Gary and Tom have been together for 25 years, and the last thing that Tom expected while on a work trip to Maui was a surprise proposal. His partner Gary had secretly hired Photography by Karma Hill to document the proposal, and Karma and Chamonix (one of Karma’s team members) stepped up to the plate and pretended to be a journalist! The whole thing was perfectly executed and so sneaky. Karma has the full fun story below.
From Karma:
Tom had to go to some conferences for work here in Maui, so Gary and their friend Kris joined him for a tropical getaway. They were enjoying their breakfast at the poolside restaurant in the Royal Lahaina Resort when we arrived just in time for this surprise proposal. Gary had it all planned out. He asked Chamonix to pretend to be a local Maui journalist who was writing an editorial piece about tourists staying in resorts on Maui’s west coast. Chamonix strolled around the pool, spotted the trio at their table and approached with a notepad. “Where are you guys from?”, “What’s been your favorite thing about Maui so far?”, “How do you all know each other?” Gary and Kris directed the conversation with enthusiasm while Tom stared off into the distance, completely oblivious to what was about to happen. After jotting down their answers, Chamonix pulled out her camera and asked, “Do you mind if I snap a few photos to accompany the article?”
We walked over to the lawn and took some group photos beside the palm trees. Then, as Gary had requested, Chamonix took individual portraits, giving lots of extra special attention to Tom. Gary wanted Chamonix to draw out Tom’s inner supermodel so she was saying things like, “Lean into the tree, stick out your hip, wrap your arms over your head, good, that looks fantastic, you have the perfect look for what we’re going for with this feature!” As the poses became more and more bizarre, Tom started glancing around awkwardly. Just as he was about to ask Chamonix for a business card to prove she was a legitimate journalist, Gary stepped away, changed his shirt and pushed play on a special song. He knelt down on one knee and popped the question. It was so wonderful seeing the happy surprise on Tom’s face. We followed their proposal with a few more portraits in the beautiful Hawaiian palm trees and then let them get back to their celebratory breakfast!
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Photos: Photography by Karma Hill
