This week's #WCW couple goes to Mr. & Mrs. Ford, a couple that I stalked their wedding pictures on Instagram. Porshe and I both attended Norfolk State University and became members of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc under the Delta Epsilon Chapter. The two reside in North Carolina and have the cutest 'accents', in my opinion. They both have 7 year old sons and are looking to expand their family in the near future. Knowing each other since high school, the two reconnected and began their love story. Please read on to see how Miss Porshe became a Mrs. Ford.
How and where did you two meet?
"We met when we were in high school. I don't remember specifically what year it was, but I think it was when she was a freshman and I was a sophomore." Andrew answered.
"Yeah, we met in high school. We kind of had the same groups of friends. We both played sports and he had a crush on me, I found out later. He had a girl friend at the time, but we all hung out with the same people so we kind of kept in touch that way." Porshe added.
How long were you dating before you got engaged?
"We got engaged August 1st of 2014 and we started talking in February of 2011" replied Andrew
How did you know she was the one?
Andrew answered, "Well I wanted to take my time when we started dating and make sure that everything was right. I rushed into a previous relationship, where I had my son, and things didn't work out very well, because we rushed into it. It took us a little longer, when I started dating Porshe, to gain trust and realize that she was the one that I wanted to be with. She had all the traits that I wanted with being a good mother, being responsible, and looking awesome!"
How long were you engaged?
"One year and one month" answered Andrew
Wedding Date:
August 29, 2015
Why did you pick that date?
Porshe explained, "I kind of originally wanted to get married in September, but the venue we were looking at had a deal in August. I went the cheap way and we were like we can pick the last possible weekend in August."
Inside Ceremony & Reception (The Ryan Nicholas Inn, South Carolina)
Approximate expense: $26K-$27K
Color Scheme:
Blush, Black, and Blue (color of Groom’s tux is unknown, but I say it’s awesome)
Where did you get inspiration from for your color scheme?
"His tux was like what we worked around for the whole wedding. I kind of always wanted black, something kind of sleek for my girls. I think everyone looks good in it and plus I was in school at the time, so I didn't want to spend too much time looking at colors. I also knew that I didn't want everything to match too much and everything be 'matchy-matchy'. That was also one of the biggest things with me picking black because you can put anything with black and it will just flow. My dress was blush, so I figured I could add a few blush tones in there,” answered Porshe.
Did Andrew help with the planning or did he just say 'you do it all and I'll just show up'?
"He helped me in certain areas. I would give him certain things to do. It might take a while for it to get done," laughed and continued, Porshe, "He went with me for the cake tastings and there were certain things that we did together. A lot of the planning was done with the planner that we had there. We both kind of got off easy with planning because everything was there." responded Porshe.
What caused the most stress while planning?
"Having to get hounding on for not helping to plan" laughed Andrew and continued, "I think that one of the biggest stressors was making sure the finances were right.” Answered Andrew
"The most stressful part was probably getting people to do what I needed them to do for the day. People were making it not about us. I wish I didn't spend that much energy on it as I did because it took away from the excitement of the day.” expressed Porshe
Andrew later added, “Another thing that stressed me out was not being able to invite a lot of people that wanted to come. There were a lot of people that gave me a hard time about where their invitation was. I never like to exclude anyone that wants to be included, but we had to with the circumstances of our money situation. I would have loved to invite everybody, so that was definitely stressful!"
What did you find to be most helpful during your planning process?
"I guess just the venue we had in general. Everything was there. I was in nursing school at the time, so having a venue like that was easier on us and not a lot of stress. We basically got to just pick out what we wanted and then let them do the rest." answered Porshe.
What was your best memory?
Andrew answered, "I would say when I first saw Porshe walking out with her Daddy. She looked very beautiful. I teared up a little bit, but there was a lot of iPads and telephones in my face, so it kind of distracted me a little bit."
Agreeing with Andrew, Porshe continued, "I loved the ceremony. It was calm because with the reception, there's a lot going on. My favorite part was walking down the aisle and getting those few seconds to just see him without everyone in your way."
What was your worst memory?
Porshe replied, "That day was so easy and good that I don't think I had a bad moment. My day was pretty easy and everyone just kind of went with the flow and it was so chill and I was so calm."
"The night before we had a few conflicts, but the day of was perfect and nothing went wrong." responded Andrew.
If you could, would you get married all over again and if so, would you do it the same way?
Porshe responded, "I think it was what I wanted. I could see toning some things down a little bit as far as how many people that was there. I think some people were there just to come and then some people were there because they really wanted to be there, so I think that's the only thing I would change. Family was there and everyone was so excited and had a great time so I wouldn't change any of that."
"Oh yeah, I would've done it all over again. It turned out to be everything I wanted it to be. The only thing that I wish was a little bit different was the amount of time we were taken away to take pictures. The pictures are always good and something we can hold on to for the rest of our lives, but we were taken away from getting to mingle with our friends and family." Andrew answered.
Do you want or plan to renew your vows?
"I think I would want to do something a little bit more 'low-key' and just us. I would want to do something on the complete different end of the spectrum, like a 'Destination Wedding' or something like that." Porshe responded.
"I think I would do whatever the wife says!" a very smart, Andrew replied.
Was your wedding day everything you expected?
Porshe answered, "I think the reception was a little more hectic than I thought it would be. There was so much I missed. I feel like I was there, but I wasn't there. It was kind of like a blur. I wish that I was able to take it all in, but it was just a lot faster than I thought it would be. Everything seems to flow, but before I knew it the night was over."
Are there any pictures that you wish your photographer would have captured, but did not?
"He gave us 2400 pictures so I think he captured just about everything he could capture. Some of the pictures that were out on the front lawn, I thought they were going to be really good and they were kind of distant. He got some good shots of the venue in the background, so it was nice from that standpoint. I just thought they were going to be up close and more focused on us, but instead they were just a little distant. Other than that I think he captured everything we could ask for and think he did a really good job." replied Andrew.
"Looking back on them, I didn't get a lot of pictures with my dad's side of the family. That's the only thing that I would've liked to see more of." answered Porshe.
What was your favorite wedding gift?
"We got a fire pit and we were really excited about that. We just moved in together and have a little space outside, so we put it on the registry thinking it would be really cool to have one. We also got a lot of gift cards to different restaurants for date night and those are always good." answered Porshe.
"We got some jersey sheets that we just put on the bed the day before yesterday that are really really comfortable" laughed Andrew.
What was your most wasteful purchase in regards to planning your wedding?
"The only thing I could think of was that we had some corn-holes made. Actually we didn't even pay for that A friend of ours actually did", the couple laughed and then Porshe continued, "I guess he would really say that was a waste because the area that we had them in when it got dark out, no one could really see them set-up. The kids were kind of just throwing bean bags at each other and so no one really played."
"I'd say the cake, but you kind of have to have a cake. We're not really cake eaters, so we didn't really care to have it” answered Andrew.
What is the best advice you would give to someone else planning their wedding?
"The best advice I would give a future groom is to ‘A’, pick a venue with a wedding planner and ‘B’, do whatever is asked of you and do it in a timely manner." Andrew advised.
"I would say start planning early and a little bit at a time. Don't overwhelm yourself. One big thing that I learned was to try to keep your wedding party small. Sometimes less is better and it keeps you less stressed." Answered Porshe
Thank you for taking the time to read about this week's Wedding Crush Wednesday Couple's wedding experience. I hope you stay tuned to see next week's couple. Happy Planning Folks!