Kenneth + Deidra have just been phenomenal! From start to finish, the journey to their wedding has been an experience. Early in our correspondence, Deidra shared that she was big on family. Every time we met, whether it was their engagement session, or industry events, such as the MunaLove Affair, Deidra was surrounded by friends and family. So it was only right that on their wedding day, at Noah’s Event Venue, Kenneth and Deidra’s union was fully embraced by loved ones. Again thank you both for being phenomenal, and allowing the In His Image team to share in your special day.
Noah’s Event Venue Wedding
Complete with insights from the bride!
Kenneth + Deidra
September 9, 2017
Noah’s Event Venue
Share with us how you two met:
The King’s Version
I used to get my beard trimmed in the salon where Deidra’s sister, Esha works. I would see Esha often while being serviced. Once Esha saw me come in to get my hair cut three or four times, she asked me if I was interested in meeting her sister. My response was nah, not really…I explained to Esha that I really was not into the blind dating scene and left it at that. I continued to get my beard trimmed and Esha was persistent as she continued to ask if I was ready to meet her sister. Each time I went to the salon, Esha would make sure she mentioned meeting Deidra.
After being asked several times, I finally decided ok maybe I should meet her. I asked Esha if she would share some pictures of Deidra. So, she shared pictures with me from Deidra’s Instagram page. After seeing her pictures, I said to Esha, ok I am open to meeting her. I had no clue as to where or how to really set it up.
Esha gave me Deidra’s (Instagram) page info, and I did not hesitate to send a friend request. Deidra accepted the request not knowing who I was, but I was grateful that she accepted it. I liked about 5 of her pictures and of course she still didn’t notice that I was liking them. Around this time, I was headed to CIAA. While at CIAA I attended the tent party, when I noticed Deidra and I thought to myself “Where do I know her from.” Then I realized why she looked familiar. When I walked over to introduce myself, my first words to her were… “Does your sister do hair?” She then asked me.… “Who are you and what are you talking about?” She also said… “How do you know that?” She put me through all of that. :-)
I asked her if her sister mentioned a guy that she wanted her to meet that comes into the barber shop. Deidra was like “ohhhhh yeahhhh” she did mention you to me. Of course, being the perfect gentleman that I am, I offered to purchase a beverage for her. After purchasing her drink, she proceeds to walk away to see her play brother. Meanwhile, I was standing at the bar thinking to myself…”I bought her a drink and she bounced?” Before she left the party, I made it my business to get her number. I sent her a text later that night because the forecast was predicting bad weather the next day, and I wanted to make sure she arrived home safely.
After the CIAA trip, I sent a few text messages and had a few phone conversations continuously for about two weeks. I asked her out and it was “HAPPILY EVER AFTER!”
Special Note from Kenny to Deidra, “I pray for GOD’s grace on our marriage and that we live happily ever after till death do us part!”
The Queen’s Version
In December of 2014 on a chilly morning while getting my hair done, my sister Esha mentioned that she really wanted me to meet this guy named Kenny who gets his beard trimmed by the barber. Of course, I was like, “I don’t know about this… because I don’t do the blind dating scene.” Esha was like, “well… I showed him your pictures or whatever.” I recall thinking… oh lord my sister has shown this man my pictures, and I don’t have any pictures of him. A few days later I noticed that I received a friend request on Instagram from this guy with the handle ” Enjoy Yo Life”. I accepted the request and looked through his time line. I thought to myself, he’s cute and I didn’t give it much thought after that. Little did I know that he would be the love of my life!
My sister also mentioned Kenny to my mom. Of course, she was calling asking me if I had the opportunity to meet the young man that Esha wanted me to meet. I continued to say “no” mom, he’s never at the shop when I go so I haven’t had the chance to meet him.
Since I was fresh out of a rocky relationship, I was over dating and not in the mood at all to meet anyone new. Fast forward to CIAA Feb 2015 and this guy walks up to me at the Tent Party while I am with my girls. While at the party, this guy taps me on the shoulder and asks “Hey, does your sister do your hair?” I was like yessssss, why? He was like “I’m Kenny!” After he mentioned my sister, I said to myself… “OHHHHHHHHH you’re the guy who sent me the friend request on Instagram, the guy my sister has been trying to hook me up with since last year.” Kenny and I start chatting and he asked if I wanted a drink. I said yes and we proceeded to the bar with my friend Monique. My play brother walked in the party, and I left Kenny standing there to go see him. Monique was standing there with Kenny and he says to Monique “here is your friends drink”. By this time, I come back and apologize for leaving and tell him that we will talk more throughout the party. Before leaving the party, we saw each other again and he asked for my number. I said yes and gave it to him. He called me that night and wanted to check on me because of the forecast predicting snow. He wanted to make sure that my friends and I got back safely. Little did I know that he would be the “LOVE OF MY LIFE!”
