Couple dreaming of Italy took engagement photos at Olive Garden. It led to a free trip

A couple who took their engagement pictures in front of a local Olive Garden to emulate scenes of Italy will get to see the real thing — the restaurant chain gave them a free honeymoon after their photos went viral on TikTok.

When Carlsey Bibb and Caden Mills wanted something special for their engagement photo shoot, their photographer had an out-of-the-box idea: using the architecture of a local Olive Garden restaurant to simulate scenes from an Italian countryside.

The hack and resulting photos, taken by Shea Cravens, went viral online.

“When you want Italy vibes for your engagement photos, but you live in Tennessee … so you take your photos at Olive Garden,” reads the text in Cravens’ video.

The building’s stone facade, lush greenery and wooden pergolas fooled some viewers. The TikTok has garnered more than 262,000 views.

Commenters weren’t shy about voicing their opinions, and some applauded their creativity.

“If you threw those on the gram and tagged Italy I honestly wouldn’t even give it a second thought!” wrote one person.

“I would’ve never known it was an Olive Garden,” commented another.

There were also those rooting for the restaurant company to give the couple food at the reception.

“So this is where Olive Garden enters the comments and offers to cater the wedding right?” someone wrote.

But instead of unlimited breadsticks, Olive Garden announced Wednesday, Aug. 24, that it is sending the couple and the photographer on a free trip to Italy.

“We can’t wait to see you recreate this in Italy,” wrote Olive Garden in an Instagram post announcing the gift.

“Olive Garden is all about family, and we couldn’t resist jumping at the chance to give Carlsey and Caden a celebratory trip as they begin their own journey as a family,” Olive Garden told McClatchy News in a statement. “Shea, who captured the stunning engagement photos of Carlsey and Caden, is an extension of the start of that journey, and we wanted to celebrate with her as well.”

Bibb, whose wedding will be in October, said she was overwhelmed by the announcement.

“Italy has always been a dream destination for both of us so we were over the moon,” she told McClatchy News.

Before Olive Garden surprised them, Bibb said, they didn’t have honeymoon plans.

“We’ve had three months to plan our wedding, so (the) honeymoon kind of got put on the back burner,” she said. “I’ve never been to Europe at all before so this will be an incredible experience (for) all of us.”