While their nuptials in the Turks and Caicos were the grand culmination of their love story, how DMV inhabitants Tomika Anderson and Michael Greene first encountered one another was much more laid back.
“We met on a dating app called Bumble where we both swiped on each other,” Anderson says. “I was Mike’s first and last swipe.”
After doing a few video chats to get to know each other better, the pair finally met in person in February of 2021. It wouldn’t take long, from there, for them to realize that they’d found their person. She found someone who made her feel like a million bucks, and he found someone who placed just as much importance on family as he does.
“I knew I had found the one when she said she could accept my children from my previous marriage. I also knew I had found the love of my life and Bonnie to my Clyde when we went on our first vacation together,” says Greene. “We went as a family to a local theme park, and when trouble struck — one of our boys got into a fight — we all ran out of there together!”
By the top of 2022, he decided to make things official and ask for her hand in marriage. His initial plan was to keep things simple and sweet, but for Anderson, it was a little too informal. Things ended painfully, but not in the way you’re probably thinking.
“Mike decided he was going to propose to me on New Year’s Eve after a family game of Monopoly. He decided not to do it though because I had whooped his butt so bad he wasn’t in the mood — petty!” she jokes. “So, he decided he was going to propose the next day. The problem was that it was too casual. Here he is trying to propose and I’m coming out of the shower with my hair all wet. Plus, I was not feeling his very casual plunk down on our bed, pulling this satin Chinese bag with the ring inside out of his pocket talking about ‘Will you marry me?’ And the real kicker was the ring was too small! The morning after he gave it to me it got stuck on my finger causing it to swell up so bad I wound up having to go to the fire department and have one of the firemen cut it off me!”
Greene made it up to her by doing a do-over at Anderson’s request. For the second go-round, he went all out, pampering, wining and dining his wife-to-be.
“I needed all the thought and care put into a formal engagement that I knew I deserved,” she says. “He agreed, and so the following month, on Valentine’s Day, he took me to my favorite restaurant, rented one of his vehicles with a driver from his company, Platinum Plus Limousine, and escorted me out to dinner with flowers, a makeup artist and more and it was awesome. I felt special.”
After having the proposal she’d always envisioned, the wheels started turning regarding wedding plans. Inspired by a wedding she attended in Turks and Caicos, Anderson knew her nuptials had to be there. “It was literally one of the most beautiful islands I had ever been on,” she says.
Not so beautiful though was the planning process as COVID, and distance, created a few obstacles. But with the right planner, a wedding party who went above and beyond to support their bride, and some patience, the couple was able to bring their “magical” celebration to fruition. They said “I do” on location in Providenciales, Turks and Caicos on March 4, 2023. Fused in their memory forever will be moments with their family, from Anderson meeting her beaming father down the aisle to her son shining as the ring bearer. But no moment meant more than the couple leaping into married life on the beach in front of the people they love most.
As Greene says, “Jumping the broom together as husband and wife as the sun set, it was the most beautiful sunset wedding on the beach.”
Check out images from their special day in the Caribbean, captured by photographer Ricardo Walker, and learn more about their love story below in this week’s Bridal Bliss.
“I knew I had found the one when I found someone similarly straightforward and sincere as I am,” she says, adding, “when I found someone whose cards face up just like I am, who made me laugh and who made me feel desired and adored immediately and who I just deeply enjoyed being with from the very beginning.”
Anderson’s son was a ring bearer for the ceremony, which made the moment even more special for the bride.
Planning a celebration from the DMV in Turks and Caicos was no small feat, especially in the age of COVID. “The process was a bit challenging from the standpoint that we were still dealing fairly close to COVID so things were initially closed or unavailable to us when we first started the planning process, but as we got closer to our date, things became easier,” says Anderson. “Plus we had a really great day-of wedding planner by the name of Christelle Demosthere as well as some awesome bridesmaids who took charge of doing a lot of the planning and execution. For those reasons our day was absolutely magical.”
Anderson and her beautiful bridesmaids were all smiles during the post-ceremony portraits.
While the bridesmaids had distinct matching gowns, the groomsmen’s ensembles were identical to the groom’s look for his big day (sans suit jacket).
“I had gone to someone’s wedding once upon a time in Turks and Caicos and it was literally one of the most beautiful islands I had ever been on,” Anderson says. “I told myself that whenever I got married, if ever I got married, then I wanted to get married there.”
“My favorite part of the big day was my son walking down the aisle to us as ring bearer and thinking back to just how long I have waited not only for a husband but a wonderful father to him,” she says. “It was not just my joy to be able to experience that moment, not just my partner but with my kid as well. I also loved looking over at the beautiful decorations for our reception and cocktail hour and how we occupied what seemed like half the resort. It was just so beautiful and perfect.”
“My favorite moment was watching my bride escorted down the aisle by her father and just how beautiful she looked with the veil over her face; her dad beaming from ear to ear as he escorted his only daughter down the aisle and handed her over to me, it was wonderful,” Greene shares. His second favorite moment? “Jumping the broom together as husband and wife as the sun set, it was the most beautiful sunset wedding on the beach.”