Special Note from Deidra to Kenny: “I prayed for the man that you are. You may not be perfect, but you are certainly perfect for me. You are my Boaz! I thank God for blessing me with you.”
Tell us about your proposal:
Deidra received an email from her boss notifying her that she would have to travel back to Florida for a work assignment. Keep in mind that Deidra had just come back to North Carolina after being in Florida for two weeks. Kenny called her and told her that since she had to go back to Florida that he thought it would be nice for them to get dressed up and go to dinner at Angus Barn before heading back. She was excited because she loves to dress up and grab a bite to eat and who doesn’t love Angus Barn! This wasn’t out of the ordinary because they have date night every other week.
After Kenny picked Deidra up they headed to Angus Barn, and like usual, they had a wonderful time. During dinner, Kenny begins to explain to Deidra that he has concerns about her traveling back to Florida. As they are finishing their meal and wrapping up the entrée, the waiter brings a tray with various desserts. As the waiter presented and explained all the desserts on the tray with full detail, Deidra recalls thinking “the waiter is really going into detail”, but then she remembered from previous experiences how the service is always outstanding there. After the waiter reviewed at least ten desserts he gets to the final dessert and states “this is the dessert of the night”. The waiter picks up the dessert and sits it in front of Deidra. The dessert was in a distinguished antique tea pot and the waiter reiterates “this is the dessert of the night”. When she opened the tea pot, she notices a ring box sitting in it. Confused she says to Kenny, “this is not a dessert”. She opens the box and sees a gorgeous engagement ring. It was the exact ring she had previously mentioned to Kenny and described to her friends at a vision board party earlier that year. While this is happening, the entire restaurant is standing to give their congratulations. Then Kenny begins to express that he simply cannot wait anymore, he needs to know if Deidra will be his wife. She says “YES” in between kisses, hugs, and glancing down at her beautiful ring!!! They both realized that they are destined to spend the rest of their lives together.
How / why did you choose your ceremony venue:
We chose Noah’s Event Venue because it matched our style. We wanted a classically beautiful, high end event venue that would meet our needs and Noah’s did just that. Noah’s presented all the essentials as well as the flexibility and tools to make our wedding day a success. We rented the entire building which included a variety of rooms, they helped create our custom layout, it included chairs, tables, linens, a state of the art audiovisual system, and many additional décor options. We also had the opportunity to bring in the vendors of our choice to fit our budget and style. Noah’s also provided set up and take down services.
Tell us about your hair & makeup:
I chose cascading curls swept to one side. I chose a natural face for my make up look.
How about the wedding invitations & stationery:
Wedding invitations were produced by If It Is paper in Raleigh. We chose an ivory colored laser cut invitation with rose gold lettering.
Tell us about your flowers:
We chose my favorite flower hydrangeas with a combination of seasonal flowers which consisted of garden roses, peonies, ranunculus, and sweet peas in white, off white, ivory, and coral.
Tell us about your bridesmaids:
Bridesmaids consisted of my sister, niece, line sisters, cousins, childhood and college friends.
Any bridesmaids / groomsmen gifts?
Groomsmen were provided a personalized flask.
Bridesmaid received a personalized bridesmaid bag that consisted of a personalized bridesmaid hanger, lotion, hand sanitizer, their favorite candy, a personalized mug, and thank you cards.
Describe your wedding dress. What was wedding shopping like for you?
I only went to three bridal boutiques before finding the perfect dress to match my style. Wedding dress shopping was way more simple than I could have ever imagined. I chose a J Alexander Signature sequin beaded lace fit and flare gown with open back.
How about your wedding shoes and jewelry:
I chose a jewel badgley mischka t- strap glitter peep toe shoe.
I chose to keep the jewelry simple and only have a hanging tear drop crystal earring.
Tell us about his groomsmen:
The groomsmen consisted of cousins, family, college and childhood friends.
Read more about our wedding photography.
Noah’s Event Venue Wedding
Was there any particular theme or style for your wedding:
We opted for sophisticated elegance as our wedding style.
Did you incorporate any culture into your wedding? If yes, tell us more.
