ACT I: THE PREPARATION
It’s definitely true that the morning of the big day can bring all the jitters! Maybe it’s from the lack of sleep the night before or just the constant worry around if all the months of planning will pay off. Either way, you can 100% believe I had wedding day jitters, but in my own special way. I was very calm the morning of our wedding just because it honestly felt like another day (weird I know, but this is just how I operate; even as a competitive dancer nerves wouldn’t hit me until it was officially minutes away from being showtime). I wasn’t second-guessing my decision to marry David because I knew/know that he is the man that God specifically made just for me. Our bond and connection is something indescribable and I was more so excited to start our new chapter together than anything else. I wanted to make sure I had everything packed up and ready to go (check out my Wedding Day Checklist post) even though fortunately my Mom & Grandparents lived 15 minutes away from the venue just in case we did forget anything.
But back to the morning of! I was in a good headspace and it was important to me to try to be present at the moment. From spending the night at my mom’s house with my girls, Mari & Christina, the night before to talking all night with them and my Mom and then even talking some more with them and my Nana the morning of – I made sure that I soaked up every moment. Now I did have to start taking some curveballs pretty early (like immediately when I got into the car to head to the venue), but I did it with as much grace as I knew how. From the pouring rain that came while we were getting ready to our 2nd makeup artist having car trouble, I knew that my crew would make it all come together ON TIME I might add (to know David and I is to know we hate running late and the same rules applied for our wedding day).
I sat and watched my girls, my Mom, and my Nana get ready before it was finally my turn. We were doing great on time (even after some unplanned mishaps) and everyone was doing their best to make sure I stayed as calm as possible through it all. As many of you know, July 3rd has always been a rough day due to the passing of my Great Grandmother 8 years ago, but for some reason, this year felt different and was filled with more excitement than sadness. Grateful for a tribe that provided that excitement on such a typically difficult day of the year. From goofing off to talking about old stories to making TikToks I think it’s safe to say we had more fun probably than the guys lol.
Finally, putting my ceremony dress on (for real this time) was another dream come true! When going dress shopping I didn’t cry like most brides, but I simply gasped when the consultant put it on me and I knew it was “the one”. It literally was everything that asked for all wrapped up into one dress. It was filled with so much detailing, a long dramatic train, and was altered to perfection! Now I did walk in saying that I DID NOT want a strapless dress. I wore strapless mermaid dresses to prom and for pageants and wanted my wedding day to be different. So I made probably my one mistake for the entire wedding and got straps made for this dress. Once everything came back in and we took a poll, of what felt like the entire bridal shop, and voted no straps. So to answer the IG question I received that is probably one thing I wished I saved my money on because I didn’t even use the custom straps that we ordered.
Another moment that made this day even more special was having my Mom and Nana by my side helping me get ready. It’s something about the love of 3 generations of Black Women together that is so magical and powerful. I am honored that I was able to grow up with the dynamic of 4 generations, but I know at this very moment my Gran Gran was with us. The presence in the dressing room alone uplifted me and they were right there to calm me down when the nerves hit me as my veil was placed in front of my face. There are no words for the bond that the 3 of us share and I will forever be grateful that they poured everything into me to make me the woman that I am today. After getting ready, I was on my way to the ceremony with a wedding car hire.
ACT II: THE CEREMONY
Out of all of the portions of our wedding, the ceremony will always hold a special place in my heart. Walking down the aisle was always a moment I dreamed of as a little girl, and now I can say it’s a moment I will cherish forever! Before the doors even opened I felt a sense of peace like no other and as soon as the doors opened I immediately locked eyes with David. It’s true what they say – no one else matters at that very moment. In a room full of almost 200 people I only could see my soon-to-be husband. That’s when the waterworks started for both of us. This was 4 years in the making. All of the late-night talks, all the dates, all of the counseling, lead us to this very moment. And to top it all off, after talking later, we realized we got emotional about something the majority of our guests knew nothing about.
