2 total strangers who met on a Halloween blind date photo shoot got engaged 6 months later
- Jasmine Padgett, 24, and Nick Reynolds, 25, first met on a Halloween blind date photo shoot.
- They both applied to be part of Lindsey McCaffry's blind date photo shoot series.
- Six months later, Reynolds proposed to Padgett and McCaffry took their engagement photos.
Photographer Lindsey McCaffry did her first blind date photo shoot in July.
McCaffry told Insider that she had wanted to try the concept for years and finally had the opportunity to after her schedule freed up during the pandemic.
The pictures from McCaffry's first blind date photo shoot instantly went viral.
Photos of Daniel Allen and Karmon Waite, McCaffry's first couple, racked up tens of thousands of likes on Facebook and were seen by people all over the world.
McCaffry decided to turn the photo shoot into a series, photographing 30 couples across 10 states.
Nick Reynolds and Jasmine Padgett both applied for McCaffry's blind date photo shoot after seeing her pictures on Facebook.
"I thought it was cool, it was way out of my comfort zone," Reynolds, 25, told Insider. "I hadn't really dated anybody for four years, and I'd never done a blind date before."
Reynolds and Padgett, 24, both applied for McCaffry's fourth photo shoot in September but weren't selected. But they tried again for her special Halloween-themed date and, this time, they got picked.
McCaffry loved that Reynolds and Padgett were both Halloween and horror lovers. Plus, their applications were very compatible.
"They had a lot of common interests," she said. "It seemed like they would be a good fit."
Reynolds and Padgett arrived at the Indiana Fear Farm and prepared to see each other for the very first time.
"I honestly was not nervous the whole time until they were telling us we had to turn around," Padgett said. "That's when I was like, 'Oh crap, I'm nervous."'
While McCaffry usually blindfolds her couples before the big reveal, she had Reynolds and Padgett wear masks to go with the Halloween theme.
"It definitely relieved a bit of the nerves because I knew I was going to laugh when I turned around," Reynolds said.
And when they took off their masks, both Reynolds and Padgett were definitely impressed.
"First I went, 'Wow,'" Reynolds recalled. "She looked very beautiful and gorgeous. I was blown away."
"I had to put my glasses back on because I'm pretty blind," Padgett said with a laugh. "So once I had my glasses on I was like, 'Wow, he's really cute, this will be fun.'"
While most of McCaffry's dates are only two to three hours long, Reynolds and Padgett's shoot took nearly 12 hours.
McCaffry had brought past blind date participants to act as extras in her zombie photo shoot, which included multiple locations and major makeup changes.
"Their photo shoot was different than any I have ever done," McCaffry said. "They had a lot of downtime during their date, which allowed them to really talk and get to know each other."
All that extra time paid off. Reynolds and Padgett barely talked to anyone else the entire night.
"There are 20 to 30 people in the room where all the makeup and special effects were getting done, and Jasmine and I were by ourselves having a conversation," Reynolds said. "We're off to the side, talking and getting to know each other and learning about each other — like the first date table conversation that you think of."
"We connected really well and found out we had a lot in common," Padgett added. "The date itself was a lot of fun, it was quite the adventure."
McCaffry said it was immediately apparent that Padgett and Reynolds had a special connection.
"You could tell they had chemistry even though their session was one of the least steamy ones we have done," she said.
In fact, Reynolds and Padgett were so at ease with each other that McCaffry thought they snuck in their first kiss before she could take a picture of it.
"She said, 'Those first kisses were way too natural, seems like you two have done that before,'" Reynolds recalled with a laugh. "We swore up and down we did not! Those pictures were our actual first kisses. Apparently, it looked good enough on camera."
Reynolds and Padgett ended their Halloween-themed date by dressing up as zombies at a wedding — complete with a flowing veil.
Neither of them had any idea at the time that it would foreshadow their future, but they did plan for a second date just a few days later.
Reynolds and Padgett virtually appeared on "The Tamron Hall Show" the following Tuesday, and she paid for their date the very next night.
"They sent us some gift cards for quite a bit of money," Padgett said. "We had a super fancy date. There was lots more talking the entire time we were there."
The couple became official two weeks later, and it wasn't long before they started thinking about forever.
"A few weeks after I met Jasmine, I joked to my friends and said, 'I could totally see myself marrying her someday,'" Reynolds said. "It was around the end of December when I absolutely knew for sure."
