00:00We got married in April, we conceived in July, and then when we had our wedding in September, I was expecting.
00:07And although we didn't know the gender, it's really cool to say, you were a part of mommy, so now I want to give a part of my day to you.
00:15So hopefully she will find it to be as stylish as I did.
00:18We met online on an app called Coffee Meets Bagel, and I actually paid 99 cents so that I could connect with Warren.
00:33And when we connected, I told him if it didn't work out, he owed me a dollar, so it worked out.
00:41Warren was very intentional with me in terms of, you know, the amount of dates, the frequency of the dates.
00:48And his character just really was the thing that kind of turned me onto knowing that this would be a pretty serious commitment.
00:57Early on, before we really titled it anything, I felt like there was a time my mom had come into town, and I was like, yeah, this is the one that I want you to meet, Ma, so let me go ahead and throw her name out there, let her know who she is, what she's about.
01:14And just so much about Lauren leading up to that point, just one thing after another, it was like, Lauren hit, you know, not necessarily a checkbox, but kind of touched me in so many ways that, you know, really gave me that confidence of this is the one.
01:31I knew that a proposal was coming because we had completed 22 weeks of pre-engagement counseling, and we started pre-engagement counseling pretty early on into our relationship.
01:45And so after about a year and a half of dating, you know, months leading up to it, of course, because I had to get everything in a row, had to get the blessings, had to get the ring and whatnot.
01:54But I knew that when the time was right, that I was going to absolutely jump on the opportunity.
02:01Marriage was definitely a topic in our relationship because of the intention of taking the classes and talking with our pastors and things like that.
02:10So it was a theme, but the time I did not know for sure.
02:14And we took a trip to Italy and I wanted a proposal because I wanted to, you know, like, of course it was like, oh, we're going to Italy.
02:24But Warren was not, he was not budging.
02:28And he was like, that's so cliche.
02:30Like, we're going to Italy.
02:31I'm going to propose in Italy, really?
02:33And I'm like, yeah, you should.
02:34The day we actually landed in Italy was the day where I was like, OK, we're in Florence.
02:40We're having an amazing day of horseback riding and wine tasting and just an opportunity to explore day one.
02:49And so we had this beautiful day and I was really trying to find a ring on Warren.
02:57And I was like in the luggage, you know, in his pocket.
03:01There was nothing.
03:03And so I kind of just surrendered to like, OK, he meant it.
03:06Like, this is cliche and he's not doing it.
03:09We actually had a photographer following us around just because we wanted to capture some of the moments.
03:14And, you know, they did an excellent job and the backdrop was beautiful.
03:19And I was like, hey, it's go time.
03:22And right before we took one of our pictures, you know, I dropped down on me and posed.
03:27My maternal grandmother's name is Florence and he did it in Florence and it was so perfect.
03:34Leading up to the day, I did have the opportunity to speak with Lauren's godfather, who is, you know, integral in our life.
03:40So I had an opportunity to get his blessing and we were excited to share the news with him.
03:45So he was essentially the first person who knew and it just added to that memory.
03:49April 25th is really special to us.
03:53It was the day that we went on our first date and Warren actually received a Bible when he was three years old and the date was April 25th.
04:00So it's just kind of like serendipitous for us.
04:03We recently had our baby.
04:05We got induced on April 25th.
04:08And so it's just a special day.
04:11But when COVID hit, we were devastated because it was important for us to be married.
04:18You know, the wedding was the celebration, but the marriage is something that we really wanted.
04:23We never lived together.
04:24We, you know, had been navigating our relationship an hour apart, essentially.
04:31And so our amazing wedding planner was able to figure out a way for us to do it, just the two of us.
04:38So we had to have a couple of tough conversations leading up to April 25th when we originally intended to have our wedding because of the date meaning so much to us.
04:47So, you know, it was tough to make the calls, send the messages out to so many friends and family, especially given that, I mean, over half of them were from out of the area.
04:57So we went to a local building here in D.C. and it was a beautiful building.
05:02The aesthetic was perfect for a very intimate ceremony.
05:06And so we were really thankful to just kind of begin our lives together, despite having everything shut down completely due to COVID.
05:16Getting an opportunity to have sun above our heads, kind of perfect lighting, perfect backdrop.
05:21It was beautiful.
05:22And then, you know, to see Lauren kind of pop out of the car with what she said wasn't her wedding dress.