On April 1st, 2021 I got the worst call imaginable from my Nana telling me that my Papa was diagnosed with Prostate Cancer. I was devastated. How come something like this not only happen to the man I love and raised me but also 3 months before he is supposed to walk me down the aisle. For weeks I cried thinking that the biggest part of my fairytale, my Papa walking me down the aisle/giving me away, wouldn’t be able to happen. Luckily, after several tests, we found that out that not only did we catch the cancer early, but that it was contained in one spot. My Papa then made the selfless decision to postpone his surgery until after the wedding so that he could give me away (PRAISE REPORT: My Papa’s surgery was on September 8th and his recovery is going GREAT! Thank you to everyone that did know what my family was going through and constantly checked on us and prayed for us during this difficult time). So not only were David and I emotional over the thought of us actually getting married but also at the thought of all of how precious life truly is. This moment almost didn’t get to happen, but my Papa fought to make it happen. I wouldn’t have had it any other way than having him by my side.
It was my bright idea to write our own vows. Being a fan of weddings and romantic comedies I always pictured reading my vows to my husband on our wedding day. Now David was not a fan, to say the least. We debated on and off since the engagement about if we should or should not recite our vows. His main concern was choking up in front of everybody plus we both get super nervous with public speaking, so why even do such a thing. But I still was completely down to get completely out of my comfort zone for the sake of an unforgettable moment. I obviously won the debate (as you can see) and I believe it was simply off of one argument alone – what better time than any do we have to confess our undying love for each other? OUR WEDDING DAY, DUH!
Now since it was my idea I did feel the pressure of making sure my vows were fire and David felt the pressure of me not being able to revise his work like I normally do (so he confided in other people from our wedding party lol). I really wanted someone to give me some feedback on my vows, but it was more important to me to let David be the first person to hear my vows the day of our wedding. I know I wrote and rewrote my vows countless amount of times, but I love that my message to him stuck and even made him cry. To this day, our wedding guests talk to us about how beautiful our vows were and I love that it was such as sacred moment between us and our guests. We, along with our guests, will forever remember the words exchanged on our special day and I love that for us!
Then comes the big kiss! This moment was definitely filled with a sign of relief. We did it! We are officially one under God and the hard part is over. Now it’s time to celebrate!
ACT III: PHOTO OP
Now time for the infamous wedding photos! Directly after the ceremony, the entire wedding party reported back in our ceremony space to take the wedding photos, while our guests enjoyed cocktail hour. We had a list of photos that we wanted to make sure were captured (advice for future brides and grooms: make sure that you give your wedding coordinator and photographer this list in advance). Having your day of coordinator go down the list of every single photo op (example: Bride & Groom + Bride Parents, Bride & Groom + Groom’s Parents, Bride & Groom + Bride’s Godparents, etc) will make things move a whole lot faster than trying to guess on the moment.
Once we were done with the main pictures David and I snuck away to take the first peek of our reception and to complete another photo op in our reception room before our guests were welcomed in. This was another special moment that made us both very emotional simply because Royal Luxury Events truly went above and beyond what we could have ever imagined! Obviously, I worked with them for months on how I pictured our big day, but seeing it come to life was a magical moment that we will never forget.
Then, David and I made our way back to the ceremony room to finish up pictures with our entire Bridal Party (as well as girls Bride Tribe & Groom Squad separately). We also took the time to get video footage as well with our bridal party (Steve Styles was on top of it y’all – highly recommend him)!
Lastly, we snuck off to take more shots together by the beautiful safe towards the exit of the Citadel Houston. We knew we wanted pictures there as soon as we toured the venue (on our list of must-have photos like I mentioned earlier). We took some pretty quick shots there so that we could finally make it to the secret passageway for our grand entrance officially as Mr. & Mrs. Hooey!
Hope you guys enjoyed Part I! Make sure you check out Part II this weekend and join us on The Hooey Hotline (via my IG Live @kaylashaehooey) this Saturday, September 25th at 7 pm CT for all things wedding + the inside scope of newlywed life!
