How did you all meet?
I was studying at Ohio University and was interning in DC one summer when I met Charles at a cookout. We instantly hit it off and spent the entire summer hanging out together. I returned to Ohio to finish my last year of school. Charles decided to make things “official” and we did a year of a long-distance relationship. After graduating, I got a job in DC and moved to the DMV to be with my sweetheart. After dating for about 6 years, Charles FINALLY popped the question. He surprised me with a beautiful cocktail party filled with friends and family and my dream engagement ring. We were engaged for about a year and a half before our big day.

Anything super unique about the big day?
One of the most special parts of our big day was the news we shared with our immediate friends and family—I was pregnant! (Luckily not yet showing)

Where did you all go on your honeymoon?
Since I was baking Baby Brammer, we decided to hold off our honeymoon. We’re planning a baby-free getaway in 2020.

Any tips you would share with other couples getting married? Learn to roll with the punches and have fun with the planning! Not everything is always going to work out—you’ll deal with annoying family members, wants that are out of budget, favorite vendors that may let you down, etc. Learn to adapt and adjust your expectations. Also, RELAX! Seriously, some of the things we fret about are really not that serious.

What was your planning experience like?
I loved our planning process. Sometimes it got overwhelming when dealing with people and our budget, but overall I loved putting together an event that represented us, our cultures, and our families. It also helped that we had the best wedding planner ever, Natalie Melton, with Event Design Group. She made the whole process fun and engaging. I never had that “bride meltdown” during planning.

Where did you wed and why did you pick the venue/site?
We wed in Baltimore, Maryland at The Assembly Room. It really was a big coincidence that this ended up being our venue. Charles is a graduate of Morgan State University and we often hung out in Baltimore, but we never sought Baltimore as a wedding destination. All we knew was that we wanted a rustic/industrial vibe. We stumbled upon this old night club—which funny enough Charles was a regular of during his college days—and we instantly fell in love. It was a gamble though. When we first visited the venue it was under renovation and it was a mess! We were one of the first events held in the space, so we were a bit hesitant. But we trusted our instinct and are so glad that we did.

The Fashion
Tell us about the wedding dress!
I wanted a timeless look. I wanted to be able to look back at my wedding pictures 10 years later and still love the simplicity of it all. To achieve the timeless chic look, I had my bridesmaids in all black. All of the bridesmaids had a unique dress from Jay Godfrey. The bridesmaid dresses were made of the same beautiful crêpe that was so flattering to the various body shapes of the girls. Although different dresses, having the same designer and fabric gave the overall look such a unique yet uniform look.

I wore a very natural glam with pink and nude makeup and subtle shimmer. My long hair was pinned back into a low bun to highlight my sweetheart neckline. I wore a Justin Alexander satin mermaid dress with a dramatic flared tulle train that flattered my curvy frame. My favorite accessory that day was a gold rosary that my grandmother gave me. It’s been in the family for at least 3 generations!

Describe the Groom’s and Groomsmen look
Black tuxedos all around. Charles told the guys to sport a classic black tuxedo with peak lapels of their choice. Charles wore a classic tuxedo with a shawl collar. Charles gifted all of the groomsmen matching bowtie, suspenders, and socks to achieve a uniform look.

Your Wedding Style
What inspired your theme/style? What was your color palette? Why was it important to you?
Throughout the entire planning process, I kept saying “I don’t want theme or color palette.” But after sharing my inspiration photos with our wedding planner she was definitely able to pick up on my “non-theme” theme! I didn’t have an obvious color scheme, but I definitely had a style of dark dramatic elements with bright greenery. We opted for copper metal, black and grey, white florals, and bright greenery for our overall “theme.” It was dark and moody, yet sexy and chic. Additionally, we added some fun elements from our “party” lifestyle! We love having a good time at a club, so our escort cards were little “fake ID” cards for everyone. Having these little touches was important to us because we wanted our wedding to reflect our lifestyle and our personalities! Everyone knows Charles & Deli love a good time, and our wedding reflected that!

Ceremony & Reception
Tell us about your ceremony décor.
First and foremost, I need to highlight that The Assembly Room is the most gorgeous industrial space with high open ceilings, red brick graffiti walls, and black industrial beams. With me being from The Bronx, it was so representative of the city vibe that I love.

Natalie designed the perfect décor for the space. She accentuated the industrial vibes with copper metals, smoky grey acrylic chairs, and marble chargers. To soften things up, we filled the space with various white flowers and vibrant greenery.

During the ceremony did you use and religious or cultural elements or traditions?
Our wedding was quite personalized. Charles’s uncle married us and incorporated some scriptures and snippets of our premarital counseling sessions. He asked our guests to take a vow with us—which was truly special and unique.

What inspired your reception style?
Caribbean Carnival all the way!! We opened up the party with a surprise and had gorgeous carnival dancers come out and hype up the crowd. They were dressed in traditional colorful samba outfits and they helped get the party started. In addition to the Samba dancers, we had mini Jamaican and Dominican flags for our guests to wave in the air. For a minute it felt more like Carnival than a wedding—and we loved it!

What menu items did you serve?
We wanted their menu to align with our cultural Jamaican and Dominican roots. We took our friends and family to the Caribbean with foods like Jerk Snapper, plantains chips, mini beef patties, and Presidente beers.

Describe your cake.
We had two cakes! We served a traditional Dominican cake with pineapple and guava filling after dinner. And we also had pre-packaged cake boxes with Jamaican rum cake for guests to take home.

Favors?
My maid of honor owns a phenomenal candle company! So she created a unique scent and label for us and made mini candles for all of our guests to take away. People STILL rave about those candles and how amazing they smell.