Engagement story from the bride:

The entire wedding proposal was memorable. Well, I was at church on a Friday night. My Dad was on the pulpit, saying a prayer for families and the surrounding communities. There had been a few tragedies recently that week which took the lives of some young people that we knew. As I was praying someone tapped me on the shoulder and told me to go to the lobby of the church, so that’s what I did. When I got there, it was a Police officer. He explained to me that I need to come with him. So, by this time I am freaking out. What happened, what’s going on, is Taylor okay, are all the questions I asked while riding to Nash County jail. The only thing he told me was that he was okay and that we needed to go to the jail, OMG. So we get to the jail and Lord behold the man I love was sitting in an orange jump suit in a holding cell. So I’m frisked at the door, even more hysterical at this point, in disbelief. To make a long story short, at the end of all the questioning, and the why didn’t you talk to me, he popped the question. I was lost for words initially, but I then utter yes while still trying to make sense of what just happened. All of the officers cheered, smiled and gave us our congrats, then I went back to church to let everyone know that everything was “ A okay”. Memorable!

Quick Facts

Favorite item on the wedding menu:  Chicken Marsala

Bridesmaids/groomsmen gifts: Bridesmaid gifts; earrings that they during the wedding and a

personalized jewelry bag.

First dance song: When A Man Loves A Woman by Michael Bolton

Wedding Planner: Elana Walker Events

Photography: Donnell Perry Photography

Florals: Fresh Affairs

Wedding Cake: A Memory Worth Making

Venue: Benvenue Country Club

Donut Bar: Sugar Euphoria & Suite Paper

Band: Magic Pipers Band

Transportation: First Class Limousine

Honeymoon Destination: Maui, Hawaii

Describe your wedding dress style? So I wore a gorgeous white mermaid style gown with a sweetheart neckline. I accessorized with a bedazzled belt to give it that extra something.

How about your wedding shoes and jewelry? I wore horizon blue open toed sandal with diamonds on the heel. I wore tear drop earring that were purchased Bailey’s Jewelry which I absolutely loved.

Tony is a big Duke fan, so going with a Duke blue jacket was a must for him!

Tell us about his dapper groomsmen? My best man was my baby bro Cori. My older brothers Mike and Mark were groomsmen, , my nephew Keyon, my brother-in- law Dennis, and my brother-in- law Gary.

Security is here, watch out.

How / why did you choose your ceremony venue? Choosing our wedding ceremony venue was very easy. My dad is a pastor with a beautiful church and lots of space to accommodate all of our guests. We both wanted the traditional church wedding.

Tell us about your bridesmaids? We decided to make it a family affair. My squad consisted of my sister Keira as my maid of honor, my baby sister Gabby as a bridesmaid, Tony’s twin nieces Chanel and Janell as bridesmaids, my daughter Symone as a junior bridesmaid, and my niece Kalynn as a junior bridesmaid.

Tell us about your flowers? All flower arrangements were beautifully made by Fresh Affairs. My bouquet was the most liked, in fact, my mother-in- law kept most of them, she loves flowers.

Tell us about your wedding photography experience? Donnell Perry along with his assistant Tasha did and amazing job. We can actually relived our wedding day looking through all the photos. Each shot that was caught, was perfect. He even caught moments that we did not know happened. He did exactly what we knew he would do, he helped create the memories of the most unforgettable day of our lives.

What’s your favorite image from your wedding day? We love all of the images, but if I had to choose, it would be the shot on the golf course, were my hand was on my hip giving a little sass and Tony smiling like he’s the luckiest man in the world, we are blessed.

And your beautiful cake? Angie, owner of A Memory worth Making was responsible for the beautiful tasty cake.

Any advice for future brides? If having a wedding planner fits the budget, then book her/him. Oh my goodness, it alleviates so much stress. You’re able to enjoy the moments of planning, you actually get feedback, instead of yes baby that is fine, if you like it, I love it, lol. Just having a person who is passionate about wedding planning makes a world of difference of bringing all those ideas together to create this spectacular day.

We love this donut bar by Sugar Euphoria & Suite Paper!

Was there any particular theme or style for your wedding? We knew that we wanted elegant, classy, romantic feel and Elana Walker along with Fresh Affairs made that happen. Tony is a policeman, so we kind of threw some of that in there, like having our ring bears use police hats instead of pillows and Elana amazing idea of the donut bar.

Did you have any other favorite images? (from the groom) My favorite is the one of us entering the reception dancing, I looked as if I was doing the stinky leg and Tarsha hands were up in the air with the biggest smiles on our faces.

What are your favorite things to do together? First and foremost we love to worship together, in fact a lot of our dates were Friday nights services at our church. We love, love, love to travel, we love the beach particularly, I think we visited every North/South Carolina beach.

Elana Walker Events!