00:00I decided to call it a lopish.
00:03I wanted the opposite of a wedding.
00:04I don't want any ghost chairs.
00:06I don't want any table settings.
00:08I don't want any whole bunch of roses.
00:10I don't want anything that feels like a wedding.
00:12If I see one more, you know, what is that dance floor
00:16with the logo on it, I'm gonna lose my mind.
00:18No, it's the opposite of a wedding
00:20was my interpretation of it.
00:26We met because I had a girlfriend here
00:28who was visiting for the holidays
00:29and everybody likes a summer in California.
00:31So she came over and she has a son
00:33and her son needed a haircut.
00:35And we went all the way on the other side of town.
00:37And I'm like, I have to go to the restroom so bad.
00:39So we finally get to his shop.
00:40I go running in.
00:41He has a iguana, big old iguana sitting out in front of the shop.
00:46I don't even know it's real.
00:47I'm like, oh, what is this thing?
00:48And I just come running in.
00:50I was kind of looking at her like she moving fast,
00:52you know, heading straight for the bathroom.
00:53And she's like, can I go to the bathroom?
00:54But she moved exactly where it was.
00:56He's a popular barber.
00:57So he has lines of people waiting.
00:59And I'm like, we're going to be here all day.
01:01So I'm sitting in the car.
01:02I have to go to the bathroom again.
01:03So I go into his shop about four times to use the restroom.
01:08But I looked at her and I was like, wait a minute,
01:09that's, that's, that girl look good right there.
01:12Like, man, I want to get to know her.
01:14So I had a little small talk.
01:16We small talked about the iguana.
01:18And then I thought it was over.
01:19So I was like, man, I should have said something about her number.
01:21But then I saw her on my cousin's Snapchat.
01:25And they was like, you know, doing some production and everything about the hair.
01:29And I just see her bouncing, bounce around and dance a little bit in the video.
01:32And I'm looking like, wait a minute.
01:34That's her. Yeah, that's her.
01:35That's wifey, man.
01:35I got to really tap into her.
01:37Like, you know, found her on Instagram.
01:39And I just shot my shot.
01:44You know, Andre and I dated for four and a half years before we got there.
01:48I was heavily in my career.
01:50You know, I only moved to California to focus on my career and the things that I wanted to do.
01:54And then he came around like, you know, like a beautiful surprise, like India Aree would say,
01:59and kind of like softened that for me.
02:01Just being entrepreneurs, both being in the beauty industry,
02:05we just kind of came together very naturally.
02:07And I just felt really comfortable and at ease with him.
02:12Before I popped the question, I was trying to really figure out where I wanted to do it at.
02:17My mind was the Grand Canyon.
02:20But we was already planning this trip to Aspen and it was getting cold and it started snowing.
02:24And I'm like, you know what, that might be a better thing.
02:26A weekend getaway just to have fun.
02:29And so here we are on our way to Aspen.
02:32Two weeks before the engagement, he was just weird.
02:34And I, my attendants went up like, oh, he's acting funny.
02:36Something was wrong.
02:38She over there thinking I'm acting weird and all this stuff.
02:40Because I'm actually just trying to go run all over the place.
02:43And then me knowing that we were going to go to Aspen, I had to go pay for the ring, pay it off,
02:48grab it, then come back and make sure it was, you know, everything was perfect.
02:52You know, as soon as he changed, the man changed the schedule, you know, something going on.
02:56So he was just really uptight and he's a really laid back, consistent guy.
03:00And that's one of the things I really like about him.
03:02You know, she over there asking me questions and I'm trying my best and I have to break.
03:05So we get to Aspen and he's still kind of jittery.
03:09I'm like, what's going on?
03:11You know, I found out her friend was out there and she was out there celebrating her birthday.
03:14So I was like, oh, she should come hang out with us, you know.
03:16First of all, it's beautiful. I don't have to tell you about Aspen.
03:19The mountains, the sleigh ride, the snow, the homes.
03:21Everything was just like really, really magical and nice.
03:24He was like, you should invite her on the sleigh ride with us.
03:26And I was like, why would she want to go on the sleigh ride with us?
03:29You know, I'm trying to find something to do to, you know, some nice place to propose.
03:34And she was like, okay, well, it's the sleigh ride.
03:36It's the proposal bridge and we're going to ride right by it.
03:40And I was like, wait a minute, sleigh ride?
03:41Okay, that's pretty cool.
03:42So I was like, hey, you guys, let's go over here.
03:44It's just like frozen river, you know.
03:46It was like that.
03:46It was like a frozen river, right?
03:48So it's snow, it's pretty, it's everything, right?
03:51So the snow, when I jumped off the sleigh, I was like, it's nice.
03:56He was a mess.
03:57It wasn't four feet, it just felt like four feet.
03:59And he was really not himself.
04:01And I'm excited to be off the sleigh.
04:04Like he said, I'm a little silly, so I'm like, I'll be like, yes, it's snow.
04:07I got this long wig on.
04:09She's up there bopping around.
04:10She goes to the bridge like she's happy.
04:11She's playing around.
04:13And as soon as she turned around, that's when I popped it up and boom,
04:15had the ring right there blinging in her face like blah, blah.
