The Lucky Lady: Emilia Montes de Oca, 25, Driver Services Rep.
Her Leading Man: Shayeon Hawkins, 24, Field Operations Manager
The Big Day: 8/18/15
Wedding Location: La Romana, Dominican Republic
How did you meet your man?
In high school through a mutual friend.
Were you looking for love at the time?
Not at all. I was sixteen and not looking.
What was his first impression of you?
That girl can dance.
What was your first impression of him?
He seems cool, but he was a little too reserved.
Did you play hard to get?
Nope. Not at all. After a couple of months of dating, he started to let me into his inner circle. It was nice to meet his mother before really meeting his friends.
Sweetest thing he’s ever done for you?
On Valentine’s day when we moved to Georgia I had asked him not give me anything because we just moved, but when I woke up that morning, I opened the door to a huge basket filled with the things I loved most and tickets to see the Alvin Ailey dance company, followed by one surprise after another.
How long did you date before you got engaged?
Eight years.
Best gift he has ever given you?
Our teacup Yorkie, Rico.
How did he pop the question?
For weeks he had been hinting at wanting to take salsa lessons and getting a group together to go, so he rallied up everyone and we are all together learning the steps. Once we got the steps down and it was time for everyone to show off what they learned, he whispers to me that his knee is starting to act up again, but he promises that he will get through the dance without messing up. (The dance had a lot of bending and dropping to one knee throughout, so it was understandable) After all the other groups finished it was our turn to show off our moves, and I was determined for us to be perfect. The music starts and everything is going well; we nailed the first trick and the second one. Then he spins me as planned and when I turn to face him, he is on bended knee. I am thinking to myself that he has hurt himself and can’t get up. Then I realized that everyone now had their cameras out. He whips out this huge ring box—which I don’t understand how it fit in his back pocket and I didn’t notice—and then asked me, “Will you be my wife and dance with me at our wedding?” You see he always says to me “Imma dance at your wedding” when I do things for him which always worked my nerve because it would be our wedding and for him to finally get it right made it that much more special. The icing on the cake was that he was able to have both of our families Skyped in so that they didn’t miss the moment.
Photos: Cendino Temé Photography
Just Engaged: Emilia and Shayeon's Love Story
Shayeon proposed to Emilia right in the middle of their salsa dance performance. “Will you be my wife and dance with me at our wedding?” he asked. She can’t wait to honor his wish. Congrats to the happy couple!