Jasmine and Rashaad's Lavish and Stylish Multi-Location Engagement Session -Munaluchi Bride

Jasmine and Rashaad’s love story began in high school within the Future Business Leaders of America group where their interest in each other would quickly grow from casual friends to hallway flirtations. Going to different colleges would temporarily separate them, placing their love on hold, but ultimately nothing could keep them apart…

Read all about Jasmine and Rashaad’s love story and romantic grand proposal in this sexy, stylish, and sweet multi-location engagement session, expertly framed by MunaLuchi Coterie member LaJoy Hunter Photography. See the complete gallery here.

Bride & Groom-to-be: Jasmine & Rashaad
Occupations: Jasmine – Elementary School Educator, Groom – Program Manager of Diversity & Inclusion
Wedding date: Saturday, January 6, 2018
Wedding location: Historic DeKalb County Courthouse
Location of Engagement shoot: Porsche Experience Center Atlanta (1st shoot), Oglethorpe University (2nd shoot)

Tell us how you met and all about the proposal. We’ve known each other ever since high school. He was a junior and I was a sophomore, and we both held high-ranking positions in our local Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) high school chapter. Most days we never crossed paths with each other. It wasn’t until Rashaad and I started spending more time around each other after school that we knew we had a special connection. We would linger in the hallways after our FBLA meetings flirting with one another…it wasn’t anything serious up to this point. This would soon all change at the end of our Fall semester however.
One night during the (FBLA) conference at the University of Georgia’s Gameday Hotel Center, Rashaad and I kissed. It was actually during a game of “truth or dare”. He dared me!
We ended up going our separate ways after high school attending different colleges. However, graduating from different colleges couldn’t stop our love.
After one month into my first year of teaching, Rashaad surprised me with a trip out of town. There were little details provided, however Rashaad told me he wanted to take us on a road trip (as we’ve done before in the past) to celebrate the Labor Day Weekend, and my first successful month of teaching. I was thrilled!
We were “supposedly” scheduled to pick up a rental car from Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport no later than by 7:00am. Seeing that we were going to miss our 7:00am deadline, Rashaad continues to say to me, “Babe can you please hurry up so we won’t be late picking up our car?” To Rashaad’s dismay, I continue to take my time and we leave the house around 7:15am.
A few minutes later, he pulls into the airport area and suddenly veers away from the rental car terminal. He goes towards the airport parking deck instead. Rashaad tricked me into thinking we were going on another road trip when in reality we were flying out of Atlanta instead. “But where could we be going…” I thought to myself. I pleaded with Rashaad for an answer, but he would only say, “Babe, we’re running late and we’ll need to run to the gate to catch our plane before it takes off.” We parked the car and proceeded to pick up our tickets at the Southwest Terminal. Shortly after being screened, we ran all the way through the airport to reach our gate and successfully boarded the plane just as the doors were being shut. We were relieved. Upon catching my breath after takeoff, I finally learned the destination of our “surprise” flight. We were headed to our Nation’s Capital of Washington, DC. I had never been to the District, however I always wanted to go.
Rashaad insisted we had an action packed agenda as well, and needed to stay on track if we wanted to see all the important monuments throughout the day. Everything was so much fun. Rashaad continued to insinuate throughout the day that he had some special dinner planned for us somewhere in the city later that night.
Rashaad orders an Uber and escorts me inside the blacked-out Chevrolet Suburban. Next thing I know, Rashaad is leaning over and whispering, “Babe, I love you. I need you to wear this blindfold. I don’t want you to see the entrance of the restaurant. It’s absolutely beautiful.” I obliged and Rashaad quickly puts the blindfold over my eyes.
The suburban finally stops and we’re at our destination. Rashaad helps me out of the SUV as I am still blindfolded, and begins walking me somewhere. We walked and walked some more. It was somewhat bumpy and even had a few stairs along the way. I could hear people all around me. “Were we finally in the restaurant?” I thought to myself.
Rashaad then whispers into my ear again and says, “I love you babe. I will see you at the top.” He takes off my blindfold and I am in total disbelief. I instantly begin crying. I was standing in front of my cousin-turned-sister, Shay. She grabs my hand and we head up to the top of the stairs of the Lincoln Memorial. Friends and family members line the stairs holding up signs detailing important events and significant dates about Rashaad and I’s relationship…the first time we kissed back in high school, when we said, “I love you’s” with each other, etc. It was so memorable and heart throbbing. It made my heart melt!
At the top of the stairs, Shay finally let’s go and Rashaad takes charge. Standing perfectly like the heaven-sent man he is, Rashaad grabs my hand, brings me close, and professes his love to me in front of a crowd of hundreds. It was surreal. Rashaad then drops on one knee and asks, “Will you marry me?” I said, “Hell yes” and the rest is history!

Describe your engagement session. Rashaad and I really wanted to let loose and have fun. We knew we wanted something iconic and legendary, however we never could reach an official decision on a theme. In the end, we decided we wanted to have two shoots: one grown and sexy, and the other casual and relaxed. After agreeing on our attire, there was only one more thing for us to do – secure our two locations. As a naturally gifted and creative thinker, I decided to ask the great people over at Porsche Experience Center Atlanta for the opportunity of a lifetime. We would like to thank Porsche and their amazing team members for turning our vision into a reality. We had unprecedented access behind some of the world’s most exclusive and expensive driving machines on Earth. It was an unreal experience, and we couldn’t have asked for anything more!
Our second shoot at Oglethorpe University was Rashaad’s idea. The buildings on the Brookhaven Campus (located in an inner suburb of Atlanta) boasts some of the best post American Civil War era, gothic revival architecture in the country. Large acreage with lots of foliage and expansive fields. Our photographer, LaJoy Hunter, let us be ourselves and elagantly captured our romance!

What did you do on your first date? Rashaad treated me to his all-time favorite restaurant, a dinner date to Red Lobster. I am a seafood phenatic however, so it worked out perfectly. Here is the boy I had a crush on since high school taking me out on a date. We had a great time, and surprisingly he asked me out for a second date. I guess you can say it worked out pretty well for the both of us, we decided to spend the rest of our lives together. I love you Rashaad!

What’s your favorite thing to do as a couple? Hands down, we love traveling the country together! We’ve been to South Florida (Miami, West Palm Beach, Ft. Pierce, Tampa, and Orlando), Chicago, and Washington DC all by plane. And have taken many road trips throughout the state of Georgia to Thomasville, Columbus, and Savanah.

How has wedding planning been so far? So far, so good. Tori Williams and her event planning company (Tori Williams Events) has been a complete joy to work with. She is nine-times-out-of-ten not only our gifted wedding planner, but also our chief counselor and mother adviser too. Always so professional, yet so personable too, she is always there to answer our questions and remove any ounce of uncertainty and anxiety. She has been a steady hand in what can be a very stressful wedding planning process. Thanks again for everything Tori!

Tell us what you’re looking forward to most on the wedding day. (Jasmine) Walking down the aisle and seeing my fiancés reaction. I also cannot wait to exchange our written vows together and our first dance as husband and wife.
(Rashaad) I look forward to seeing Jasmine walk down the aisle in her all white dress. Exchanging our vows and saying, “I do’s!”