04:19When I saw the ring, I was really surprised.
04:22It was a good shape, a great size, the clarity was good.
04:26The background was incredible.
04:27It was just a really awesome moment.
04:30But once she said, I do, I was like, yeah, I'm in the game.
04:32And I was so happy because it just showed me that despite all the other plans that we had
04:37going on, his plan was for me to be his wife.
04:40And he had been working on that plan.
04:41He had been saving for that plan.
04:43And it just mellowed my heart.
04:44So I was just so excited that he did that.
04:54The motivation behind having a Vegas desert wedding was that baby said,
04:58we're either going to the justice of the peace or we're going to Vegas.
05:02And I had to pick one.
05:04We wanted a lounge kind of vibe, eat, drink, chill.
05:08We don't live far from Vegas.
05:09And it just seems like something easy to do.
05:11We could do something small like eloping, but still tell our family so that,
05:16you know, they could come if they wanted.
05:17So the idea of doing an elopement sound like the perfect plan.
05:22We had a couple of places to choose from.
05:26Towel was at like top of my list.
05:28Then she took me to the Waldorf.
05:30And just the luxury of it, the customer service, everything about it.
05:35Even though it was a ballroom, it had a wraparound deck that overlooked the Vegas Strip.
05:42On Memorial Day weekend, she was sold.
05:45We paid for a certain half of the ballroom, but they gave us the full extent of the whole ballroom.
05:52That was really an added bonus that really elevated the experience.
05:55And once we had that opportunity to go to the Waldorf, there was no looking back.
06:00If it wasn't a pandemic, we probably would have had well over 250 people.
06:03I just felt like it was simple because no one was really having events.
06:07I had big ideas.
06:09I had plans.
06:09I had a nice budget.
06:11So it really worked in our favor, actually, the pandemic for the wedding.
06:16When you say planning, I would say that I had assistants that helped execute my vision.
06:22One was in D.C. and she couldn't deal with Sin City.
06:27We learned that quickly.
06:29One over Promise.
06:30And the last planner that I was able to get, she did like the day of.
06:34But visually, concept, branding, elopes, that's all me.
06:40Styling for the wedding, I went to a lot of different wedding stores and tried on beautiful dresses.
06:45Oh, they all fit so good.
06:47It was just overwhelming.
06:49I'm telling my girlfriend, she's like, oh, no, you got to get a stylist.
06:52I'm like, yes, let's get a stylist.
06:54So I was referred to Ashley.
06:56I called Ashley up.
06:57I'm like, listen, Ashley, I don't really have time to do all of this stuff with the dress.
07:01I'm not having a bridal party because that would be something like a wedding.
07:04So no bridesmaids or anything like that.
07:06And I don't have anybody to help me and I don't want anybody really around me in my space on my wedding day.
07:13I want them to get ready and do their thing and allow me to do my thing.
07:17And I just want somebody who can be there to assist me on my day.
07:21So come to the day of the wedding, he shows up.
07:24My wedding, what time was I, what, about 6.30?
07:26He shows up at 2 with the dresses, five outfits for me to pick from.
07:30And he's so good, he didn't even fit me.
07:34They were all tailored to fit me like a glove when he walked in.
07:38I was excited with it at the end.
07:40I was just like, yes, dress.
07:41I was excited.
07:42Trying to get my look.
07:45That took some time and, you know, I wanted to be perfect.
07:47I've never seen her dress.
07:49I've been working out for this.
07:50I'm like, I'm just married.
07:51I've been working out.
07:52And I'm trying to be real slick.
07:53So I want the, I want the suit to like lay on me.
07:56You know what I'm saying?
07:57But I just knew I didn't want the suit that didn't pop.
08:00So Ashley came.
08:01The last store we went to, when they brought the suit out,
08:04I was like, you know what?
08:05That's totally different from what I've seen.
08:07It was A1.
08:09Thanks, Ashley.
08:10I felt like a king waiting for his queen come down that aisle.
08:19I wanted to have some activities to do.
08:24I'm all about the activities.
08:26I'm all about the experience.
08:27So I figured Vegas gave us all of that in one.
08:30With the people that did come, I was so happy.
08:32And I was loving to see my mom facing you that she was there.
08:35At least 75 people flew from D.C. to Vegas.
08:39So it was a great turnout.
08:40More than we expected.
08:41But with the pandemic, we were still able to stay in budget.
08:45Because we were able to get things at this time of age.
08:48So looking for the reception, the perfect spot was,
08:52I thought it was Tao.
08:52Yes.
08:53I thought it was Tao.
08:54Because the way they was going to, you know,
08:56the look of it, it was real nice.
08:58But when we went to the ward off,
09:01their staff and the way they said it was going to take care of us,
09:04that's what sold me.
09:05And the way they kept every,
09:07every question Rika asked or everything she wanted,
09:10they said, we got you.
09:11It was low key perfect because the way the sound was,
09:17when we had the DJ in there and when I, you know,
09:19we got to have the fun.
09:21It was cool.
09:23They let us do everything we wanted to do.
09:25Everything we wanted to do.
09:26And you know, we like to turn up.
09:27So it was not a problem.
09:29That's right.
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