Just Married: 12 Years Ago — EXTRA IS MY ORDINARY®

Donna and Dexter

Sitting in a tree

K-I-S-S-I-N-G

First comes love

Then comes marriage

Then comes baby

In a baby carriage!

Who remembers this childhood rhyme/song?

Well, our love story definitely didn’t go that way! When my husband and I met, we were knee deep into trying to create a meaningful life for the children we were already raising. With all the responsibilities we both were committed to, it seemed almost impossible to have the type of love story they portray in the “movies”. Rather, we leaned into the notion of building a life that would only work for us!

After a long two-year engagement, we finally tied the knot which made our perfectly imperfect blended family official. Every year on our Wedding Anniversary we pause to celebrate another year of marriage in a special way. This included thawing and eating the leftover wedding cake on our one year Anniversary! Do couples still do this??

Over the years we’ve incorporated all types of traditions to commemorate our special day, but the one I always look forward to is saying the vows we read to each other on our wedding day back to each other every year.

So, this year, we find ourselves in the midst of a Pandemic with the same desire to have an EXTRAordinary 12 year Anniversary celebration. Every other year, we found ourselves venturing away from home to celebrate our love, but with all the restrictions on travel and indoor gatherings, staying home (or as close to home as possible) seemed best. Only problem, we had been home for the past 4 ½ months at that point, and I wasn’t exactly sure how to make the experience EXTRAordinary. Thankfully, it was August so the warm weather worked in our favor for an outside experience, and then, the idea hit me to also hire a personal chef to prepare a meal for us. Granted, this is not a genius idea (I actually have never had one...hahaha), but I knew that I had opened the door for another opportunity to be creative!

I reached out to a family friend who made a delicious pivot during the Pandemic period from styling hair to catering. (Read all about The Art of the Pivot here)

One conversation with Chef Beverly of B’s Kitchen, and her excitement confirmed that I had made the right decision for this year’s anniversary celebration. Outside of setting a budget, the big question was, “What do you need me to do?”. All my husband and I had to do was pitch the tent, place the table and two chairs underneath it, and show up dressed at 7 pm!! Incredible!

Enjoy a recap of the evening in pictures:

Walking towards the tent hand in hand was dreamy. Soft music from the speaker filled the air and the mood was now romantic and peaceful.

To our surprise, the multi-talented Kamari was awaiting our arrival so that she can begin serenading us with the beautiful song “Best Part’ by Daniel Caesar & H.E.R. In this moment my husband and I were moved to tears. We did not plan this. B’s Kitchen and her team selected the song and had creative control of the entire evening. The night only got better!

After the serenade and dance my husband and I turned around to take in the ambiance that the team created under the tent. Floating candles, pink petals, white linens, and personalized goblets and menus wowed us as we took our seats.

When we booked chef Beverly, we asked for lobster, surf and turf, and scallops. The menu she created incorporated those ingredients deliciously! The design of the menu was purposefully selected to depict jade which I learned form the team is the traditional color for the 12th Anniversary. These thoughtful touches are unforgettable.

Another surprise which was a keepsake for us were two personalized goblets by black owned business Handcrafted by Toya. One side of the glass reads “Just Married: 12 Years Ago” & the other side reads “Love in Quarantine”. The color jade was incorporated here again.

Getting lost in the details almost made us forget that we had a three-course meal ahead of us! We were first served scallop soup followed by salad by chef Beverly herself. All of the ingredients were explained and her desire to ensure that we were completely satisfied remained for the entire evening.

The drink of the evening was a delicious and “rich” homemade Sangria!

No matter what the main course is always the highlight! On top of having a scrumptious meal, we were serenaded once again as Kamari sang a surprise song for us. Turns out, the team did some research to find out the song we danced to on our wedding day. Kamari practiced the song and belted out Erykah Badu’s “Orange Moon” beautifully!