This week's WeddingCrushWednesday couple goes to one of my best friends and her husband, Mr. & Mrs. Peoples. Jessica is truly like a sister to me. I met them both at Norfolk State University and Jessica, myself, and two other ladies, Whitney and Adeylah created a small 'innocent' gang known as SFAM. Since freshman year Jessica and I have been extremely tight. I have watched her and Steven blossom into a beautiful couple that strives to put God and their love in the center of everything they do. Jessica has just recently started PA school full-time at EVMS and Steven is part owner of WorldClassEnterprises, focusing on catering, marketing, entertainment, and event planning. They have two beautiful children, Morgan and Steven 'Tre. I had the pleasure of being a part of their special day and I have to say that their wedding was one of my favorites. The two were surrounded by nothing but love and I couldn't be happier to feature their love story and wedding experience with you. Please sit back and enjoy The Peoples!
How and where did you two meet?
"We met in 2009, the year I graduated, at Norfolk State." -Jessica
How long did you date before you got engaged?
"6 years!" -Jessica
How did you know she was the one?
"I think struggling, trials, and tribulations show real character. You see the real person when things aren't going as good whether it's in your life or together in both of your lives. I think that being in certain situations and seeing how she reacted to them and responded to them let me know the real her. That's probably what genuinely attracted me to her and let me know that she was the one." -Steven
"What, when I cried when our cable got cut off?" –Jessica joked
How did you propose?
"I called her phone after she was leaving Bible Study and told her that I had gotten pulled over by the police and I needed her to come pick me up. When she got there I had my friend waiting out there. He walked her around the corner where I had another friend that was singing a solo. I popped up from behind the statue and proposed to her.
Did you cry or have an idea that the proposal was coming?
"Yeah... I cried like a baby. I didn't know it was coming at all. I actually had an attitude because I was ready to come home after church." -Jessica
Wedding Date: October 25, 2015
Inside Ceremony & Reception: The Women's Club of Portsmouth (Portsmouth, Virginia)
Approximate expense: $15,000
Color Scheme: Orange, Navy, Coral, and Silver
What was most helpful while planning?
"Definitely Pinterest. I was like Pinterest Queen. I had a wedding planner, but I didn't get her until two weeks before the wedding. She was more of a Day-of-Coordinator." -Jessica
"The most helpful thing planning the wedding was.... Well I'm more grateful that Jessica did get a head start on it. She did get a jump start because I was definitely busy just working so much. Another thing that was most helpful for me was just me doing so many weddings myself, that I knew what to expect from a general point of view. This was as far as the venue, the food, the serving times...etc. I've done so many weddings that I had a different point of view." - Steven
Did Steven help with the planning or did he just say 'you do it all and I'll just show up'?
"In the beginning he didn't really help, but definitely within the last month or two he started getting stuff out of the air. He was just pulling stuff out of everywhere like, 'I got the DJ don't worry about the DJ' 'I got the videographer don't worry about the videographer'. He came out with a lot of stuff... BUT... it was a year to a year and half after I already started planning. He came through at the end so that's all that really matters. -Jessica
What caused the most stress while planning?
"I think just trying to make everything perfect and the way that I envisioned it in my head. Just seeing it come out the way it was in my head on the actual day was just stressful. I think just stressing about that day to make sure everything was perfect was really what was most stressful." -Jessica
"I would probably say my wife worrying if everything was going to work out well and be okay. I was pretty confident that it was going to be okay. My biggest thing was that I wasn't going to be involved like I would normally be. Things that I could change in a quick moment or things that I could see from a management point of view I wasn't going to be able to see." -Steven
What was your best memory of the day and did you cry?
"I kind of have two. The first one would be right after Steven and I got married and we went into the back room. It was like we were finally realizing that we were husband and wife. That was a good feeling and memory. The second one was just seeing everyone dancing, having fun and really enjoying themselves. I felt like all the hard work paid off." -Jessica
"My best memory was.... I have a few. Probably one was when Tre walked out and got introduced and he was dancing and doing his thing. Everybody just knew it was coming and he was just preparing us for it. Probably my dance with Morgan was another good moment. Definitely the reception and just seeing everybody mingling from all different walks of life, from her job, from family, to friends to fraternity. It was just nice to have different people that I knew from different places and different walks of lives to all be in the same room at the same time. That showed me a lot of support. It was nice to see that people really supported us and wished us well." -Steven
What was your worst memory of the day?
