in Memphis. I was anticipating it even though Michael told me that he wasn’t going to do it on our anniversary. We had actually been looking for engagement rings for months prior, and I knew he had bought a ring. He just can’t keep secrets from me. But the proposal was still so special. The park was surprisingly quiet and he sat me on a bench in front of the fountain and gave me a handwritten letter saying how much he loved me and how the past year of us dating had been the best of his life. He signed the letter as “Your future hubby” and when I finished reading, he was already down on one knee asking me to marry him. We didn’t have a photographer there or a videographer like some couples do, but I appreciated not having all eyes on me. It’s a moment I will remember forever.

Describe your engagement session. We did not have a theme going into the session. I just wanted to have a dressy outfit and a casual outfit. Downtown Memphis has a lot of murals and interesting architecture, so I knew right away I wanted to have most of the photos taken in an urban setting. Our casual outfit photos were taken by the Mississippi River at a park on Harbor Island. It’s not a real island, but it’s a beautiful setting, especially during sunrise or sunset.

What did you do on your first date? We went on our first date on June 28, 2016, a few days after chatting online. Michael called me on the phone beforehand, and I was nervous because I hate talking on the phone. I’m also naturally shy, so it’s hard for me to not get stuck in my own head when meeting new people. But Michael is friendly and he’s a talker, so our phone conversation was great because he put me at ease and I could easily talk to him. He’s originally from Little Rock, Arkansas, but was living in Forrest City, Arkansas, roughly an hour away from Downtown Memphis. I had never met anyone from there, so of course, I was thinking he would have a thick country accent, but I was so glad he didn’t.
He asked me to a Redbirds game (minor league baseball) and normally, sporting events are not my idea of fun, but you have to do things out of your comfort zone if you’re going to meet new people, right? So I said yes and met him downtown at the stadium later that evening. Immediately, I knew that he was a special person because I could talk to him so easily, and I wasn’t going crazy with nervousness. He paid for everything, and then after the game, I took him to my favorite pub called Local, a few blocks away from the Redbirds stadium. Local has a really relaxed feel to it, so we could talk more. It was a really great first date.

What’s your favorite thing to do as a couple? We love to eat and watch movies together. We’re both movie buffs, so we have a large movie collection, and we love going to the movie theater most weeks. Also, binge watching on Netflix. We have different shows we each like to watch but there are big ones we only watch together like Stranger Things and Black Mirror.

How was wedding planning? For the most part, wedding planning was mostly stress-free because we were engaged for roughly a year, so we had a lot of time to plan. We did as much as we could right after getting engaged. We also got a wedding coordinator who did all of our décor and flowers, and she coordinated the rehearsal and the actual wedding day. She made planning easy.
The most stressful part was finding attire for the wedding party and deciding on colors. I had a diverse group of bridesmaids and I wanted to make sure everyone felt comfortable with the color of the bridesmaid dresses. Originally, I had planned to have only one dress for my bridesmaids from David’s Bridal, but it eventually became out of stock. Three of them had already gotten the dress from David’s, so I had to find a second dress for my last three bridesmaids, which was ordered from Weddington Way. The colors were both pink, but different shades. I was so nervous about how it would look on the day, but everything turned out beautifully.

Tell us what you’re looking forward to most on the wedding day. After being engaged for a year, I just wanted to marry my best friend. Michael felt the same way. There’s so much stuff you have to do to prepare for the wedding, and on top of that, we were purchasing a house together, and it was a lot to deal with. But everything worked out, and we wouldn’t have changed anything.