Union Baptist Church Wedding | Ja’Marr + Therese

Jet setters. Goal diggers. Trend setters. Go getters. Those are just a few of the things that come to mind when I think about Ja’Marr + Therese. This power couple are jointly on a mission to achieve in every area they put their mind to. Early on in our communication I couldn’t understand why I only received responses from Therese via email in the middle of the night. I later learned that it was because she was in grad school finishing up a double Master’s degree, while planning her wedding. Yes, they are awesome like that!
On the wedding day their personal style was on full display. From Therese’s gown and accessories to Ja’Marr’s custom tux and accessories. Their faith prompted them to wed at Union Baptist Church in Durham. They celebrated their union at the Grand Marquise Ballroom in Garner completing their #PicturePerfectDaye in grand style. Their wedding day mirrored their personalities and priorities in so many ways.

Union Baptist Church Wedding

Complete with insights from the bride!

Union Baptist Church Wedding  Ja’Marr + Therese
October 1, 2016
Union Baptist Church

Union Baptist Church Wedding | Ja'Marr + Therese | jamarrThereseWedding 0035Share with us how you two met:
One day my mom came home from work and said “I found my son-in law!” She explained that he was handsome and shared the same birthday as my oldest brother. I did not pay much attention to her comment as I responded by saying “Oh okay,” as if I was not interested. The following week, I went to eat lunch with her and this fine guy walked through the break room. I asked who he was and she said, ” That’s the guy I was telling you about!” She said I’ll introduce you to him when he comes back through. I begged her not to and explained that I will come back the following day prepared to meet him. This particular day my hair was back in a pony tail and I had on an ugly set of scrubs. She agreed with my plan, but as soon as he walked through the break room she yelled, ” Ja’Marr let me introduce you to my daughter!” I was so embarrassed and could not believe that she ignored my request. After learning each others names we shook hands, smiled at each other and the rest is history. I guess I did not look bad after all because he stayed around and now we are married!

Union Baptist Church weddingIN His Image Photography Tell us about your proposal:
As we waited for the server to take our drink orders Ja’Marr became impatient, so he left the table looking for our server. It seemed like he was away from the table for a LONG time. I sat there patiently as I listened to relaxing music and viewed the ocean from afar. When Ja’Marr returned with the waiter he asked me to stand to take a picture. I was a little reluctant at first because I still had on my chill clothes from the flight. I love to take pictures, so I stood beside him and began to smile and pose. After the last picture, I went closer to the server to view all the photos. To my surprise all the pictures were dark and blurry! As I turned around to show Ja’Marr how terrible the pictures were, he was down on one knee! My eyes lit up in excitement as tears of joy rolled down my cheeks. I was surprised and could not believe that I was standing in the very moment that I had always dreamt of. It was the PERFECT proposal and I can not imagine a more beautiful setting for something so romantic. It was truly a picture perfect “DAYE!”

Groom's Prep Groom and groomsmen prepUnion Baptist Church Wedding | Ja'Marr + Therese | jamarrThereseWedding 0114Wedding day stationary

Tell us about your flowers:
The flowers were put together by Embellished Blooms. We had Fuchsia Orchids to compliment the colors of the wedding.

And your decorations:
The decor was designed by Sabrina Seymore, our wedding planner.

Union Baptist Church Wedding | Ja'Marr + Therese | jamarrThereseWedding 0127Union Baptist Church Wedding | Ja'Marr + Therese | jamarrThereseWedding 0149In His Image Photography Tell us about your hair & makeup:
My hair was done by Dedra from Amakas International. My makeup was done by Vil from Contour Kissed.

Mother of the bride and bride Donning of the gown Union Baptist Church brideUnion Baptist Church BirdeDescribe your wedding dress. What was wedding shopping like for you?
My wedding dress was ivory with a taupe underlay and it was created by Monique Lhuillier. I had a sweetheart neckline with lace detail. The dress was fitted to my knees with more lace detail along one side of the dress.

Union Baptist Church Wedding | Ja'Marr + Therese | jamarrThereseWedding 0337How about your wedding shoes and jewelry:
My shoes were gold with a brooch at the toes made by Jimmy Choo. My earrings and bracelet was by Givenchy and it was gold to match my wedding ring.

Union Baptist Church Wedding | Ja'Marr + Therese | jamarrThereseWedding 0341

Wedding day love notesUnion Baptist Church WeddingUnion Baptist Church groomUnion Baptist Church Wedding dayHow / why did you choose your ceremony venue:
We chose to have our ceremony in the church because I always wanted to have a church wedding, so we reached out to our Pastor. Pastor Robert L. Mason at Greater Love Ministry in Durham, North Carolina for his advice. Since our church was smaller, he advised us to have our wedding ceremony at his mentor’s church, which was Union Baptist Church. We took his advice and had a marvelous ceremony at a bigger church that allowed us to invite more people.

