Colleen and Michele met on an online dating site. Say the brides, “Being two New Jersey girls we had plenty to talk about, but we never ended up meeting.” Colleen took her profile down but then she joined again a year later and found Michele was still her top listed match. “I awkwardly started up the conversation again,” says Colleen. Michele didn’t find it awkward and the two planned to meet, realizing pretty quickly that they were, in fact, a perfect match.
After purchasing their first home together the couple planned a housewarming party and Michele realized that with family and friends surrounding them, this would be the perfect chance to propose to Colleen.
Michele: “We had been discussing marriage for a while, so I called Colleen’s parents and set the plan in motion.”
Colleen: “Our families went out to dinner the night before the party, and after returning home Michele said she had planned a scavenger hunt for everybody. She handed out clues—which really just sent the others to grab signs my mom had printed out.”
Michele joined Colleen in the bedroom for her part of the scavenger hunt, finding photo collages of their early dates, which eventually put together a poster with photo memories leading up to the present time. Michele then led Colleen out to where the other family members were waiting with a video camera and signs that said, “Colleen, will you marry me?”
Colleen: “Michele got down on one knee, and I said ‘yes!’”
A couple of weeks later Colleen surprised Michele with a ring during dinner at their favorite restaurant.
Jennifer Outlaw of AO&JO Photography loved shooting an engagement session with Michele and Colleen, who chose to do their photos at the home they bought together. Says Jennifer, “They also had some fur-babies and feather-babies that they wanted involved in the shoot. We have done shoots before with dogs, but birds were definitely a first for us.” As you’ll see below, the couple also included Colleen’s purple Dodge Charger and her purple Harley, which the couple loves to ride together.