Business & Tech

VIDEO: Homemade Music Video Marriage Proposal Sweeps the Web

The story behind Dominic DeLauney's special birthday/Valentine's Day surprise starts at Smyth Jewelers in Timonium.

Dominic DeLauney didn’t intend to ruin the romance curve for lovers a week before Valentine’s Day. But his homemade music video marriage proposal currently sweeping the social media stratosphere has set the bar impossibly high.

“I wanted to do something creative and the thing I know best is music,” said the professional audio engineer at Johns Hopkins University. “I’m not a singer and I’m not an all-around musician, but I thought it would be cool if I could write her a song and it went from there. It turned out to be me playing all the instruments. Then it turned into, ‘I guess I’ll sing it.’ Then, yeah sure, let’s do a music video. The whole process was a crazy idea that turned into a really cool video.”

DeLauney, 26, spent two and a half months writing the song “My Forever Valentine” for his girlfriend Sarah Smith. The couple had been dating for a little over a year.

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“The song took forever because I wanted it to be perfect. The video was the quickest thing I’ve ever done in my life,” DeLauney said.

The video, which was posted to YouTube earlier today, has been making its rounds through Facebook and Twitter to the point DeLauney said he has trouble keeping up with responses.

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“I’ve literally posted like five videos over six years. I’m not like a YouTube person at all,” DeLauney said. “I don’t know how the views thing works, but I know that I can’t keep up with the embedded videos on Facebook.

“Literally, I’ve gotten hundreds of responses from people I don’t know,” he continued. “People are sending me messages like, ‘You brought tears to my eyes.’ I’m like whoa, I just wanted to propose to my girlfriend. It’s been crazy.”

The timing was perfect for DeLauney. After spending weeks writing the song and hours filming and producing a music video, the time came to get on one knee—on his girlfriend’s birthday, a week before Valentine’s Day.

“We both got home from work [Monday night],” DeLauney began. “I got home first. My boss, I told him about everything, and he was like ‘You need to get out of here by 3 o’clock, you need to be prepared.’ So I went home and made her the dinner that she requested and made her a little Dirt Cake, because she loves Dirt Cake. I got everything all set up—my computer to record the reaction and that was it.”

Watch the video through to the end to see Sarah’s reaction. (And try not to tear up.)

His idea was creative; the gesture, beyond romantic. But before DeLauney could become the digital Don Juan, he needed one very important thing—the ring.

“One of my best friends [Breanna Shaw], the one who was by my side through all of this, she got her ring from Smyth. Her now-husband bought her ring from Smyth and she was a huge advocate. She said, ‘You need to check this place out,’ and she gave me all the information on it,” DeLauney said.

Snippets of the music video were shot in the showroom. DeLauney said Smyth sales associates were fully on board with his plans to surprise his girlfriend with a diamond and a long song.

“I’ve always been one that would rather support a local business than go to a big chain. Smyth was exactly what I wanted. The service was amazing. I was able to get literally the perfect diamond for her. It was just awesome. I love keeping it local. ... They were totally cool with it. They said to do whatever we needed to do. I think it gives it a personal touch other than me singing into a fake microphone.

“It ended up being pretty perfect. It was just a silly idea that turned into something a lot cooler than a silly idea,” DeLauney said.

The Timonium jewelers couldn't have asked for a better commerical. A Smyth representative could not be reached today for comment.

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