“Men should marry and women should wed!” goes an old Shanghai pop tune. Working in Chinatown over the past few months, I had a couple of opportunities to photograph wedded bliss, and the business of what cynics might refer to as the “bridal industrial complex” definitely commands a big presence in the neighborhood. Wedding outfitters and bridal shops abound, offering a fully packaged experience that will encompass everything from catering hall, decorations, DJs, wedding singers and magicians, to hair and make-up styling for the women and rented white tuxes for the groom, plus of course photographers and videographers to document the special day.

But: before you can get married, someone’s gotta spring the question!

Here’s a very public proposal that I stumbled across when photographing Echo Music Fest, a (mostly) Taiwanese-American rock concert just before christmas. A few songs into their set, 24 year old guitarist Vincent Ye Ye of the band Chaos broke into a rendition of “Will You Marry Me, Baby?!” to the complete surprise of his girlfriend Debbie, 22. Who happened to be accompanied by a swarm of female friends wielding cameras, a hidden, gargantuan bouquet of red roses, and three bottles of champagne, pre-corked, which sadly remained un-drunk that night, forgotten in the swirl of emotions.

Cheers to Vincent and Debbie, for a long, happy life together!!!