How did the two of you meet? Tell us your story:
Terrence: We met at a bar. But it’s not what you think. Really. In September 2000, we attended the Sunbelt Job Fair at the Crown Plaza Suites in Dallas, Texas. I was coming down from an interview in a glass elevator, when I spotted a beautiful lady sitting at the bar. I got off of the elevator, and made my way over to the bar. To my good fortune, my best friend was talking to this beautiful lady, Monica. I conveniently injected myself into the conversation, and we immediately hit it off. Monica was not only beautiful, but funny and intelligent as well. The good news is that we both landed jobs – Monica in Dallas, and I in New York. The not-so-good news is that we had to wait 4 1/2 years before seeing each again.

What was the theme or design inspiration for your wedding?
From the very beginning, our goal was to have a wedding that was elegant and classy. But at the same time, we wanted to establish a laid-back atmosphere that everyone would enjoy.

Tell us about the attire for both bride and groom:
Monica: I wore a Maggie Sottero A-line gown with a floral motif and a corset closure. I had a custom veil designed using flowers from the dress. I accessorized with a pair of gold Jimmy Choo heels and a pearl necklace and bracelet (a present from my Terrance) by Mikimoto.

Terrance wore a classic Jones New York two-button black tuxedo and vest, accessorized with a David Donahue textured champagne silk necktie and handkerchief, and silver Movado Sapphire timepiece (a present from me).

Favorite design element of your big day:
Monica: This is such a hard question to answer, because there were so many elements about our wedding that we loved. But, if we had to pick a favorite, it would probably be the fact that we had not one, but three rooms for our reception! We incorporated different shades of our colors, pink and gold, to create a different atmosphere in each room. The reception began with a cocktail hour in a room decorated in soft pink and champagne, which exuded an understated elegant atmosphere. The room had an adjoining patio area where our band, Full of Soul, began their first set with light jazz. After the cocktail hour, our guests moved to a second room where a seated dinner was served. This room had mirrored walls and was filled with round tables covered in huge bouquets of flowers, candles, and crystal candle holders. We also had pink lighting that cast a beautiful glow across the room. Aiming to achieve that laid-back feeling that we hoped that our guests would enjoy, the third and final room was decorated in hot pink, gold, and leopard print. It was funky, but tastefully done. A perfect room for dancing!

We would be remiss if we didn’t also mention the photo booth, which was a great hit. I absolutely LOVE photo booths, and I always drag Terrance and Moriah into them every chance I get. We provided silly hats, glasses, and boas. Glue, scissors, and markers were available for our guests, to add some of their photos to a scrapbook with words of advice.

What was the biggest challenge you had to overcome while planning your wedding?
Terrance and I really wanted to give our guests an amazing experience, but we had to work with constraints, namely money. In order to achieve this goal, we had to keep the wedding very small, fifty guests to be exact. It was very challenging for us to decide which twenty-five of our closest friends and family to invite. It was also very difficult explaining to those friends and family who were not invited that we had to keep the wedding small for budgetary reasons.

What advice do you have for a couple planning their wedding?
Select a wedding date which will provide you with sufficient time to plan and save for your special day. A long engagement can be a good thing. Identify the aspects of the wedding that are most important to each of you, and be supportive of each other in achieving those goals. And, finally, make a realistic budget, and stick to your budget.

Best advice someone told you at the wedding?
Terrance: always listen to your wife.

Monica: take a little bit of time each day to remember why you married him.

Any specific reasons behind certain choices you made for your wedding? Maybe flowers that were your mom’s favorite, or your first dance song was the first song you ever heard together..that kind of thing?
It was important for us to incorporate our children, Moriah (10) and T.J. (11) into the wedding ceremony. Because our guest list was so small, we felt it unnecessary to have a large wedding party. Instead, we tapped Moriah as “little maiden of honor/flower girl” and T.J. as “little best man/ring bearer.” During the ceremony, we made special vows to the children and presented them with tokens of our commitment to them.

In addition, the kids were each able to invite one friend to the wedding, and we had a special table set up for the kids, complete with kid-friendly food (pizza, fries, fruit, and burgers), toys (clay, colored-pencils, cars), and enough candy to feed a small army.

Tell me something about your photographer, Kelly Moore.
We love everything about our photographer, from her creativity to her ability to capture the essence of a moment. Kelly was absolutely amazing and we can’t wait to work with her again for Moriah’s wedding.

Wedding Vendors:
Wedding Planner: Shari Johns of As You Wish
Venue: (Ceremony) Perkins Chapel (Reception) Four Seasons Las Colinas
Music: Full of Soul
Officiant: Marty Younkin of Love Notes
Florist: Wildflower
Photo Booth: boothBOOTH

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