We incorporated the sand ceremony to represent our commitment to each other and express the coming together of two people and two families into one new family. We chose to partake in communion to acknowledge the place that our spiritual heritage will continue to have in our new life together.
What is your best memory from your wedding?
When we were announced husband and wife.
Noah’s Event Venue Reception
Tell us about your reception venue
Noah’s was also reception venue. The staff completed a room flip from ceremony to reception.
And your decorations:
We wanted simple but elegant decorations. The ceremony consisted of hedges of rose petals going up and down both sides of aisle in conjunction with lanterns and a variety of glassware with floating candles. We also chose the spoke ceiling treatment which created a tent like atmosphere with sheer, white fabric and lights extending from the center with our favorite chandelier the 4 tier and 9″ spiral as the focal point. The ceremony also included 4 more than impressive arrangements in the wedding colors down the aisle and on the stage. There was a ceiling treatment My handheld bouquet consisted of seasonal flowers in white, off white, and ivory hydrangeas, garden roses, peonies, ranunculus, and sweet peas. Bridesmaids carried a smaller simpler version of my bridal bouquet with stems wrapped with ribbon. The square tables were decorated with tall more than impressive flower arrangements in wedding colors evaluated on clear glassware, accentuated with units of flowers and candles. that consisted of hydrangeas and roses with cascading floating candle arrangements. The circular tables had smaller flower arrangements with glassware in a variety of shapes and sizes filled with floating candles, accented with flowers in wedding colors. The flowers were ivory and with a touch of coral. We incorporated navy blue and champagne table cloths. The sweetheart table was adorned with a gold sequin table cloth with a lower collection of flowers enhanced with floating and votive candles. The floor around the table also displayed floating candles and votive candles. We chose accent lighting in coral.
What songs did you choose for your wedding ceremony and reception, and why:
For the wedding ceremony we wanted to include songs that we meaningful and sentimental to our relationship. We chose somewhere over the rainbow for the entrance of the parents. The bridal party walked in to A thousand years. Kenny chose Suddenly by Billy Ocean as he felt that song summed up how our relationship perfectly.
For reception we wanted to have our bridal party come in on songs that would be representative our relationships with them. The groomsmen came in on “Big Rings” by Drake and “Mask Off” by Future. The bridesmaids came in to “Diva” by Beyoncé and “Clique” by Kanye West. For Kenny and I’s first dance we had a soloist perform John Legend’s “All Of Me.” I danced to “After All is Said and Don”e by Beyoncé and Marc Nelson with my father. Kenny danced to Major’s “This is Why I love You” with his mom.
Favorite item on the reception menu:
My favorite item on the reception menu was being serenaded by my lovely sorority with the sweetheart song.
The catering by cake couture had our guest talking and recreating our wedding day menu.
Any wedding favors:
We provided a snap it photo booth which provided
A candy bar with organza candy bags that each quest could fill with assortments of candy, marsh mellows, and chocolate.
The guest also received our very own wedding magazine.
And your cake:
We chose a wedding cake that matched our wedding style. The cake was an ivory four tier all round with some our favorite flavors which consisted of red velvet, strawberry crème, and roasted coconut, and lemon. The cake was accessorized with handmade ribbon laying at the bottom, flowers engraved on the second tier and a gold R signifying our last name on the top tier. The ivory goodness sat on a gold cake stake on top of a round table with a sequin navy blue table cloth. It tasted as good as it looked.
Tell us about your wedding photography:
Our wedding day photography exceeded every expectation we had. Dajuan and his team captured so many priceless moments that we will look back on and cherish for a lifetime. Dajuan and his team were professional, prompt, courteous, and their creativity is unmatched.
Tell us about your wedding planner:
We entrusted Sabrina Seymore with Seymore Events with day of wedding coordination. Sabrina and her staff were super professional and helped us create our vision. Sabrina supported and lead us through navigating the wedding process every step of the way. On the day of the way I literally had nothing to worry about.
Tell us about your honeymoon:
We initially were scheduled to leave the Monday after our wedding to honeymoon in Antigua. Due to hurricane Harvey we had to postpone our honeymoon and change locations due to the Sandals in Antiqua closing for renovations. We will honeymoon now 11/8-11/13 in Barbados.
What is the best wedding advice you can give to engaged couples?
To keep God first and continue to love each other unconditionally. Also, complete marriage counseling and continue to date.
Any final thoughts:
Our wedding day was one of the best days of our lives. A day we will never forget!