05:28But, you know, it was, it was beautiful, you know, to see her come up those steps was really just a perfect day.
05:36Warren's dad walked me down the aisle with his sister's blessing, which was a very, very special moment for me.
05:43My father-in-law means the world to me is actually an answered prayer to have a father-in-law that I have such a strong relationship with.
05:53Our mothers attended via FaceTime because my mother's in Texas.
05:58Warren's mother is in Florida.
05:59We kind of talked about it on whether we have people in attendance or not.
06:04You know, we didn't want to take any experience away from anybody that was originally invited, of course, and was unable to attend due to the traveling guidelines.
06:13So we left it with just my dad.
06:14But then I kind of sent out some last Hail Mary text messages to friends and family that are local and say, hey, you know, we're going to do this.
06:22But we'd love to have some folks come through and just, you know, remind us of how loved we are.
06:27And we had some friends that showed up and showed out and, you know, made signs and honked horns and whatnot.
06:34And, you know, we're really thankful for everyone who was able to attend.
06:37The overall theme for our wedding for September 20th, when we were able to have the big celebration, was just neutrals and glam.
06:45We wanted the palette to be very clean.
06:48We used a lot of champagnes and greenery.
06:52And my wedding dress was a dream come true.
06:56My best friends and I took a train to New York just for the day.
07:02It literally was we were there for maybe six hours and I found the dress and I was so elated.
07:10All the embellishments that I wanted, it was subtle, but it was intricate.
07:15It was just a beautiful silhouette for my body type.
07:18And so I was very thankful that I found the dress and I was able to afford the dress.
07:24And I was able to get the dress because with COVID, there were lots of production delays and some hiccups with shipping and finishing touches.
07:36And so I felt really grateful that I received the dress in time.
07:40I was able to hide it from Warren.
07:41But it just felt like the perfect dress for me.
07:45We had, you know, our pastor there who married us before.
07:49And then just having, you know, my godfather walk me down the aisle, having our mothers walk down the aisle, his sister, you know, his dad was his best man.
07:58And so just having all of those elements of like family and intimate moments, it felt just as special to me as our original day.
08:08Of course, before you always talk with the guys, you're like, all right, you know, cry, you know, what's going to happen next.
08:14But I think, you know, I was just in shock, you know, as she came down the aisle, the doors opened.
08:21I saw her and I had my time as the audience, of course, panned to her to gather myself because, you know, I saw how beautiful she was in April.
08:31And though it was a different look, she was still, you know, beautiful.
08:34And I was excited to really see my wife walk down the aisle and we kind of make that covenant in front of our family.
08:41And just to make it fun, we included elements of like our southern roots.
08:48We had a second line band from New Orleans and we had, you know, like southern music playing and Zadiko, which is very, very southern.
08:57And so we had a lot of, you know, elements that were pieces of Warren and pieces of me that came together.
09:04And it was really cool to see my side of the family do, you know, cool dances with his side of the family.
09:10And it's like, how do you know that day?
09:12Because Lauren and I have southern roots, we wanted to incorporate that into, you know, our day.
09:18So, you know, my father's from Alabama.
09:21Lauren's mother and her family have roots in Louisiana.
09:25You mix it together.
09:25You get a Texas Bama.
09:27And I went to the University of Texas.
09:30And we had a Texas Bama in the making.
09:33Oh, little baby.
09:34His dad had an Alabama flag.
09:36My mom had a Louisiana flag.
09:38And then Warren and I together held a Texas flag.
09:42And so we kind of like shook them to the lyrics.
09:44And it was like, awesome.
09:46It kicked off the reception, right?
09:48Our wedding was the perfect night.
09:50In terms of the actual day, there were not any hiccups that we knew about.
09:56And I think that that's a credit to our amazing wedding planners.
09:59You know, I think in a lot of cases, or at least I'd say for mine, guys are kind of just, you know, on the ride.
10:06But no, I think we, I think the day moves seamlessly.
10:09And what memories we have are cherished.
10:12And we definitely remember them.
10:14And I'm pleased to have them.
10:16As I reflect upon our wedding day, the thing that sticks out the most to me is that I had an opportunity to do it twice.
10:25And I would choose Warren all over again.
10:28And, you know, I was like, I did it right the first time, but I really did it right the second time.
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