A Living Room Dessert Date Night Photoshoot
Hope & Dean : Engaged
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I know it’s been a while, but boy do I have a story to share with you! This in-home date night photoshoot, quite literally had me editing through tears. If you ever get the pleasure of joining a Connection Call or consult call with me for your wedding media, just know — I’m very much in this for your story! Hehe.
What can I say, I’m a hopeless romantic.
And even if you’re not, surely you can appreciate romanticizing the ordinary moments of everyday life. With a story like Hope and Dean’s, though, no embellishments are needed. Theirs is truly fit for a rom-com!
I knew they were a perfectly matched LT² couple from the moment we met at a bridal showcase. We scheduled their consult call, and on that call I asked the same question I ask every prospective client: How did you meet? Tell me your story.
Their story — sparks flying through screens during the COVID-19 pandemic leading this adorably unique couple onto the path toward their Happily Ever After.
Hope and Dean expressed that they wanted to have their engagement session in their home. A decision I would usually have advised against, however, this time I said nothing — only asking for Hope’s Pinterest board for their engagement photoshoot.
Her inspo board was full of cozy, cuddly poses, just oozing romance, if you know what I mean. From the inspo I came up with the concept of a blanket fort donut date. However, because I like things elevated, it became a surprise Living Room Teepee Dessert Date.
A Date Night Photoshoot
Inside Their Home
Not spoiling the surprise was definitely a challenge. Demetrius and I brainstormed ways to make it happen. Of course if we can help grooms come up with ways to pull off the perfect surprise proposal, creating a surprise date night in a couple’s living room while they’re home is totally doable! It involved me telling a little white lie to Dean.
Outside it was warm, humid, and bright. Inside, sunlight shone through floor-to-ceiling windows with beams of light dancing and reflecting across framed puzzles and portraits on their walls.
What I noticed first was how light it felt in their home. Lacking the heaviness that would usually have caused me to avoid photographing an in-home session. Standing in their living room, though, it was clear and ever-present how easy their devotion to each other is. You pick that up fast just from their doorway.
Funny how we say “photos that feel like home,” this date night portrait session quite literally took that to heart.
Both casual and cute, Hope wore a white flowy dress coordinating with Dean’s white polo and blue jeans.
If you’re wondering whether engagement photos indoors can stand up against a beach or a golf course, Hope & Dean’s Sneak Peek gallery is my answer.
The Story Starts With a Tinder Bio
How it All Began
Let’s jump back to that consult call I mentioned where I asked Hope and Dean to share the story of how they met.
Dean and Hope met on Tinder. Hope’s bio said she was only there for validation — she wanted people to tell her she was pretty. Don’t judge, you know what a dopamine boost it is to be paid a compliment!
Witty Dean sent the first message, asking if she had a parking ticket that needed validating. Hope was in school at the time, so she told him her school has free parking. She doesn’t drive, so the joke flew clean over her head.
Their first voice chat, on Discord, ran about 12 hours. Dean played video games while Hope wrote a paper for school, and read BuzzFeed quizzes out loud to him. The sun was up before they hung up. Definitely a date before the date.
It was still COVID times, so they talked on the phone for about two weeks before meeting and checked in about vaccine status and comfort levels. They decided not to meet in person until Hope was fully vaccinated, but when Dean got sick after his vaccine, kind and caring Hope racked her brain for things she could do to help.
She couldn’t bring soup, since they hadn’t quite reached that stage, so Dean told her she could make him laugh. Hope took time each day to send funny TikToks and memes. To this day, so many years later, Dean maintains it helped.
Dinner In the Kitchen
We began the session in the kitchen where Hope and Dean prepared their taco spaghetti dinner, which Hope sums up as “just spaghetti with taco seasoning.” It’s the dish she cooked for Dean on what he calls their “very second date.”
He loved it, so she made it all the time in the early days of their relationship. These days, she admitted, “we mostly only eat it when Dean makes it.”
They took turns at the stove reminiscing and sharing a few quiet kisses between stirs.
