Knottie of the Week - pearls687

TysWife2Be

1. First Name & Fiance's First Name

2. Your Birthday & Age and Fiance's Birthday and Age

3. City Born In?

4. City Live in?

5. Where did you go to college?

6. What was your major?

7. What is your current job?

8. What is your dream job?

9. How did you and your fiance meet?

10.  When did you get engaged and how did he do it??

11. When is the Wedding Day?

12. Where is the ceremony and reception?

13. What are your wedding colors?

14. Where are you honeymooning?

15. Favorite wedding vendor so far?

16. Biggest wedding splurge?

17. What is something you wish you could have at the wedding but don't?

18. Another knottie wedding you'd like to attend?

19. Favorite book?

20. Favorite movie?

21. Favorite tv show?

22. Favorite wedding dress designer?

23. Any advice you can give?

24. Anything you wish you could change about your wedding?

25. Share something about yourself!

pearls687

Now y'all know I've always got a lot to say so let me just apologize in advance for the 20 minutes it's gonna take to get through this....lol.  JK, here goes!


1. First Name & Fiance's First Name    Tanya and Tony

2. Your Birthday & Age and Fiance's Birthday and Age   Tanya - July 30, age 43    Tony - Jan. 24, age 43

3. City Born In?    Bronx, NY 

4. City Live in?  Charlotte, NC

5. Where did you go to college?  University of NC at Charlotte

6. What was your major?   Criminal Justice

7. What is your current job?   Paralegal at a non-profit agency that represents the best interests of children in high-conflict custody cases

8. What is your dream job?   Event Planner

9. How did you and your fiance meet?   We worked in the same building with similar work hours and parked in the same parking deck.  We would often arrive and leave work at the same time and end up walking into or out of the building at the same time.  We had small talk whenever we ran into each other but I didn't think anything of it.  I was clueless and all along, he was feeling me out.  I had definitely noticed that he was a nice-looking man with swag, and sometimes I would jokingly say to myself as I drove into the parking lot, "I've got to get in here so I can park beside my baby daddy."  (Yes, I entertain myself....lol)  One day he asked if I was married or seeing anyone and when I said no, he asked if I'd like to go out for coffee sometime.  I accepted and the rest is history! 

10.  When did you get engaged and how did he do it??    We got engaged Dec. 31, 2010.  We had gone out to an upscale restaurant for a late New Years Eve dinner.  After dinner, I left the table to go to the restroom.  When I came back to the table, he was acting all weird and fidgety.  He is ALWAYS a cool character, so I couldn't figure out why he was acting so strange.  I thought it was because the countdown to the new year was approaching and we were trying to decide where to bring in the new year.  There wasn't any time left to go someplace else by that time, so I was trying to get him to go into the bar area and watch the ball drop and countdown with the party people in the restaurant.  He decided we should stay at the table, so I agreed and the countdown started.  When we got to about 5, he said, "Let's start this year out the right way." and got up and came to my side of the table.  He got down on one knee and pulled a ring box out of his jacket pocket and said [some stuff I can't remember because I was in shock] and asked me to marry him.  I heard the crowd get to ONE as I said yes and I was crying like a fool.  lol  Our table was sort of in the cut, so nobody but the couple at another table near us saw what happened, and I'm not one that likes a lot of attention, so I was kind of glad there wasn't a whole big deal from the staff or other patrons.  But I was sooooo happy and even though we had talked about getting married, and had looked at rings, I had no idea it was coming that night !  I called my mom and godparents on the way home to share the news.  When we got to my house, my daughter was waiting up  all hyped because she already knew he was planning to propose that night!

11. When is the Wedding Day?  The wedding was May 27, 2012.  (Yes, I'm still hanging around...lol)

12. Where is the ceremony and reception?  Both were at The Peninsula Club at Lake Norman

13. What are your wedding colors?  Spring mix (guava, pink, orange, green, yellow, purple)

14. Where are you honeymooning?  We went to Iberostar Grand Bavaro in P*unta Cana, Dominican Republic.  AMAZING!

15. Favorite wedding vendor so far? The venue was my favorite.  It was a beautiful place and the service was great!

16. Biggest wedding splurge?  the honeymoon

17. What is something you wish you could have at the wedding but don't?   A videographer.  We didn't think we would care about not having a video, but when it was over, we just wanted to re-live the day a million times.  We instantly regretted that decision.

18. Another knottie wedding you'd like to attend?   EVERYBODY'S!  After reading about everybody's plans for so long, it would be an honor to attend them all!  
Specifically though, 20pearls16 and mejai1 because our life experiences and personalities seem so similar.  CaseynMike - they're gonna be partying it up!  M1ssJ because we're all invited so I'll get to meet and hang out with all of y'all there!    And sultryzulu....for obvious reasons....that girl keeps me dying!   And I would have loved to go to MsAmeera25's because her attention to detail was fabulous and I wanted to see how it all came together.  

