Happily Ever After: Victoria & Phil's Anniversary Session in Baltimore

Victoria and Phil celebrate their second wedding anniversary in this romantic anniversary session in beautiful Baltimore, Maryland.

Inspired by the cotton theme for 2nd wedding anniversaries, they selected traditional African prints for their session attire, creating a casual atmosphere allowing their personalities to shine through. Victoria and Phil were married on May 27, 2017 in a beautiful ceremony in Augusta, Georgia. Enjoy their insights into married as they celebrate their union.

Wife & Husband: Victoria & Phil
Anniversary Session Date: Jul 06, 2019
Anniversary Session Location: Baltimore, Maryland

When did you get married and where? We got married May 27, 2017, in Augusta, Georgia at the Legends Club.

What was your wedding like? Our wedding day theme was “Happily Ever After” it was like a real-life fairytale. We decided on a traditional ceremony and reception with a coordinated first dance. It was so much fun! We had 165 of our closest family and friends in attendance. Our wedding planning team made our vision come true with fuchsia and silver as our wedding colors. Truly a dream come true!

As you celebrate your anniversary, what do you remember most about your wedding day? As we celebrate our anniversary we remember the original vows we recited to one another. We actually keep them our on our dresser to remind ourselves of the vows we made to each other and the lifelong commitment made before God.

Was there anything you would have done differently for your wedding? There isn’t anything I would have done differently for our wedding. Our bridal party, and family helped us out tremendously.

What are your favorite things to do as a couple? As a couple, we love to travel, run and workout together. We believe that life is about making memories and not necessarily splurging on material things.

Who cooks? As Phil’s Wife, I enjoy cooking for him the majority of the time. But, he surprises me regularly by cooking dinner or breakfast for me.

Do you have any children or pets? We do not have children yet but, prayerfully that will change soon. We do have a 2-year-old morkie, he is our fur-baby and he is named Steele.

When it comes to Career, what do both of you do and how do you make time for each other? I am a Major in the United States Army on active duty. I am a personnel systems manager and I am also a licensed minister. Phil is a special education teacher, with a specialist degree in instructional technology. He has various other teaching certifications and is able to teach grades K-12 but currently teaches in high school.

What would you say are the most important elements for a successful marriage? The most important elements of a successful marriage are transparency, communication even when it is uncomfortable – always be honest, pray together, serve the community together, support one another in your goals, and keep dating one another. We make time for each other by leaving work at work and going on date nights at least once a week.

How do you keep the spark in your marriage? We keep the spark going in our marriage by keeping the element of surprise alive and well. We send each other weekly affirmations about why we are thankful for each other and we make it a point to take a vacation once a year. We treat it like another honeymoon.

Tell us about the shoot. What inspired it? Our 2nd Anniversary shoot was inspired by the cotton theme for 2nd wedding anniversaries. We wanted to go more casual this year and let our personalities shine through. We also wanted original African attire so we hired a stylist to create the amazing pieces. We also wanted to highlight the beauty of Baltimore, Maryland.

What do you love most about one another? Victoria – “what I love most about Phil is his ability to love me despite my flaws and motivating me to achieve my goals personally and professionally.”
Phil – “What I love most about Victoria is her ability to be fearless and fight for our love daily.”

What advice can you give for newlyweds? Our advice for newlyweds is to forgive quickly, be open to change, keep God first in every decision you make together, discuss finances before marriage and decide on a plan to get debt-free, counseling or therapy is ok, love without conditions and learn each other’s love language.