Real Engagement: Nakia & Kenny

Dancing and Music brought them together and music is what continues to keep their bond strong. Nakia and Kenny met by chance at Morgan State University at a Dance Concert. She was there with her students that were performing that evening and he kindly interrupted her conversation with a mutual friend of theirs. Nakia and Kenny have been inseparable ever since.

Kenny proposed to Nakia in 2014 after Thanksgiving dinner. Full of happy tears, Nakia undoubtedly said yes! The couple look forward to celebrating their nuptials in June with an elegant purple and silver themed wedding.

Congrats Nakia and Kenny! We look forward to being apart of the wedding of your dreams!!

Photo Credit: Renee Hollingshead

Real Engagements: Travis + Valisha

Once I saw this beautiful couple's engagement video on Facebook, I knew I HAD to get their love story for all of you to enjoy. I am team #GoBigOrGoHome and Travis did just that to ask the love of his life to marry him. To learn more about this couple and see the SUPER Cute engagement video, check after the break.

How did you meet?

• We met at Word of God Fellowship Church. Valisha saw me coming to church, but never knew my name. She inquired about me through her brother in a picture that she saw and he gave a general background profile and she expressed an interest. I introduced myself the following Sunday. I told her we should meet on a Thursday for coffee, but ended up meeting on that Tuesday and we've been seeing either other ever since.

What do you love about her?

• Everything.  Her spirit, mind,  her support,  her relationship with God, her relationship with her family, her relationship with my family, her love for helping other young woman find their relationship with Christ, her leadership abilities, her non-judgmental attitude, her humbleness, her strength, her ability to forgive, her cooking, her singing. Her!

What do you love about him?

• His relationship with God, his role in the ministry, his love for my family, his ambition, his spontaneous acts, how he balances my life, how he encourages me to want to achieve more, how he opens me up to new ideas, how he always compliments me, how we makes me smile, how he still sends me txt msgs every morning, how he's there for me without even asking. Its almost as if he knows exactly what I need.

Describe the Proposal:

• The proposal took place at an Anthony Hamilton concert Dec 3rd, 2014 on stage. It was arranged through a mutual contact between Anthony Hamilton's management team and myself.  During the concert Anthony Hamilton called my name and requested I came to the stage. He asked  for me to take the microphone and I commenced with my proposal

The Ring!:

• The engagement ring is a 2 CT. Quad Princess-Cut Diamond 14k White Gold from Zales

Photographer/Proposal Planner Credit:

• Im not sure who recorded the video but I [Travis] arranged and planned the proposal

We at Favored by Yodit Events, wish you both a lifetime of happiness and overwhelming blessings! Congratulations!!

Los Angeles Bride Shoots Amazing Music Video Instead of Bachelorette Party

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Lauren Mackenzie decided to ditch the traditional bachelorette party and instead invited her guest to shoot a fun music video with her! Participants learned choreographed moves and danced to the tunes of Beyonce and Kesha. I absolutely this idea! Such a creative way to celebrate and incorporate all age groups. Even grandma got to make a cameo!

Real Engagement​: Janira and Kwame

July is a peak season for weddings and engagements so Im excited to share a new Real Engagement Story from two love birds that flew into my heart a couple of months ago. Being from the area I'm used to working with lots of friends from school, work and just seeing people around the area at events and today's featured couple is no different. I have known and worked with the soon to be groom, Kwame for many years through special events  with his company J&K Productions and mine, TALK OF DC in the past and always admired how calm and collected he was under pressure. So I was elated when he asked to assist  his fiance, Janira and him on planning their 2015 wedding here in the D.C. area.

Working with them has been similar to how I remember Kwame in the past, very easy going, fun and organized. They trully are a great team and have each others back no matter what which is so important in marriage and I couldnt be more happy to see a friend so truly in love. Since the couple is based in Texas, we have utilized lots of email and phone calls to go over much of the wedding details for decor, vendors, venues, etc. So I'm excited to have our first couples meeting in the next few months when they visit the area to meet with possible vendors.

Below is a snippet of the submission that Kwame sent to Amber Studios for an Engagement Photoshoot Contest, that the couple actually won thanks to all their friends and family voting on social media! His sweet words were definitely deserving for the picture contest. Enjoy!

Engagement Story:

Praise The Lord she said “YES!”

