Feature of the Month by Joanae King of Naetorious.com
THE BEGINNING
As a girl, I did dream of having a big ole wedding with everyone (including Oprah) to attend my fancy shmancy exchange of vows with the man I would spend my entire life with. I wanted a dress like Princess Diana, and flowers freshly picked from the Botanical Garden to adorn my bouquet. So lets fast forward to when I did change my last name… The first time. I wore all black and I was pregnant with my first son. No one but him and I were there, and some people who worked at the courthouse were witnesses to the event. I always thought that we would eventually have a wedding, but as the days, months and YEARS passed, I realized that all I really wanted was a divorce. This is when I began to appreciate the fact that we did not spend a million dollars to fly Oprah into town to see me marry the wrong man. I made a promise to myself that I wouldn’t get caught up in a show for other people when I do find Mr. Right…. so lemme tell you why we chose a destination wedding when I did find him.
FOCUS
When my husband initially proposed to me, my big wedding fantasy had fizzled. We had intentions on having a small and intimate wedding of about 40 of our closest friends and family. We talked about colors and location, along with a DJ and flower arrangements. About 2 months into planning, We both came to the realization that we needed to really refocus our logic and way of thinking. At the time, we were both not in the best financial situation to even have a nice barbecue; let alone have a wedding with guest, food and drinks. Not to mention dresses, hair, nails, etc. All of the things that we both couldn’t see spending money on when we collectively had four mouths to feed, along with a dog and ourselves. Plus, with it being both of our second time around, we wanted to focus much more on the marriage, and not the wedding.
TIME
There was no second guessing when it came to us being positive about wanting to spend our entire lives together. I knew I would marry him by the third date. No joke. We both were ready to make it official, but the whole wedding thing just became less appealing with each passing day. On the other hand, I was not about to be in anyone’s courthouse again, nor was I waiting mad long to make the man I KNOW was made for me, MINE! So what next? A resort! That’s what! How cool would it be to be able to plan a wedding and a honeymoon all in one trip? Guest are to include the only two people that ultimately matter. You guessed it! Me and my man. By going this route, we were able to have the romance and the ambiance without taking a direct hit to our already ‘petite’ bank accounts. We found a really sweet resort in Jamaica, where we spent an entire week celebrating our new unison.
INTIMACY
I am pretty sure that you can tell that I am pretty transparent when it comes to my feelings and expressions. My husband however, is the opposite. he isn’t into having an audience during time of emotion, be it good or bad. This is actually a characteristic that I have adapted from him…well, somewhat. Being on a hill in Jamaica overlooking the ocean as we confessed our love for one another while becoming one was something that I really am glad only we (and the minister) got to witness. Almost like that episode of Martin. Babyface wasn’t there though. LOL!
We did say that when we hit a milestone year, we will celebrate with the people we love. I do love weddings, but I am perfectly satisfied with the route we chose to take.
[Tweet “Planning a wedding? There are definitely benefits to having a wedding party of two!”]
About the Author:
Meet Joanae King. Wifestyle strategist and content creator of Naetorious.com, wife, mother of 4, and self proclaimed Wigologist. Joanae decided to create a platform to celebrate marriage and all that it entails. With society spewing negativity all over the thought of marriage (especially in the Black Community), what better way to reinforce the celebration of matrimony than to create positive content! The purpose and goal of her blog is to restore and expand on the joys of marriage, and touch a few hearts with her experiences.
Check out Naetorious.com and be sure to follow along on social media!
A huge thank you to Joanae for an awesome post! As a wife myself, her wifestyle blog is one of my absolute favorites!
Did you consider having a wedding party of two? If you’re single or engaged, is this something you would think about doing? I’d love to hear from you!
Comments