A Lakeshore Engagement Session | Julia & Danny
Julia and Danny’s engagement was everything that makes them who they are. Sweet, spontaneous, and a little off-script in the best way. It happened during a weekend getaway to Suttons Bay at a little place called Sunrise Landing Motel. Danny had planned it all, but in classic Danny fashion, it didn’t go exactly as scripted.
After dinner, just as Julia took her first bite, he rushed to get the check, insisting they couldn’t miss the sunset by the lake. She started to catch on, but neither of them realized the sun would be setting in the opposite direction.
Still, the proposal went off without a hitch. Back at the motel, they sat by the water with drinks in hand. Danny left for a moment, saying he was grabbing “a sweet treat,” and came back holding something behind his back. In one hand was Julia’s favorite Reese’s candy. In the other was a ring.
“He told me to pick a hand,” Julia says. “I picked the Reese’s.”
Danny laughed, then dropped to one knee. Before he could even get the words out, Julia said yes. The moment became even sweeter when their families surprised them at the lake, turning the weekend into a full-blown celebration.
Their love story started in Chicago, thanks to Hinge. Their first date was at a bar called Houndstooth, chosen more for convenience than any loyalty to Alabama football. Over chicken tenders, Coronas, and tequila shots, Julia nervously talked nonstop while Danny just smiled and listened. From that night on, they were inseparable.
For both, it was love at first date.
“Everything felt easy,” Julia says. “Easy to be myself, easy to laugh, and easy to love him. How could you not? He’s the friendliest, funniest, gentle giant there is.”
Danny, ever the calm and thoughtful one, agrees. “She played the same music I listen to, and I thought, ‘Man, is this girl cool.’ Then I got to know how funny, kind, and beautiful she is inside and out. I knew from the first time I met her that I wanted to marry her.”
Their lakeside proposal was just another reflection of how perfectly they balance each other. Julia calls Danny her perfect other half. “He’s calm when I’m an anxious wreck, and he listens when I can’t stop talking. And I can be those things for him too.”
Danny says Julia is his best friend and the one who makes him laugh every day. “She’s going to be the most amazing mom someday,” he says. “She’s already great with our dog, Phoebe.”
Together, they love the simple things.
“As lame as it sounds, we love doing nothing,” they admit. Whether it’s walking their dog, listening to music, eating good food, or just sitting on the couch, time together is enough.
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