"My morning began after a restless night of tossing and turning in anticipation for the day to come. I couldn’t stop thinking about how my best friend, Janira Teague, is truly the love of my life. I was also very concerned about every detail of the proposal I was about to deliver later that day. I just wanted everything to be perfect. So, I went to the restaurant, CoCo Sala to put my plan in action. Coco Sala, is where we had our very first date and a where Janira mentioned she wanted to one day get married. Not in the restaurant of course, but up on their beautiful rooftop overlooking the Nation's Capital.

On that rooftop the restaurant’s manager helped me decorate the space with a single table, candle, 2 glasses of champagne, my sweethearts favorite sweet… a red velvet Georgetown Cupcake and 22 pink roses. The flowers represent her favorite color and the number of months we dated, 22. A few hours later, Janira and I enjoyed a wonderful date night at the Coco Sala Restaurant. She had no clue about the proposal, but after dinner she asked me if I thought the manager would let us check out there rooftop venue. Of course he said yes and I took her up to the stars to begin the rest of our life together.

Just thinking about that day makes me realize how lucky I am to have found my soul mate. God blessed me when he brought Janira into my life and he continues to strengthen our relationship every day. My beautiful fiancé brings out the best in me, helps me to be a better person.

Now I would love to show the world how wonderful her spirit  shines from the inside out and I’m confident that “The Amber Studio” photography will beautifully capture that essence.

Gratefully,

The Happiest Man On Earth

-AKA- Kwame White

 Check out Amber Knowles with The Amber Studios here.

Real Engagement​: Myaa & John

This week's Real Engagement by Mike Stog Photography features Favored by Yodit Events clients, Myaa and John who are getting married this week and we cant wait! Since meeting this couple almost a year ago there has been an infectious connection to their love, humor and similarities! One thing that has still stuck with me was how "sweet" they are! After our first meeting, Myaa & John got me my first "Dulce de Leche Cookie" and I literally thought to myself "were gonna get along great!".  3 pounds later thanks to my addiction to these delicious cookies I can say that I have not only been lucky to have such a fun loving couple, I am genuinely excited to see the entire vision come to life this weekend and celebrate their love.

Take a look at their sweet engagement story and leave your comments below.

Who: Myaa Yeakey & John Vu

Wedding Date: June 13, 2014

Where they met: University of Maryland Baltimore County

How John Popped the Question:

In February 2013 they knew they were going to get engaged as they had picked out a ring to be made for Myaa. John secretly got permission from her dad and tried to hide it. They decided to have a small Super Bowl party since John is a huge Ravens fan, but it quickly turned into a 20 person get together. During half time, the game cuts out and the TV starts playing a DVD. On this DVD was a video montage of photos of Myaa and John over the years. After the montage, there was a video of John proposing to Myaa! Then while sitting next to Myaa on the couch, John pulled out the ring and popped the question!!! Everyone in the room knew what was going on but Myaa, so it was an amazing surprise!

Her story:

John and Myaa met her junior year at UMBC through mutual friends. After hours of chit-chatting they became fast friends and began hanging out. There was no romance in those days, just beer drinking and random trips out and about. Fast forward 3-4 years and they decided to start dating in 2009. By that time, he was one of Myaa's best friends. And they knew the good and bad about each other, and were fully aware of what they were getting themselves into.

His story (In his exact words): 

I remember meeting Myaa during my last semester at UMBC. It was a bunch of us talking a lot of smack at lunch in the Commons. I thought she was really cute, but blew me away with how much trash she talked. For most guys, I think that would scare them away but that just intrigued me. I don’t know if you can call it love at first sight, and I didn’t think much of it at the time. I just thought “Hell yeah, I’d holla for a dolla.”

Somehow we would keep running into each other at parties or through friends, even after I had left UMBC. We kept in touch for no real reason except that we clicked and I thought she was a jerk, but I enjoyed talking to her. And she would get my underage-self alcohol! I know if you can’t really count this as our first date, but the first time we ever really kicked it by ourselves took place in the tattoo shop, Metro Ink, to be exact. It was followed up with some Jamaican food in DC and some other random moves for the night. I’m sure that it doesn’t surprise anyone that the start of our story revolves around tattoos, food and random moves. Maybe that’s just the night I really started crushing on her, at least silently.

Fast forward a few years, I got laid off. For some odd reason Myaa hung out with my-broke-self even more during that time. On one lovely night of beers and tequila for my best man, Phi-Tu’s birthday, she said she dug me, like really dug me and kissed me. I guess that was the magic that everyone speaks of, and where the romance started. Besides the added romance, nothing has changed. She’s still my best friend and we are just kicking it in our own little random world. And everything is all good in the hood.