Union Baptist Church Union Baptist Church Wedding First KissUnion Baptist Church Wedding Grand Marquise Ballroom

Grand Marquise Ballroom Garner, NCTell us about your bridesmaids:
My bridal party consisted of 6 Bridesmaids, 1 Matron of Honor, and 1 Maid of Honor. We had so much fun planning each event. The girls participated in Bridal Bootcamp, which was a fun way for all of us to connect and have a great time while getting in shape for the big day. They helped me plan a beautiful Southern Belle brunch for my bridal shower. Last, but not least we flew to Vegas for the Bachelorette weekend!

Grand Marquise Ballroom Bride and Groom What’s your favorite image from your wedding day, and why:
Bride- My favorite image of our wedding day was seeing both of our families come together at the reception and have a great time. I loved the sight of everyone laughing, dancing and having a great time. It really warmed my heart even more.

Groom-My favorite image of our wedding day is when Dajuan captured a moment of us standing on the stairs by our cake. The image reminded me of the King and Queen that we are.

Grand Marquise BallroomTell us about your reception venue
We chose the Grand Marquise Ballroom because there was no other venue that compared. The staircase and the chandeliers took our breath away immediately. Everything about the Grand Marquise complimented our style and we could not pass up a perfect venue.

African American Wedding PhotographerGrand Marquise groomsmenTell us about his groomsmen:
There was 6 groomsmen and two best men. The groomsmen were dapper in their tailored tuxedo. The guys enjoyed a bachelor trip in Miami.

African American Wedding photographerTell us about your honeymoon:
We went to St.Lucia, which is in the East Caribbean. It was our first time together going to the Caribbean. We stayed at one of Sandals all inclusive resorts that was beyond beautiful. We really enjoyed the different cultures plus how friendly the people were on the island. Furthermore, we stayed in the honeymoon suite which came with a butler that we really took advantage of. At the of the trip we wanted to bring the butler back to the States with us. HaHa!

Grand Marquise Ballroom Garner NCGrand Marquise First DanceWhat is your best memory from your wedding?
*The Bride- My best memory is being walked down the aisle with my brother and father by my side.
*The Groom-My best memory is being introduced at the reception.
*Bride & Groom- We both really enjoyed our first dance too!

#PicturePerfectDayeTell us about your wedding photography:
We used In His Image Photography by Dajuan Jones. Dajuan and his crew were awesome! They were punctual, knowledgeable, and were great at capturing memories that will last forever.

Father daughter dance And your videographer (if you had one):
We used Ken Brason with Masters Mind Production to be our videographer. He also created our engagement video and did an amazing job, so we knew we had to get him again to capture our wedding.

Father daughter dance Tell us about your wedding planner:
Our wedding experience with Sabrina was phenomenal! We hired her as our day of coordinator, but she helped us throughout the year leading up to our wedding day. She had so many great ideas and was very knowledgeable about the entire process. Whenever we needed help locating the best vendors, Sabrina gave us their contact information immediately. She checked in frequently to make sure we were checking things off our “To-Do List” and offered to help in any way possible. Sabrina understood what we like/wanted and created a beautiful wedding that we will always remember as our “PicturePerfectDaye.”

Mother of the groom and groom dance Mother of the groom and groom dance Favorite item on the reception menu:
We loved all of our food that was cooked by Unforgettable Food Affairs. The food was definitely unforgettable, our friends and family are still talking about how good everything tasted!

Grand Marquise Ballroom - Mr. and Mrs.Was there any particular theme or style for your wedding:
I like to take pictures and he loves to be my photographer, so we came up with the hashtag “PicturePerfectDAYE.” We really wanted to play off that hashtag. So we kept everything simple yet elegant as we included pictures of ourselves throughout the reception. We had our engagement pictures at the entrance of the venue, an edible engagement picture on our cake, and our chairs at the head table had Mr & Mrs in a picture frame.

Union Baptist Church Wedding | Ja'Marr + Therese | jamarrThereseWedding 0915Union Baptist Church Wedding | Ja'Marr + Therese | jamarrThereseWedding 1014Ashley Cakes And your cake:
We had a five tiered buttercream cake with an edible photo from our engagement.The delicious cake was created by Ashley Cakes.

In His Image Photography  Grand Marquise bridal bouquet tossAny advice for future brides:
My advice for future brides is, “Don’t worry about a thing because every little thing is going to be alright.” -Bob Marley

In His Image Photography What is the best wedding advice you can give to engaged couples?
We will tell engaged couples to follow your heart when it comes to making decisions for your special day. Do not make decisions based off of others. Think about what is best for you and your significant other. We followed our hearts and we had the best time ever!

In His Image Photography Any final thoughts:
We recommend that you both stay calm and enjoy each and every moment because on your big day everything goes by so fast.

Wedding day details


Are You Planning for Your Wedding Day?

This is no doubt an exciting time for you, and I'd like to help. My team and I photograph 40+ weddings per year all over North Carolina, Virginia, South Carolina and Georgia.

You will be in good hands. My team, In His Image Photography, has over 300 5-star reviews on The Knot and WeddingWire combined!

Use the buttons below to see our availability, starting prices, and to contact us for more detailed information.

African American Wedding Photographer