On a Sunday morning in late March, Hannah Gulbrandsen was on her way to shoot a first look bridal session in Salt Lake City when she got a call from the bride.
The bride, Sydni Burrup, told her she wanted to prank her soon-to-be husband, Eric Magelsen, with a popular TikTok trend that switches out the bride for the groom’s best friend — in a wedding dress.
Burrup had reached out to Magelsen’s childhood best friend, who was more than willing to participate and would now be coming to the session.
Gulbrandsen said this news initially made her “a little bit stressed.”
At the time of the call, she was roughly 20 minutes away from her shooting location at the Utah state Capitol. It didn’t give her much time to process the last-minute change.
But the significantly bigger reason for her stress: Magelsen’s best friend happened to be pop star Benson Boone.
Gulbrandsen immediately tried to get a second videographer to help her capture the moment between Magelsen and Boone. She made a bunch of calls but couldn’t find anyone on such short notice.
It all turned out better than she could’ve imagined, though. Her video, which shows Magelsen’s heartwarming reaction to turning around and seeing Boone sweetly smiling while wearing a necklace, dress and veil, has gone viral.
Gulbrandsen spoke to the Deseret News about collaborating with Boone for the special moment — and her one and only regret.
‘He was totally in character’
Gulbrandsen admitted to a little bit of “fangirling” as she worked with Boone.
But the 25-year-old wedding photographer and videographer also did her best to treat the shoot just like any other bridal session.
Before the reveal, she worked with Boone to get some B-roll footage.
At the start of the video, Boone — who is wearing a wedding dress over a pair of jeans — steps out from behind a pillar, parts his veil and struts toward the camera. He gives a little wink up close.
“He was totally in character, totally willing to do whatever,” Gulbrandsen said. “I mean, clearly you can see in the video that he is just so into it and so excited to be there. I didn’t really have to give him any direction. He kind of just did his thing. He knows how to work the camera really well.”
One of the more challenging parts of filming, Gulbrandsen said, was trying to keep a straight face in front of Magelsen.
As Boone approached his friend from behind with a mischievous smile and colorful flower bouquet, Gulbrandsen commented on the bride’s beauty so Magelsen wouldn’t get suspicious.
“My heart’s beating really fast,” Magelsen tells Gulbrandsen in the video.
“This was the hardest part, honestly, because we had to stand in front of Eric and get a shot of Benson walking up behind him. And so I was with the photographer, and we were trying not to laugh,” she recalled. “It was honestly one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do.”
The way the rest of the video plays out, Gulbrandsen said, is a perfect snapshot of the friendship between Magelsen and Boone.
Magelsen is visibly shocked to see his best friend standing before him. After taking a second to process the sight of Boone in a veil and dress (which belonged to Burrup’s mom), he starts laughing and wraps his arms around his best friend.
“You look so handsome!” Boone exclaims. “Eric, this is going to be the biggest day of our lives, and I just want to let you know there’s no one else I’d rather be with.”
Boone proceeds to kiss Magelsen on each cheek.
“The luckiest man on Earth,” Magelsen says as he and Boone lean on each other.
“They get along so well, and they’re so funny together,” Gulbrandsen said. “He’s like the perfect guy to prank him.”
Boone stayed around for the real reveal, and near the end of the video, the singer and Burrup each give Magelsen a kiss on the cheek. The video concludes with Boone doing some more strutting and giving the camera a little kiss.
“I thought I captured it perfectly,” Gulbrandsen said. “I think I wouldn’t have changed anything about it.”
Later on during the conversation, though, the videographer did end up revealing one regret: “Not asking him to do a backflip.”
The ‘peak’ of Gulbrandsen’s career
Since posting the video on May 5, Gulbrandsen said she’s already seeing more interest in her business. It’s the first reel on her account to go viral.
“So I’m like, ‘Oh, finally, something that brings some attention to my videography,’” said Gulbrandsen, who studied advertising at Brigham Young University and has been shooting weddings for about seven years. “It’s been pretty crazy.”
But for the videographer, what stands out most about this moment is the longtime friendship between Boone and Magelsen, and how great Boone was to work with.
She was so impressed with Boone, in fact, that she ended up getting a ticket to his show in Arizona this summer. The singer actually announced his “Wanted Man” tour on the same day of the first look session.
“He’s such a nice guy. I mean, he’s really a genuine person,” Gulbrandsen said. “So I’m like, ‘I’ve got to support this.’”
At the moment, Gulbrandsen considers working with Boone to be the peak of her career. But the way this all played out shows her that you can never know what to expect in this industry.
“Obviously I’m hoping that some other cool things happen in the future,” she said. “But this is definitely up there.”