19. Favorite book?   I've read some really great books but I suck at remembering the titles, so I can't commit to a favorite.  I'll just say that I like legal thrillers and AA novels. 

20. Favorite movie?  Pretty Woman

21. Favorite tv show?  Scandal and The Braxtons

22. Favorite wedding dress designer?   I don't have one.  <gasp!>

23. Any advice you can give?  My advice is to put as much time and effort into the marriage as you put into the wedding planning.  That day will come and go, but remember that the whole point of it all is to join your life with the man you love and when the dust settles, the real work begins!

24. Anything you wish you could change about your wedding?  I wish our guests would have stayed and partied longer!  We weren't ready for it to end!  I also wish I could have convinced hubby to do a first look so we could have had that private moment beforehand and gone straight to the reception after the ceremony, but he wasn't having it. at. all. 

25. Share something about yourself!  I'm a mom and stepmom to three teenagers.  (LAWD HELP ME!...lol)  I'm all about family, both immediate and extended.  I love movies, music and travel.  I feel like I'm in the prime of my life and I'm enjoying being wiser about life and love than I've ever been before.  I like to have fun and I have a pretty good sense of humor.  I'm super organized and like for everything to be in order.  AND I'M A WIFE, Y'ALL!!!!  Yayyyyy!! 

island07b2b

Hi Tanya.  Your story of meeting your husband was too funny.  LOL!   How do you find your job?  I can imagine that it is never boring and you see and hear stuff that makes one shake their head. 

I hear the show Scandal is good.  I just can't remember to watch it. 

Was there any special signficance for the wedding date you chose?

pearls687

Hi! 

My job is definitely never boring!  I was a social worker for 15 years before going back to school for paralegal studies.  The job I have now is the perfect marriage of my two skill sets and I feel like I am really making a difference.  It's amazing how people can get so caught up in winning custody battles that they destroy the kids in the process.

Scandal is great but the season was wayyyyy too short!  You can watch the episodes you missed at ABC.com. 

There wasn't any special significance for the date we chose.  I wanted an outdoor wedding and I love summer.  Also, we wanted to choose a holiday weekend for the convenience of our OOT guests.  So a Memorial Day weekend Sunday brunch wedding was the perfect way to kick off our summer!

MrsBoss2012

I love how you met. It sounds like something out of a movie! Your wedding was beautiful. God Bless you with those 3 teenagers...whew!

Now that the wedding is over what is something you are looking forward to in married life?

pearls687

@MrsBoss2012 -  Thank you for your kind compliments on the wedding!  It was a great day, indeed!

I had been divorced for 6 years and truly wasn't looking for or even interested in dating anyone when we met.  In fact, I had settled into being happy with myself and my life and decided that if I ever met somebody, fine and if I didn't, that was fine too.  I was concentrating on raising my daughter.  It was like God placed him in my path. I was just going about my everyday life.  When he asked me out, I thought "Well, it would be nice to have somebody to do something with sometimes" and so I had a real casual approach.  Let me tell you, brutha had to work to get me on a different page.  He let me know that he was interested in something serious right from the start and it was kind of scary to me.  I was steady "running".  lol  I didn't really consider anything between us until he PRAYED before a meal on a dinner date.  I don't mean just said the blessing, I'm talkin about he PRAYED.  The whole time he was praying, I was thinking "Now hold up, maybe you should pay attention here.  This man seems to have a relationship with God."  lol  After that, I opened my heart and our relationship blossomed.  For the longest time, I wouldn't tell him what it was that caused such a dramatic change in my emotional investment because I didn't want him to feel self-conscious.  He thought it was going to be something extra that he did or said, or some grand gesture he made for me.  When I finally told him during a pre-marital counseling session with our pastor, he was so shocked that it was something so simple.  He said "Babe, I pray all the time.  I didn't think that was anything."  But for me, that was the sexiest and most appealing thing I'd ever seen in a man and it changed my perspective right there on the spot!

Soooo, I know that was more than you probably wanted to know but I continue to be amazed at how he "happened" to me and how I've gone from a divorced mom of one to a wife and mom of three and I didn't even see it coming!  That just goes to show that you never know what God has in store for you!

As for marriage, I am most looking forward to loving, lasting, trusting, and consistent companionship.  I'm excited about our life together!