"I felt early on that this is it, this is probably the one," Padgett said. "And it didn't take long to find out that I wasn't the only one who felt that way."
Reynolds asked Padgett's parents for their blessing, then told McCaffry that he planned to propose.
"When I started hosting these sessions, it was a dream of mine that one of these couples would get married," McCaffry said. "That would be the ultimate fairy-tale love story. Now look, here we are, goal accomplished. I'm still in shock."
Then it was time to put the proposal plan into place. Reynolds decided to pop the question while Padgett was taking her graduation photos.
There were a few hiccups along the way. Just days before the shoot, Padgett broke her left hand when she tripped and fell after having Easter dinner with Reynolds and her family.
"She's freaking out because she has graduation pictures and her nursing clinicals, but then me and the rest of her family are freaking out because I'm supposed to propose to her and it's that hand," Reynolds recalled.
Thankfully, Padgett was able to take the cast off for her photos. The plan was back in action.
On the day of the proposal, Padgett took her graduation pictures while Reynolds hid off to the side, waiting for his cue.
Also hiding were Reynolds' parents, as well as Jasmine's roommate and her dog.
When Reynolds got the text saying "now," he sprinted across the field at Purdue University — where Padgett is a nursing student — and walked up behind her.
Reynolds was so quiet that Padgett didn't even notice him at first, allowing McCaffry to snap a few perfect pictures right before the reveal.
"I was so nervous, I didn't know how to start," he recalled. "I said 'hello' and she kind of freaked out."
Padgett said she was taken completely by surprise when she saw Reynolds right behind her.
"I just heard someone say 'hey' or 'hello' and I was like, who the heck is behind me right now?" she recalled with a laugh. "In my head, Nick was still at work. Then he popped around and I was like, 'What are you doing here right now?' I was very surprised."
But when Padgett saw that her boyfriend was all dressed up, she knew exactly what was about to happen.
"His tie matched my dress and I was like, 'Oh gosh, here we go,"' she said. "And then he started talking and I was like, 'This is happening.' I was speechless and in shock."
"It was her birthday too, so the first thing I said was 'happy birthday,'" Reynolds recalled. "Then I started talking to her about our journey and how it's been so exciting and full of so many adventures and experiences in a short amount of time."
Then Reynolds got down on one knee and asked Padgett, "Will you marry me?"
"She was obviously excited and got to see the ring she's always wanted," Reynolds said. "I got to put it on but, due to her hand being broken, I was like, 'I'll let you finish that,' because I didn't want to hurt her hand."
As Reynolds and Padgett hugged, their friends and family — along with dozens of strangers — burst into applause.
"There was a huge audience because we're at Purdue University and we're on a main strip with a lot of people walking by at the same time," Reynolds said. "It was pretty fun to see everyone cheering and yelling, saying congrats."
McCaffry said watching the proposal was "very emotional" for her as well.
"We are beyond excited and happy for them," she said. "We are very grateful and thankful to be such a huge part of their amazing love story."
After the proposal, Reynolds and Padgett had their engagement photo shoot with McCaffry.
"There's one picture where he's kissing me and I'm kind of looking at Lindsey and laughing, you can really tell how happy we are," Padgett said. "That's probably my favorite photo, second to the pictures of him proposing."
And the happy couple has already picked out a wedding venue and date.
Padgett and Reynolds will tie the knot on November 20, but they made sure to hire a different photographer so that McCaffry could enjoy the celebrations as their friend.
Both Padgett and Reynolds love that they met each other in such a unique way.
"Nowadays with dating apps and social media, when someone gives you a name you can look them up and vice versa," Reynolds said. "We knew nothing about each other. There was no preconceived anything. We got those first moments and connections that no one gets anymore."
"Everything that makes the blind date photo shoot nerve-racking also makes it a great idea because it makes it an adventure," Padgett added. "And who knows, it could work out for the best."
McCaffry said she gets emotional when she looks back on all the lives that have been touched by her blind date series over the last year.
"Not only are we bringing strangers together for blind dates, but our strangers are also becoming good friends with each other," she said. "Some of them are even dating other strangers. I think that's what blows my mind the most about hosting these sessions. It's not only the participants that we bring together for a blind date. They're making lifelong friendships and bonds."
And McCaffry is glad that Reynolds and Padgett will always have pictures of the very first day they met.
"They really are perfect for each other, they complement each other in the most perfect ways," she said. "What an amazing story for them with documented, photographic proof."
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