Real {California} Wedding: Jamia + Antonio

Have you ever had a workplace crush or noticed that special someone in a different department  or a different building but just never made an effort to speak?  Chances are, you may have missed out on the love of your life…  Jamia and Antonio worked in the same department store for a year (he was on the first floor, and Jamia on the third floor) before they ever really made a connection.  Jamia recalls that moment, “After a year of just being casual co-workers, one day we were both going to lunch at the same time and found ourselves traveling on opposite sides of the store escalator.  He decided now was his chance and yelled in the middle of the store at me to go to lunch with him.  Embarrassed and flattered, I accepted his crazy invitation and…5 years later he asked me to marry him.”

It was during a romantic evening on Laguna Beach when Antonio asked Jamie that magical question. “We have a tradition every summer that we attend a Monday night “movie in the park” event that the Orange County Performing Arts Center hosts during the month of July.  We had both been working long hours at work and finally had the next day off together and planned to enjoy our evening out and spend the next day in San Diego.  Little did I know…he had other plans.  He arrived first…and when I finally got there he was sitting with flowers, wine, and dinner for two.  Always a romantic man, I just thought he was being his usual thoughtful self and sat down to enjoy the movie.  When the movie was over, we gathered our things and decided to drive to Laguna to take a walk on the beach.  We parked our car, walked down to the beach, laid out our blanket and finished off the rest of our wine looking out to the ocean.  I turned around for just a few seconds and when I turned back around he was on one knee with the ring in his hand.  I started to cry and couldn’t believe it was happening, but he was in fact asking me to be his wife…and I said ‘yes.'”

When a Personal Stylist and an Interior Designer come together to plan a fete, you can expect nothing but pure design bliss.  The stylish couples’ Pasadena, California wedding was something like The Secret Garden meets 1920’s vintage charm.  It was simply stunning and brilliantly captured by Dana of Dana Grant Photography.    Meet the couple.

FROM THE BRIDE:

“We wanted our wedding to be formal, but not stiff.  We picked the Ambassador Campus in Pasadena, CA because it offered the 1920s vintage esthetic in juxtaposition with the natural landscape of the garden.  In addition, it gave us the freedom to bring in outside vendors and friends to give us the fun, social atmosphere we wanted.  We were inspired by the location itself and wanted to blend the old with the new.  We wanted our wedding to be unique and feel like us.”

ON INCORPORATING CULTURE:

“It is tradition in the African-American community for the bride and groom to “jump the broom” at the end of their ceremony. ..and we wanted to follow in our ancestors footsteps.  A special family member is asked to decorate the broom and present it to the bride and groom on their wedding day.  For our day, my wonderful cousin, Michelle, and my mother, Peggy, decorated the broom in my favorite color (purple) and we jumped it together as husband and wife.”

THE PERFECT MOMENT:

“The most memorable part of the wedding day was the moment when we meet each other at the altar.  After a long year of planning, everything came together and we saw each other for the first time all day minutes before we became husband and wife.  I remember thinking how good he looked in his white jacket…and he got to see me in my wedding dress for the first time and was overwhelmed with emotions.  It was a perfect moment.”

{LOVE BIRDS}

“The one thing I love most would be her acceptance of the world. She is always open minded to try anything like food or learning new cultures. This all allows me to grow with her as we learn new things together.” – ANTONIO

“The thing I love most about Antonio is selfless attitude.  He is the most generous, thoughtful person and I am very blessed to have him as my husband.”  – JAMIA

DETAILS

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