Country Club Wedding with Southern Charm by Keith Cephus

Anytime we get a submission from Keith Cephus Photography, we know what we’re getting.  Pure beauty.  This wedding is simple and intimate, with the prettiest Pronovias gown and an amazing venue.   Thanks Keith for sharing these pretty pictures with us!

The first encounter…

We both worked at the Department of State but on different shifts I use to work late hours and he worked from 6am to 2pm, he passed me in the hallway late one night, when he scheduled some overtime hours and I noticed he was concentrating really hard on what ever he was reading and I said “looking at it wont change it.” We laughed for a few minutes and later on the next morning he met me for a morning walk and asked me for my phone number. I wrote it down on a little piece of paper and told him “you better not give it out to anyone”. He later told me he was so intimidated that he almost didnt call me. He called and we have never stop talking.

How he proposed…

On christmas night 2010, we were at my godmothers house spending time with my godmother, who just lost her husband the previous year, on christmas morning. My sisters recommended playing a game after dinner and this time it was a game they created it was cross between Go Fish and Scrabble. You had to spell a word from the letters you fished out of the pink pale. I guess the plan didn’t go exactly the way they imagined becuase my sisters grew so frustrated that I wasnt getting the right words, that they took all the letters out of the pale and spelled ” Cute Tee Will You Marry Me” It took me a few moments to figure out what it said and when I turned around he was behind me on bending knee. My mother and sisters screamed so loud that I missed him ask “The question” and he thought I was hesitating because I said no.  LOl!

Wedding theme…

The theme of our wedding was “Family tying us all together” The venue was the easiest task, we wanted a place that incorporated where we met and our southern roots. The Greenbrier was perfect, it looks just like the White House and we met in DC at work. The southern theme and decor of the interior of the historic resort tied it all together. Addtionally the reception Room was called the chespaeake, The city where Chris and I spend our weekends with my twin sister.  My twin sister did most of the planning, to include signing us up for the show “say yes to the dress bridesmaid”, which aired. I had a very opinionated bridal party and the show provided a quick solution to a family decesion. Our invitation were made ut of mulberry paper, which reminded me of the trees that i use to play under with my cousins. My challenges was keeping everyone happy. I was the first of 3 sisters to get married and one of them was my twin sister and her separation anxiety was high. I wanted to keep her assured that I would always be her sister and our bond would not change!

Something borrowed…“Chris and I were very close to our grandparents and losing them the year before our wedding was hard, so we tried to include them anyway that we could.  My grandmother had 14 children and I was given a brooch that my grandmother used to wear on one of her Sunday dresses and I wore it in my hair.  I also inherited a quilt that was presented to me with a note, “Although I am not here on your wedding day I am here with you, forever in spirit.”

The story is, all of her children received a handmade quilt that she made and all the quilts that were left were to be given to her 56 grandchildren, my number in line is somewhere between 52-54, so I knew that I wasn’t going to get one, but I was surprised when my aunts and my sisters gave me my very last gift as a single woman – my grandmother’s quilt. I wrapped up in it and woke up on my wedding day happy.”

The best memory…

My most memorable part is the father daughter dance. My twin sister stood behind my father and guided his movements to ensure that he didn’t fall (health is up and down) and to help him stand long enough, to make sure I had a father daughter dance to remember. That was the greatest gift if all!

Chris’ most memorable moment: walking down the aisle after we were pronounced husband and wife. Everything we waited for was finally official. The guests were all cheering, clapping, crying. The world knew at that moment that we were bonded forever.  It was his high, his moment of fame and he will never forget that moment.

You Make Loving You So Easy

He loves that I inspire him to do and try things that he never would have. It’s one of the things he looks forward to on a weekly basis, whether it’s trying crazy foods, how he dresses (wearing bow ties), activities like sky diving, kayaking, and hang gliding.

I love that he is genuinely a caring person who makes me feel that I am special everday!

VENDORS

• Photography – Keith Cephus Photography
• Dress – Pronovias via Maya’s Couture
• Hair -Shanita Lee
• Event designer – Juanita Thompson
• Make up – Tish Perkins 
• Shoes – Benjamin adams “Rhianna”
• Ceremony Location – The North Lawn
• Reception – Chesapeake ballroom 
• Video – Toy Box Productions 
• Invitations – Handmade Pretty Things
• Flower – Gillepsie 
• Cake – Provided by the Greenbrier