We Did It!

On December 31st, 2016 (New Year's Eve), we said "I Do" in a private ceremony with our immediate family. We could not be happier with the way our special day turned out, and we are so grateful for this union.

Some of you don't know our story...



Malik and I have been together for 4 years. We lived in 2 different states. He lived in my home state of Pennsylvania, while I lived in Maryland. I often hear people say they could never do long distance. I used to say the same. I truly believe that God will give you grace for the relationship He has for you. So, while it wasn't EASY being 2 hours away from the man I loved, we made it work. I honestly felt closer to him than I had being in relationships with men who were 15 minutes away. Malik and I have a strong bond, we are great friends first and we have God as our foundation and trust. Fast forward to 2016. We were sitting together, talking, just realizing time is passing and we aren't getting any younger. We realized that waiting for everything to be "perfect" before we moved forward wasn't going to get us anywhere. We'd had several conversations before about getting married and knew we would. That was never the issue. We can be perfectionists at times, though, and that was holding us back. We decided to just go ahead and get married before the year was out. I didn't care about a formal engagement or a ring. I just wanted to be with my man forever. We set the date. New Year's Eve fell on a Saturday, PERFECT!! We did our research, made all the bookings we needed. Told our immediate family and a couple of very close friends. Outside of that, no one knew.

Christmas was approaching, our ceremony was in 1 week! We were so excited. Malik text me on December 23rd and said, "Let's go to our restaurant! Date night!" I was excited but thought nothing of it. I really just thought he wanted to celebrate our upcoming marriage by being nostalgic. He gets to my place, I have on jeans and heels and a sweater. He said, "Hmm... Maybe we should get more dressed up!" Still didn't think anything of it. Went ahead and changed into a cute skirt and top and heels and off we went. We have dinner, everything is really nice. He pays the bill, and the waitress brings out these little fortune cookies. I always open mine to read them - faithfully (though I don't eat the cookie). I read it and it says, "Will you marry me?" I'm a little confused because I'm not understanding why this is in my cookie, this isn't a fortune. (LOL!) Slow moment, I know you're thinking it! It's ok. Next thing I know, he is getting up with a box in his hand and moves toward me, gets on one knee and asks me to marry him! We know the answer was already yes, but he said he didn't want to do this without doing this for me. <3 I loved him even more for that. And still, no one knew we had this ceremony planned. I really wanted to just do it, no outside opinions. I wanted it to be all about Malik and I.

Our ceremony was in Philadelphia (both of our families are there, so it made sense and was just easier). Somehow, the 47 degree weather felt like 67 to me. I was not bothered one bit - maybe it was the excitement and nerves. Everything was PERFECT for us and fit US. God really showed up, and we are so grateful!! Here are a few pictures from our amazingly happy and beautiful day that we wanted to share with you.

Happy New Year!!

-KeetaRay