I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I’m MARRIED!!!

December 14th, 2022 I married the love of my life. I started 2022 out as a girlfriend and ended it as someone’s whole wife. WOW. Still shocked! If you know our back story then you can skip over this, but I’m going to let you in on our love journey.

How It Started

Rodney and I met working at TopShop. We were both personal shoppers/stylist. Him for the men’s department and me for the women’s department. Our overall department was very small and we were the only African Americans who worked there at the time so you know they shipped us HARD. Well fast forward after building a great friendship we both agreed we actually liked each other. We spent almost a year getting to know each other as friends and it felt so real and raw. I wasn’t trying to impress him. I told him all about my current situationship. He gave me advice. That was that. I knew while talking to him that he was special and whoever he ended up with was going to be one lucky girl. Dfinitely didn’t think it would be me. Fast forward and he asked me to be his girlfriend. Now this is where it gets crazy. He was already on a celibacy journey that I honestly didn’t know if it was for me at the time. But I prayed about it and felt like this was going to be more than I could ever imagine. I said yes, I will be your girlfriend and be on this celibate journey with you. We lasted a solid 2 years, which is a very long time might I add and then we had a talk about taking our relationship to the next level. I am so proud of myself and how we navigated the first 2 years of our relationship. It taught me so much about self-control and not relying on the physical for comfort. Enough about that, you are here for the wedding! We got to year 4 (2022) and I jokingly said all the way up until the proposal “I better be engaged this year or I will be single next year” lmaooo. I was trying to see if I believed my own bluff, but I didn’t have to worry about it because July 26, 2022 Rodney proposed and of course I said YES!

Why We Decided To Elope

I immediately knew we wanted to have a destination wedding. I started looking and doing research online and 2 weeks later I was over it. I asked Rodney would he be okay with a courthouse wedding and he said “whatever you like, I’m okay with.” I don’t know why I expected him to say anything else. He’s so easy-going. My dream man. So I explained to him that I wanted to do a courthouse wedding and put the money we would’ve spent to a new home. I kind of felt bad that I wasn’t giving my friends and family the opportunity to celebrate with us, so I toyed with the idea of a destination wedding for about a few months. Then we found a home we loved in a new development and couldn’t stop talking about it. We made our goal to get the house first and then spend money on the wedding later! We are still planning a destination/reception/wedding celebration in 2024, but wanted to focus on getting the house first. Now here we are! So so so glad we made the decision to elope and are so excited for our journey as a married couple! Our registry is for our house fund only, but leaving the link here if you want to gift us anything. Thank you so much in advance!

Wedding Registry

Santa Barbara Courthouse

We never been to Santa Barbara before. We had no idea it is only a 2 hour drive from Los Angeles. We heard how beautiful it was and how their courthouse was stunning. I follow a creator online who posted a blog about her Santa Barbara courthouse wedding and her pictures sold me! We wanted to go somewhere outside of LA for the elopement so it would feel a little more special. We got a hotel at the Hotel Virginia Santa Barbara x Hilton and it ended up being perfect. Perfect location. Perfect size room. Everything. It was walking distance from all the restaurants and about a 5 minute drive from the courthouse. We also loved that the hotel had a fun exposed brick wall which made for a vibey photoshoot. As soon as we got done shooting our pics, we headed back to LA and talked about how perfect Santa Barbara was. So If you’re considering getting married at Santa Barbara, do it!

The Legal Process

It was fairly easy to get married at a courthouse. You can click this link if you’re interested in Santa Barbara. It’ll take you to the reservation portal. Once you pick your date you have to fill out a bunch of paperwork. Here’s another link with all the information for the Santa Barbara courthouse marriage process. This is a huge legal milestone, so they want to know everything under the sun. They even asked for our parents maiden names and where they were born. After doing all of that, they confirm your appointment and will send you more paperwork to fill out digitally and you’re good to go. I suggest getting to the courthouse about 20 minutes before your appointment. We parked in a parking lot around the corner and had to find the entrance of the courthouse, which put us right at our time slot. But once we got there it was smooth sailing. They make you fill out MORE paperwork and then sign your life away. If you’re wondering, yes you have to make the name change decision right then and there. We didn’t talk about it too much prior, but I knew I was going to take Rodney’s last name. It was a no brainer. After that they take you outside and you can do the ceremony anywhere you want. Our amazing photographer, Deun Ivory, was our witness. That’s it!