June & Tiffany's Love Story
Marrying My Best Friend
How did you meet each other?
We met while both serving in the military. We were away at a training together and instantaneously gravitated towards one another. We were inseparable-everyone knew where they saw one, the other was VERY close by!
We tried our hand at a relationship but soon realized that the timing wasn’t right and conditions were not in place to be together. So we vowed to always be friends and to be there for one another!
When did you know the other was the one?
We felt pretty confident that we knew immediately, because our friendship and bond was so strong. But we knew for absolute certain when it was time to leave the training and go back to our real lives after almost two months. It was such an emotional time. We were both admittedly lost without one another. We talked on the phone from sun up to sun down only getting off long enough to handle business that had to happen-and sometimes we put each other on hold while at work for however long. And when we got done, the other was still there (im)patiently waiting…
As previously stated, the relationship portion tanked due to us being long distance but our friendship was too important to get caught in the crossfire so we chose to maintain a friendship. We lived our lives and vowed to always be there for one another as friends and then as the universe would align, the military brought us back together when I (June) was assigned to the Chicagoland area. We learned that it was no accident that we were placed together again.
We did maintain a friendship, but when both of our relationships went south- we decided to revisit the deep romantic Love that we once shared.
Tell us about the proposal.
I (June) planned a 40th birthday trip for Tiffany. All she knew was how much vacation time she needed to take at work. She didn’t know where we were going or anything. I got some of her friends and family together to come and celebrate with us.
We went to her sister’s house the day we left-I told her that I gathered some of her friends to see her off because they wouldn’t get to spend her special milestone birthday with her. So we enjoyed breakfast and mimosas then I had the limo come there to pick us up. When the limo arrived, they all pretended to see us off-they watched us get in and waved bye to us THEN they opened the door and told her they were going. She was overjoyed, she cried and everything! Everyone grabbed their bags and we headed to Cabo!
In Cabo we were greeted by private transportation to the beautiful villa where we had an open bar, chef, maid service and everything else we needed. We partied in the pool and hot tub every single day! We rode ATVs together, spent time on the town and enjoyed massages for everyone inside our villa!
The day before we left we had a private yacht cruise where the big moment would happen. I informed the boat crew of my plan to propose and they told me they had the perfect location in mind! We cruised the city, danced, ate lunch and then prepared for our affirmation circle that was put together for her. Everyone had prepared something to say about her and some people brought small gifts for the occasion. I went last, held her hand and proceeded to tell her that I’d been waiting 10 years to propose to her. I proposed, we partied and we ended her birthday trip on an amazing high!
What was the inspiration behind the vibe of your wedding?
We wanted the colors to be something different that we could have some fun with! We wanted an upscale feel coupled with the comfort of being at our home. It was important for us to patronize our family and friends’ small businesses to do everything for the wedding as we knew they would understand our needs and add a personal touch to everything. We trusted them totally, and my goodness were we pleased with the result! They showed out!!! Our event planner was just so damn dope and our photographer flew in from Jamaica where he lives, just to do our wedding. I guess it’s safe to say that our vendors created the vibe, we just gave them the inspiration.
Most of our vendors we knew personally but for the ones we did not know, they very easily picked up on and used the energy we gave.
How did you both select who would attend the wedding?
We are BIG on energy so it was important that all the right people were were in attendance. There was no real sense of obligation for us to invite anyone because we wanted to know that everyone in attendance would fit perfectly. We have so many people that love and support us, if we would’ve invited everyone our guest list would have been easily over 300 guests. We invited people that were currently present in our lives and knew of our journey. They knew the significance of our wedding and it was a celebration for all of us.
Tell us about your wedding day.
Our wedding day was filled with so much Love and the vibe was right where we wanted it! We were showered by sooo many people, (not just with their gifts) but their presence, their kind words and the love shown! We chose to have the wedding at our home so that we can be in our space and do it our way. The decorations were beautiful and everyone worked together to ensure that the event came together as we desired. We had our photographer and videographer capturing the essence of the entire day!
What are some of your favorite moments as a couple over the years?
The travel that we’ve always done is on the list of favorites. We also always seem to be doing a first together. We were both extremely cultured and well versed in a lot of things but we were able to introduce one another to a lot of different things. There were some things that we both had never done and it was even more satisfying to experience them together! We’ve grown so much in the realm of our LGBTQ+ relationship that it has to be one of our favorites!
We’ve shared so many life moments in these last 11 years that it would take many books to capture them all! But as long as we are both in our right minds, we’ll always cherish the time that we were blessed to enjoy one another!
Lastly, is there anything else you’d like to share with us?
We would truly like to thank everyone that supported in any way! Below is a list of people who played a role in our wedding. We thank them wholeheartedly and could not have enjoyed the day without the help they lended us and every last one of them are true LGBTQ+ supporters
Photographer: Kevin Wright @MontegoBayPhotographer & @jamstartours
Videography: Clyde Branch @Branch Designs
Cake : Simply Sweet Creations
Cupcakes : Sweet Neecy’s
Cookies: Crumbl Naperville
Strawberries : Chavon @_vonappetit1
Decorations and food: Shapearl Wells @celebrationsbyus
Coasters: Mercedes Alvarez @wesgalleries
Tiffany’s makeup: Meagan James @Klassybeatz
June’s makeup: Mimi @Foreign.mimi_
Tiffany’s hair: Danielle @theextensiongoddess and @Mimi’sBraidBar
June’s hair: Tracey @trayflowlocs2
Flowers: @rosebloomchicago
DJ: @djladychi
Bartender: @bartendher714
Candles: Avia @Mckinzie Mckinzie
Tux: @littleblacktux
Dress: Amazon
Pavillion: @thelandscapingexperts_