Florida Couple Who Met at Publix Take Their Engagement Photos at Grocery Store Years Later
It all started at Publix.
Alexandra Darch and Dylan Smith met at a Publix in Lakeland, Florida, nearly three years ago, while she worked the register and he helped in the grocery department, WFTS reported. Sparks flew the day they met and it was love at first sight — or first Pub sub.
“We met working in the store and thought it would be cute and original to take our pictures where our relationship first started,” Darch, 22, told WFTS. “I would always pick up night shifts to close down the store because I knew I’d get to work around him finishing getting the store ready for the next morning.”
The shots, taken by Jennifer Goodlet of Jennifer Goodlet Photography on July 28, showed Darch and Smith, 24, smiling wide as they posed on a shopping cart, frolicked through the aisles and even shared cookies in front of the bakery.
“Looking back, it’s like recreating moments in a place that’s important to you,” Darch told Good Morning America. “It brought out a whole new emotion being somewhere that’s so important to us.”
Darch and Smith initially planned to take photos at an outdoor location, but the rain put a damper on their plans. The Publix shoot was actually Goodlet’s bright idea.
“We decided to get dinner and wait out the storm,” Goodlet told GMA. “I told my husband we were going to a place next to Publix and I said, ‘Publix … I wonder.’ “
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Smith admits that he and Darch didn’t know what to make of the idea at first.
“Whenever she first mentioned it, I was very skeptical,” he told the Tampa Bay Times. “You’ve got to be kidding me. There’s no way we can take a picture inside of a grocery store and it be romantic or sweet. But once I talked to Alex about it and what it would represent and then seeing the photos and how it brought us back to when we were first together and first working together, it kind of shows who we are and brings us back to how we first met.”
They weren’t alone in the supermarket that night. Darch and Smith said shoppers looked on with confused expressions as they posed for the photos.
“We got a ton of funny looks,” Darch told the Times. “I think people were quite confused when they were going to grab their milk and their eggs and we’re standing there getting pictures. But then, a lot of people were saying, ‘You guys are so cute.’ “
The love birds plan to wed on Jan. 25, 2020, with their Publix coworkers in attendance and a cake from the store’s bakery, according to WFTS. As for the photos, Darch said she’s sure other Publix lovers will get a kick out of the shots.
“We think the reaction that our photos will get will be funny, but also romantic,” she told the station. “And, maybe a little bit of shock. I don’t think anyone has ever done their engagement shoot inside of a Publix grocery store. It’s a pretty original spot but makes sense seeing as we met here, and Publix is such an icon for Polk County.”
