When Aaron Damron and his partner Tony DiPasqua booked their wedding photographer this year, they knew their package came with the option of an engagement photo shoot. But like a lot of couples, they kept going back and forth on whether or not they'd even want to do it — and if they did, what exactly they'd do. "We knew we wanted something that speaks to us as a couple," Damron tells CafeMom. "Something fun and different." But just what was that something? "We are not outdoorsy people, so you won’t find us on the trail on the weekends," he explains. "We very much love to 'bum around' and go from store to store looking for good deals." A TARGET ENGAGEMENT SHOOT!
To be honest, it was pretty perfect. The Pennsylvania couple, who will be together five years this December, are both big fans of the store.
"When we first started dating, we quickly figured out that we shared the same interests: shopping!" says Damron.
Naturally, Target quickly became their go-to spot.
"Target was always a welcoming place," Damron shares. "We always felt comfortable there with the staff and even fellow customers. It just became a regular thing for us that has continued."
Over the years, their love has blossomed through joint trips to the store, where they've sipped Starbucks lattes and put WAY too much in their carts.
"We love wandering the aisles looking for deals and just spending time together," says Damron. "It was our thing — we’d usually grab lunch on Saturday followed by Target."
Choosing the retail giant as their engagement shoot locale just made sense. And as it turned out, it was a total blast.
"Our photographer did an incredible job of making us feel comfortable and allowing us to forget there were other people around," says Damron.
And it worked — he says they hardly noticed the other people in the store as they roamed around, taking shots.
They made each other laugh while peeking out from between fake plants ...
… and they took turns sitting in their big red shopping cart, while filling it to the brim with things they both didn't need, but absolutely had to purchase. (Because hey, it's the Target way!)
In fact, the delightfully quirky shoot wound up feeling like the most natural thing in the world, Damron says.
"We’d occasionally have to wait for customers to walk out of the shot," he recalls, "but we didn’t notice too many paying much attention to us. I think this is what allowed Erica to capture such authentic shots of us."
"Erica" is Erica Whiting, the Eerie, Pennsylvania-based photographer who was more than game for capturing the fun day.
"They just wanted to be themselves and my goal was to capture authentic images of the two of them together doing things they loved," Whiting later wrote on Facebook. "What we ended up with is a series of images that people can’t help but love, and memories they will hopefully cherish forever. Because after all — who doesn’t love Target?"
The answer to that question is easy: No one.
Since the photos were first shared on Facebook last week, they've been going massively viral (for obvious reasons).
Damron's July 29 Facebook post has racked up an impressive 45K reactions and 16K shares from people who just can't get enough.
"WHAT A GREAT IDEA," wrote one woman.
"Too freakin cute!!!!" wrote another. "Don’t even know yous and I love yous!!!"
Thousands of others tagged their partners -- as a not-so-subtle hint that maybe they should also consider Target for their engagement photos.
"If we don’t do something corny like this for our future engagement photos I don’t want it," commented one woman. (Honestly, I admire her sass.)
The response to the photos has almost been as incredible as the photo shoot experience itself, says Damron.
"The comments have been overwhelming," he tells CafeMom. "So much positivity, love, encouragement and support from people all over the world."
As a result, the couple has had a lot of fun reading through the comments, which have ranged from people saying they want to "redo" their own engagement pictures to some sweet comments about the couple's obvious love of cats.
("It's true," says Damron. "We have three.")
"It’s been incredible watching the joy and happiness these photos are bringing to others," says Damron.
He admits they tried to keep up and reply to all the comments at first, but after a while, that proved impossible. "There are just so many!" he says.
The couple is also busy these days, considering they're knee-deep in the middle of wedding planning. But it's been a pretty sweet way to add to the excitement of it all, as they gear up for their nuptials — which are set for this New Year's Eve!
(I don't know about you, but I'm kinda jealous of whoever scored an invite to that one — if these photos are any indication, that'll be one fun wedding.)
