Take a look inside our destination wedding in Destin, Florida

Within three weeks of meeting Parish, I knew he was meant to be my husband. I didn’t understand the feeling at first, and the thought of my assurance made me anxious; but from that day until this day, I have never been more sure of anything else. Parish and I’s relationship has been a whirlwind from the very beginning. We often times laugh that it feels like we’re living out a romantic comedy. Our love is a real one, full of ups and downs, but every day we wake up, we make a conscious choice to choose each other. Now that we’re seven months as husband and wife, and we’ve completely wrapped all of our wedding events, including honeymoon, it’s time to reflect as we slowly approach our wedding anniversary.

Planning our destination wedding was a fifteen month long dream production. Each event was full of so much love and intention for all our closest family and friends. By the time we finally got to wedding week, we were so ecstatic to celebrate our love that not even the severe cold and congestion we both had the week of could could stop us. October 29, 2022 was the most magical day of our lives and I’m so excited to finally give you a peek inside our coastal luxe destination wedding in Destin, Fl.

Beachfront wedding venue

The Emerald Grande is located on Destin Harbor inside HarborWalk Village. Complete with water sports and activities, bars, restaurants, and games for the everyone at any age. This was the perfect destination wedding venue for us because we wanted our families to enjoy vacation time with their own families in addition to our wedding. Plus, we allowed children at our wedding, so a family friendly environment was important.

The Dream vendor team

We wanted to set the tone for the weeding at the beginning stages of planning. We worked with Love, Kenedie for our custom save the dates, invitations, wedding day stationary and personalized signage. Our wedding was all black, black tie and our unofficial theme was A Night at the Golden Globes. Parish and I wanted a moody, elegant, and romantic ambience throughout each event and our vendors went above and beyond.

I worked with Tyron Wells of Wells Design Company for planning and design to bring my dream beach wedding to life. TyRon and Wells Designs are experts in grandiose weddings. Working with them was such a great experience. They’re professional, timely, and true design visionaries. Wells Design took my mood board and completely amplified it beyond anything I could have thought of. Every detail was meticulously planned and captured by the great, Camille Leigh Photography.

The Glam Squad

For both my first wedding day look, I reached out to Nigerian designer Eki Ruth via Instagram to create my custom hand beaded blush bridal robe. I had seen her design a similar gown in white the year before and new I needed her beauty on my special day. For my wedding gown, I contacted Nigerian designer Ese Azenabor to create my custom bridal gown via WhatsApp. Ese sketched my wedding dress within five minutes of our first virtual meeting. After three visis to her Dallas Atelier, my handmade blush and white lace beaded gown was created with both detachable custom blush ruffle train and beaded shoulder straps, in addition to my pearl accented veil.

Shop Bridesmaid Robes

I paired my wedding gown first with tulle platform block pearl accented heels. When my feet started to feel sore, I changed into a pair of beaded wedge sneakers from Amazon.

Shop Bridal Sneakers

Greenhouse Beauty Lounge artists, Diondria Watkins (hair) and Kimberly Yasmin (makeup) traveled from Memphis to deliver a gorgeous glam for myself and my bridal party. I wanted my bridesmaids to look both feminine and sultry to match their blush and burgundy gowns from Bridal Babes.

What I Wore During My Wedding Weekend

Parish and his groomsmen worked with local Memphis boutique M & K Fashion to create their custom bridal party looks. Parish wore a custom white paisley tuxedo with blush lapel and details with white spike loafers.

Teary eyed First Look

Parish and I both decided to have a first look with only each other so we could share our personalized vows privately. I knew I would cry a river of tears when I first saw him and I didn’t want to have that moment in front of our guests. Our first look was the perfect opportunity for us to come together and connect before our ceremony.

The Lush garden Ceremony

Although the Captain’s Deck of the Emerald Grande is beautiful on its own, Wells Design added lush white and pink roses and greenery embedded into the romantic staircase. To enhance the space even further with freshness and a luxe touch, Wells used a white wrapped aisle and platform stage with gold chiavari chairs in the aisles.

During my walk down the steps to the aisle, my cathedral veil came off my head. I was so anxious to get to Parish, I opted not to stop the ceremony to put it back on. Instead I carried on without it to my stepfather who met me at the bottom of the stairs. He then walked me to my dad, who walked me down the aisle to Parish. It was one of my most special and favorite moments of the day!

After being pronounced husband and wife by my cousin Pastor Eric Lee, Parish and I walked up the aisle to one of our favorite songs Yellow, by Coldplay.

Wedding Ceremony Playlist Inspiration

Greeting Our Guests

To welcome our guests post ceremony, we hosted cocktail hour in the lounge area outside of the Grand Ballroom. Oversized banners of Parish and I outlined the bar while our guests gathered for drinks and hors d’evours.

The Moody and Romantic Reception

We wanted to create a big contrast between our bright and airy ceremony verses our dark and fall themed reception. The reception space was decorated in deep jewel tone florals and linens that matched the newly renovated navy decor in the Emerald Grande’s Ballroom. In the middle of the room separating the tables was a black and gold wrapped dance floor complete with our custom monogram created by Love, Kenedie. I wanted our guests to be able to converse and visibly see each during dinner so Wells Designs kept the centerpieces low and full, similar to the design of award show dinners.

The little Details

Each of our guests were welcomed with personalized name cards at their place setting where they enjoyed either prime rib or stuffed chicken and our two signature drinks with custom drink stirrers with our monogram.

Parish and I dined at our sweetheart table complete with a large floral garland with pink, purple, and burgundy florals behind a deep velvet navy draping.

memorable entrances

Parish and I both changed for our reception entrance. I removed my ruffle train and shoulder straps, and to my amazing surprise, Parish changed into an stunning blush and black tuxedo paired with Christian Louboutin Dandelion flats. Our entrance was to International Player’s Anthem by UGK. We finished our introduction as Mr & Mrs. with our first dance to Adore You, by Prince.

Wedding Reception Playlist Inspiration

During our bridal party entrances, The bridesmaids entered to Move by Beyone and the groomsmen entered to Pop Bottles, by Lil Wayne. Our wedding planners verbally passed around a very real memo that the gold champagne bottles the groomsmen carried into the reception were only for show. In true superstar fashion, one of our groomsmen popped his champagne bottle causing what is easily one of the most memorable moments of the entire weekend.

Non-Traditional Touches

Parish and I wanted a non-traditional touch to the reception and we chose a stunning all black fondant cake from Just Think Cake Destin. Our four tiers consisted of white chocolate with raspberry jam, cookies and cream, margherita, and lemon zest with lemon cream. We attempted to snag a few extra pieces after we cut the cake and were saddened to learn that our guests had finished it all. We were thankfully able to save the top layer in which we’ll enjoy on our 1year anniversary!

Bursting with Love

To cap our perfect night, Parish and I were whisked away back to the Captain’s Deck where we enjoyed a firework show! Our guests were so surprised and it was the cherry on top of an incredible day. After the show, we returned to the ballroom where we danced the night away with our most special loved ones. It was truly the most magical night of my life and I could not have asked for anything more.