"The only thing that I can think of that I started to panic about a little bit was when they started to serve the food. It looked like there was a lot of confusion going on. That's the only thing that I could think of or that I saw that day. If there was anything that went on behind the scenes, I don't know, but that's the only thing that I saw and I was kind of getting nervous about." -Jessica
"I have a couple different ones. Next time... well... there won't be a next time... I probably wouldn't have gone with my company doing the catering because it still ultimately left a lot of responsibility on me. It was kind of hard to enjoy myself when I had all these other things going on. Things like people leaving and not cleaning up, food not being put up were things that I shouldn't have had to deal with. That's something that I left someone else to manage, but the people that I left in charge ended up drunk. That was a big headache to me. I think I was also nervous about my groomsmen getting too drunk before the wedding actually started. Someone threw up on the floor of the bridal suite and that was kind of a bad thing." -Steven
Was you wedding day everything you expected, more, or less?
"I think it was definitely more than what I expected. It was just wonderful. I wish I could do it over without planning, the expenses, and everything that went into it. It was really beautiful and I was just amazed how much fun we had and how much fun everyone told me that they had. I think it was definitely beyond what I expected." -Jessica
"I think it was definitely more than what I expected. I think when you have people around you that genuinely care about you and it's not a bunch of hype, or just a fashion show I think it makes the event that much better. It takes away a lot of the materialistic things. I think us having people around us that really care about us and really wish us well put everything over the top. -Steven
Looking back on that day and everything that went into planning your wedding and seeing where you are today; would you do it all over again and the same way?
"I don't think I would do anything different. I loved the venue and the day went great. I couldn't even imagine doing it any different way." -Jessica
"As I stated before... I think I would just pick another company to do my catering, instead of using my own company. It was kind of a gift and a curse using my company because we saved a lot of money, but it also caused a lot of headache. You got to give a little to get a little." -Steven
Are there any pose and/or pictures that you wish your photographer would have captured, but didn't?
"He was a good photographer, but kind of shy. We kind of did our own poses. Looking at Pinterest and all the different pictures you see with the different angles, I wish we did have a little more variety and creativity. I wasn't thinking about it that day." -Jessica
"I think I was satisfied with the pictures. The only thing I think I would change or add is having more than one camera man to get different angles. Beyond that, for what we paid for and the quality of what we got I was pleased." -Steven
What was your most wasteful purchase in regards to planning your wedding?
"I would probably say our Rolls-Royce that we purchased because nobody really got to see it. Everyone was already gone, but we did get some pictures in it. It was fun riding all the way to Virginia Beach in it, but I think we could have done without it. If we could have saved on anything then I think that was something we could have saved." -Jessica
"I would agree, but I would also add one other thing. That morning I had good intentions and went to the store and spent like $200-$300 on little juices for people that don't drink alcohol. I figured it would work out well for those that don't drink during the cocktail hour and people could use them as chasers as well, but they never got put out. I don't know what the people that didn't drink alcohol were drinking. That to me was a waste, not a major waste, but it was still a waste." -Steven
What is the best advice you would give to someone else planning their wedding?
"Plan to live after the wedding. It's good to have a nice wedding everyone wants to have a really nice wedding and make sure that everyone has a really good time, but don't go so far outside of your budget that it puts you in a bad situation down the line." -Steven
"My advice would be for the bride not to stress out so much that the groom isn't helping out because at some point they usually do get involved. Don't stress about it or let it interfere with your relationship. Keep going and keep moving and eventually they'll jump on the train. For the groom, I would say make that sooner than later." –Jessica
I thank you so much for taking the time to read about my friend/soror/sister and her husband’s beautiful wedding. I thank the couple tremendously for allowing me to reflect on their day and to share with all my readers and followers. I also thank the couple for allowing me to design and create their wedding invitations (pictured below). They have always been supportive in myself and my family and I support them both with all of their future endeavors they make as individuals and as a family. If you live in the tidewater area and are interested in getting in contact with World Class Enterprises for any catering, event planning, marketing, and/or entertainment needs please email: info@wccatering.com.
Happy Planning Folks!!!