MrsBoss2012

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/cultural-wedding-boards_african-american-weddings_knottie-of-the-week-pearls687?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Cultural Wedding BoardsForum:400Discussion:27efd7a6-a734-43fa-9b76-346f38bb4b2cPost:4a81080d-5931-4dea-926b-1a8071b9c0f7">Re: Knottie of the Week - pearls687</a>:
[QUOTE]@MrsBoss2012 -  Thank you for your kind compliments on the wedding!  It was a great day, indeed! I had been divorced for 6 years and truly wasn't looking for or even interested in dating anyone when we met.  In fact, I had settled into being happy with myself and my life and decided that if I ever met somebody, fine and if I didn't, that was fine too.  I was concentrating on raising my daughter.  It was like God placed him in my path. I was just going about my everyday life.  When he asked me out, I thought "Well, it would be nice to have somebody to do something with sometimes" and so I had a real casual approach.  Let me tell you, brutha had to work to get me on a different page.  He let me know that he was interested in something serious right from the start and it was kind of scary to me.  I was steady "running".  lol  I didn't really consider anything between us until he PRAYED before a meal on a dinner date.  I don't mean just said the blessing, I'm talkin about he PRAYED.  The whole time he was praying, I was thinking "Now hold up, maybe you should pay attention here.  This man seems to have a relationship with God."  lol  After that, I opened my heart and our relationship blossomed.  For the longest time, I wouldn't tell him what it was that caused such a dramatic change in my emotional investment because I didn't want him to feel self-conscious.  He thought it was going to be something extra that he did or said, or some grand gesture he made for me.  When I finally told him during a pre-marital counseling session with our pastor, he was so shocked that it was something so simple.  He said "Babe, I pray all the time.  I didn't think that was anything."  But for me, that was the sexiest and most appealing thing I'd ever seen in a man and it changed my perspective right there on the spot! Soooo, I know that was more than you probably wanted to know but I continue to be amazed at how he "happened" to me and how I've gone from a divorced mom of one to a wife and mom of three and I didn't even see it coming!  That just goes to show that you never know what God has in store for you! As for marriage, I am most looking forward to loving, lasting, trusting, and consistent companionship.  I'm excited about our life together!
Posted by pearls687[/QUOTE]

That's it! Send the script in to Tyler Perry!!! OMG!!!

MissusD1116

Aww! That proposal was sweet! It's nice to meet you mama!

[Deleted User]

T I stalked this thread all last night waiting on  you to see it lol!

all that was awesome! but these are the highlights for me: 

"I've got to get in here so I can park beside my baby daddy." 

AND I'M A WIFE, Y'ALL!!!!  Yayyyyy!! 

I continue to be amazed at how he "happened" to me

As for marriage, I am most looking forward to loving, lasting, trusting, and consistent companionship.  I'm excited about our life together!

Slow. Standing. O.



p.s. you and Tony feel free to come on up for the weddin, check orbitz now girl I don't wanna hear no mess.

keyaira04

Great to hear your story! Congrats on the wedding. I still love the mother-daughter moment you had before your wedding. And the poster you are doing is sooo nice; looks like Gone with the Wind. Congratulations!

CaseynMike

Pleasure to meet you Tanya!! Congrats again on getting married! I love how you and your hubby met!! Awww Soror I am flattered that you would love to come party with me....trust if I hit the lottery between now and next year I will gladly invite some Knottie sisters!! That would be awesome to plan, talk, support and CELEBRATE my wedding with you all!!

I loved your color scheme for your wedding too!

mejai1

Tanya!!! Hi there Everything you said was SO touching and sweet that I know now where your daughter gets it. It's so wonderful that FI PRAYED and you knew that God was moving. Isn't it the best when you are fine with where you are by yourself and the one just shows up!  Yes, I do feel like we have a lot in common and am so impressed by the social work/paralegal. You really must see a lot of drama in your line of work.

The proposal was perfect, the day was beautiful and thanks for the advice on putting the same effort into the marriage as into this wedding planning (dang, I was looking to take a breather after this!)

Hugs,

Michele

thedivav

aww that is so sweet *yes i am a sap* lol 

footballwife77

Hi! Nice to meet you!
23. Any advice you can give?  My advice is to put as much time and effort into the marriage as you put into the wedding planning.  That day will come and go, but remember that the whole point of it all is to join your life with the man you love and when the dust settles, the real work begins!

I LOVE THIS ADVICE!!!! Congrats on the wedding!

20pearls16

"My advice is to put as much time and effort into the marriage as you put into the wedding planning.  That day will come and go, but remember that the whole point of it all is to join your life with the man you love and when the dust settles, the real work begins!"

Soror you better PREACH! Of course I feel like i know you already, but I love your proposal story and I wasn't looking for anyone either when I met my FI, but God works in mysterious ways. Congratulations again on your wedding and many Blessings to you and your Huzzzzzband LOL.

staten2012

that was a beautiful, beautiful intro Tanya!!

Thanks for sharing your intimate details with us...and I teared up at the proposal. NYE is one of my favorite "holidays" and the setting, the proposal..the timing....

Tony did real good, girl. Real good.

Congrats again and best wishes to you both!

pearls687

Thanks everybody!