One of my favorite parts of this job is making magical moments happen, even if it sometimes seems to be against all odds. So the day we got a call from The Yes Girls, who are the original wedding proposal planners, asking for our help to re-create the fire lantern scene for a “Tangled” Themed Marriage Proposal, I almost jumped out of my seat in excitement! One problem though, fire lanterns are illegal in the United States! We all agreed that releasing burning paper lanterns over San Francisco’s city line in the middle of California’s drought was probably not a wise idea anyway.
Leo, the lucky groom-to-be, would not be satisfied with anything less then the perfect moment for his fiancé Yukyung, and that’s where we came in! Our task: Mimic the floating lantern scene from Tangled by staggering HUNDREDS of lanterns at different heights, shapes, and colors in the air around the lawn of the General’s Residence at Fort Mason. Oh and they all need to glow from within, as if they had real fire in them. No problem right?
It was not a task for the faint of heart, but our team rose to the challenge! Over 6 months of meetings, plans, rigging calculations, watching and re-watching the movie over and over again, trial runs, scrapping previous plans, researching, re-writing new plans, and (only a couple) late nights wondering if it would all come together, and finally the big day came! It took 8 Verducci Event Productions employees almost 10 hours to string up and hang over 700 lanterns, place the l.e.d. flicker candles in each lantern, and then cinch up the lines to be almost 20 feet high in the air.
Despite the obstacles in the way (threatening rain in early morning, and keeping the lanterns hung in gusty winds all day) the team and all of the other vendors really came together to make it happen!
While the final touches were being put into place, Leo arrived nervous and excited about his big moment. Leo said it was “Everything he hoped it would be and more” and the expression on Yukyung’s face (see video below) made it all worth it.
Oh and by the way… She said yes! 😉
Damion Hamilton www.damionhamilton.com
Damion Hamilton www.damionhamilton.com
Check out the amazing video from Blue Penny Films below (Also check out the time lapse footage at the end of the credits for a sneak peak into the prep work we did!):
Also check out The Yes Girls Blog HERE. But for reals though. It’s super cute and I go check it out whenever I can because I always feel so good after a few minutes reading about people’s perfect moments! It also has all kinds of useful tips for future proposers and brides to be!
San Francisco Marriage Proposal Vendor Love:
Wedding Proposal Planning: The Yes Girls Events
Photography: Damion Hamilton Photography
Videography: Blue Penny Films
Venue: Fort Mason General’s Residence
Lighting Design: Verducci Event Productions
Florals: Urban Botanica Florals
Musicians: Julie Olive
Personalized Tangled Blanket: Maiden Jane