A California bride-to-be whose proposal was disrupted by a woman’s racist tirade has received a heartwarming surprise from a local bridal shop owner.
Hayley Lugo was given a wedding dress by Lisa Clark, owner of Saint Clark Bridal Suite in Monrovia, after Clark saw a viral video of Lugo’s proposal at Laguna Beach.
The footage shows a woman confronting Lugo and her fiancé, Emmanuel Banuelos, as a mariachi band performed at Crescent Bay Point Park on October 2. During the encounter, she shouted, “go back to Mexico.”
“I feel very blessed to be receiving the gown, and there are still a lot of kind people out there willing to help us despite what happened,” Lugo told CBS News.
The upsetting encounter was recorded through Meta glasses worn by Trinity Lugo, Hayley’s sister, who was standing away from the romantic proposal scene.
“The park is for people that live here to enjoy the park and have picnics. And they don’t allow events on the grass here for that reason,” the woman said.
Trinity Lugo calmly explained that the couple and the camera crew would soon leave after the proposal. The woman, however, continued the confrontation and threatened to call the police.
“I just called the police. They’re coming out here. They’re going to make you tear it down,” the woman said.
Hayley Lugo was gifted a wedding dress by Lisa Clark, owner of Saint Clark Bridal Suite in Monrovia, after a video of her Laguna Beach proposal went viral.
The furious Laguna Beach resident confronted the video crew as they waited to capture the couple’s picture-perfect proposal.
After repeatedly demanding that the engagement setup be removed, the woman escalated the confrontation and shouted, “Go back to Mexico.”
The woman, who was dubbed “Proposal Karen” online, appeared visibly angry as she directed a series of profanities at the couple and the camera crew.
“I don’t care. It’s every single f*****g weekend and I’m sick and tired of it. This isn’t Mexico either, you motherf*****s,” she yelled.
The viral proposal video has since amassed more than 13 million views across several social media platforms.
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“It made me feel so sad that people still have so much hate and racism in them. When I saw it and heard it, my heart sank. It just left me distraught,” Lugo told LA Times.
A spokesperson for the city of Laguna Beach told the outlet that officials were aware of the video and did not support hateful language or behavior.
“Laguna Beach’s parks and beaches are open to everyone and are regularly the backdrop to celebrate milestones,” the spokesperson said.
Lugo has since spoken publicly about the effect of the confrontation, while Banuelos described the incident as deeply offensive.
“It hurts a lot because it’s not just us there. She’s being mean to the whole Mexican culture, the whole Hispanic culture, like everyone’s felt it,” Lugo told ABC 7.
Lisa Clark, owner of Saint Clark Bridal Suite, said she offered the dress to send a message that “love always wins” and help give the couple’s disrupted proposal a happy ending.
Despite the woman’s racist remarks, the newly engaged couple celebrated the romantic milestone with a surprise engagement party
What was meant to be a romantic moment for Emmanuel Banuelos and Hayley Lugo, was interrupted by angry bystander nicknamed ‘proposal karen’
‘We live in a world where people can be pretty hateful, so I wanted to make sure that she understood that the world is not full of hate, and there is still kindness, and if this is something I could do for her, I wanted to do it,’ Clark told the outlet.
Despite the rough start, the couple explained that they were still able to enjoy their beautiful moment and celebrate at a surprise engagement party. Lugo expressed gratitude for receiving the free dress as a gift.
‘It feels unbelievable… I’m ready to begin this journey with my fiancé, so it’s all just coming together,’ Lugo told the outlet.
Clark shared that she extended the gesture as a message that ‘love always wins’ for a happy ending to their wedding proposal.
Our News Outlet has reached out to Hayley Lugo and Lisa Clark for comments.
