Abdul was searching the web for romantic spots in Los Angeles to propose to his girlfriend, Rula, when he came across Sam & Tanner’s proposal shoot at the Getty Center. He’s from Chicago, so we corresponded over text and email for a few weeks trying to figure out the best place for him to pop the question. He wanted somewhere romantic and not too crowded, so obviously half of the city was out of the question. The Getty Center closes at 5 during the week, so that wouldn’t work either. Finally, he found the Blue Ribbon Garden at the Walt Disney Concert Hall and we both knew it would be the perfect place.

Abdul lives in Chicago, so we had never actually met or talked in person. The morning of the proposal, he sent me a photo of him and Rula, and I told him the outfit I would be wearing (I always try to wear something sort of noticeable because these days there are tons of white girls with brown hair and glasses running around with cameras. I have to stand out somehow, ya know?). 

I was hanging out in the garden executing an Oscar-worthy performance as my role of “Oblivious Tourist Taking Photos” as they walked in and made small talk about the garden. Then, Abdul stopped Rula, turned her to face him, and got down on one knee to pop the question!

By this time, Rula OBVIOUSLY knew I wasn’t a tourist. I walked over and introduced myself and told her about how Abdul and I had been cross-country scheming about this for the past few weeks. She seriously had NO clue he was planning to propose that night! Mission accomplished. 

The garden itself is pretty small, so we explored around the outside of the Concert Hall. The plane flying by was perfect!

Cheers to Rula & Abdul!