Zola puts $50 toward your registry once you receive $500 in gifts. Consider it a head start on the pots, pans, and everything else you and your partner will cook up together.
Not quite the dirty Dancing Lift
Practicing A Safe Lift
Hope & Dean, awkward as they claimed to be, take direction very well and were very easy to pose. So, I knew encouraging these lovebirds to try something new and exciting — and maybe a little bit scary, would add all the more to their engagement experience.
While I had them posing in the kitchen, I asked Dean if he had any injuries I should know about, because in a little bit I was going to have him do a lift. As he hemmed and hawed Hope nervously chimed in with a list of Dean’s prior injuries, just as a dutiful spouse-to-be should.
I could tell, though, Dean was going to do it — injuries be damned. He did assure me that all injuries are safely in that past and that he was fine to try. In an effort to clarify what I’d ask him to do, he threw his hands up over his head saying, “like that one movie?”
Date Night Photoshoot fun
As Hope reluctantly agreed to try the lift, I promised I’d share a fun and safe lift for them to try out right in the comfort of their living room.
I know, I know — everyone hears “lift,” and they think “Time of My Life.” However, unless you’re a dancer or a cheerleader or a gymnast, my professional opinion is that we leave that lift for the pros. There are plenty of safe lifts for normal people!
It is my personal belief that every woman should know the elation that comes from being lifted up in the air.
I stand on that.
And if it’s unclear, yes. Yes, this is the hill. Hehe.
Once we moved into the living room the conversation shifted to first dance songs. About which they each have strong opinions. They’re deciding between two songs, and Dean
likes one more than the other. Hope played both from her phone and I guided them to dance. And for just a moment they seemed to almost forget I was there.
Dean’s confidence was soaring. There he was, at ease, enjoying a dance with the love of his life.
He was ready to attempt the lift.
With a quick instructional, Dean was equipped — and might I add, he’s a quick study!
Once he set her back down, all Hope could do was giggle like a schoolgirl. The first words she could get out were “I liked it!” She and Dean agreed to practice it for their first dance.
I am genuinely THRILLED to see it!
An elevated dessert date night photoshoot
Dessert in the teepee
The teepee was tucked into the corner of their living room. Sunlight blasting through the windows and lighting up the inside. I set it up with string lights and a hanging arrangement of fresh eucalyptus, blue hydrangeas, and yellow calla lilies from my own garden dangling overhead.
Dessert came from Oahu’s resident Bundt Bae, Victoria of Sweetie’s Cakes. I gave her a color palette, a mood board, the date night concept, and asked for an assortment. She baked them the morning of the engagement photoshoot. Nothing but delish in every bite. Hope’s verdict: “This is my new favorite dessert!”
They fed each other mini bundt cakes on the floor, and Dean lay back with his head in Hope’s
lap, fingers interlocked with hers. A moment which felt like home.
What's Next for Hope & Dean
Hope and Dean are game people. They do the New York Times crossword together, and they build LEGO sets. They sat across the dining table building a penguin pair, and so I took my leave — withdrawing the perceived pressure of the camera and letting them have the rest of their evening.
That’s the idea to steal for your own engagement session — a date night photoshoot. Skip the boring dinner reservation and start with whatever the two of you already enjoy doing on a regular night. A crossword, a card game, a stroll with the dog, a swim in the pool etc.
Hope and Dean are tying the knot at Kapolei Golf Club in May 2027. And I cannot contain how excited I am for them and their celebration!
Hope and Dean, I’m so grateful that I get to know you two! Thank you for inviting me into your kitchen, your living room, and your corner teepee.
May you always dance on ordinary evenings at home, laugh together when things feel heavy, and frequently revisit the elated feeling that comes from being lifted.
Can’t wait to see you lovebirds on the big day.
Want a date night photoshoot of your own? Tell me what a good night in looks like for the two of you, and we’ll build the session around that.
Inquire here »
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Hey hey—LaDonna here!
Photographer, storyteller, and quiet observer of the moments that matter most. LT2 isn’t just about taking pretty pictures. It’s about creating space where you can be fully present, fully yourself, and fully seen.
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