They are so much fun and goofy! Cant wait for their crazy party that is their wedding this weekend!

Myaa and John love tattoos! And have some pretty cool ink between them.

I always say best friends make the best couples and these two are a perfect example!

Real Engagement​: Tiffany & Keith

I absolutely love planning weddings and I get super excited for all of my clients…especially the week of the wedding; but I had no idea I would feel this overjoyed about getting asked to plan Tiffany & Keith's Stylish October Wedding. Its always special to be able to share this moment with all of my clients and the many lovely engaged couples that read our blog for inspiration. Learn more about their intimate engagement story.

Who: Randall Keith Benjamin II & Tiffany Blacknall

Ages: 27 & 28

Wedding Date: October 3rd, 2014

How Keith Popped the Question:

Keith told Tiffany they were doing a photo shoot for a couple’s profile with photographer Andrew Lee. She was to report to the Jefferson Hotel at 9am Saturday, February 8th with three changes of clothing. The Presidential Suite at the Jefferson Hotel was reserved for the shoot. While giving her a tour of the suite, Keith paused in front of the French doors that open to the terrace and said, “I know you thought that this was just a couple’s shoot, but this is actually our engagement shoot; but first, we have to be engaged.”

Why did you decide on using Favored by Yodit Events to assist with your wedding coordination?

We opted out of having family/friends assist with wedding coordination, because we really wanted our family/friends to enjoy being guests and treated like royalty for the night. After having conversations with three other wedding coordinators, we knew that Favored by Yodit would be the best fit. The initial consultation felt comfortable, yet professional. Favored by Yodit truly considered our budget and our needs and made us feel secure that we truly wouldn't have to worry about anything on our wedding day!

What are you most excited about for your wedding?

As a bride, I am most excited about my AMAZING dress and standing in front of Keith vowing the rest of my life to him and our journey together.

When did you know you would spend the rest of your life with your fiancé?

There wasn't an exact moment that I knew that Keith was the one. I reflected on a very challenging period for Keith that just so happened to occur during the first half of our relationship. I realized that even though he was being challenged in every area, he never changed his display of love and care for me. I knew that if I had to go through life (the good and the BAD) with someone that it had to be Keith. Keith is someone that I respect; and he is the only man that I'm willing to follow.

Source: Capitol Standard

#WeddingWednesday Real Engagements: City Love- De'Shon and Alisha

How They Met:

Alisha and De’Shon first met in the summer of 2010 after a chance encounter with a mutual friend. Love did not spark then, but a year later, fate reunited the two and they began dating. Late last year, they welcomed a beautiful baby girl named Abigail into the world.

The Proposal:

During the Christmas break, Alisha and De’Shon decided to take their beautiful daughter to Chicago, where Alisha is from, to celebrate her first Christmas. After a chat with Alisha’s mom, about the Willis Tower, formerly the Sears Tower, and some research De’Shon knew The Skydeck would be the perfect location for the proposal. “The Skydeck sits on the 103rd floor of the 1,450 foot building and it extends over the street in a glass box that allows you to see directly under you to the street. The view as the city lit up was simply amazing and I couldn't think of a better place to propose with a better view, overlooking the very place she was born and raised”, says De’Shon.

“Her family was unaware of the proposal, other than her father. So to pull it off we had to be very sneaky. From sliding past security at the bottom floor without her seeing the ring on the scanning screen, thanks to their help, to the photographers being prepared to catch the precious moment. Before we stepped in the glass box, I notified one of the photographers of my plan. We all got in the box to take a family photo with her parents and siblings, and then we took a family photo with just us and our daughter. I told her I wanted to take a photo with just me and her. So after she handed our daughter to her mother and I handed my phone to her father for him to record, I got down on one knee as we prepared to take our photo and pulled the ring out asking her to marry me. After tears from her, her family, and many of the tourists waiting to take their photos she said yes!”

The Ring:

The engagement ring was designed by GS Laboratories and features a natural diamond radiant cut surrounded by round brilliant cut diamonds. De’Shon chose this particular ring because, “I feel as if she's special, so she deserved something special and not common. I also don't know much about jewelry other than authenticity and appearance. The ring stuck out to me in the beginning and something about it just looked like it would be perfect on her finger. A wedding band wasn't created specifically for the ring, so when the jeweler showed me how it could be accented with a band on each side, giving it the look as if it was one ring with a custom design, I was sold.”

Congratulations to the happy couple! We at favored wish them a lifetime of love and blessings! If you need a wedding planner, we would love to assist you in planning your big day!!