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Mekaela and Deven first met at a college step show but the sparks between them really began to fly when they started exchanging daily tweets.
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There's nothing like a tender getting ready moment between the bride and the ones she loves.
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“My hair was done by Andrea Burroughs, DreamHouse Hair Studio, and my makeup was done by ChaChii,” the bride shares.
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“My dress was by Mori Lee,” says the lovely bride. It was gorgeous from every angle.
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“While planning my wedding, I was looking on Pinterest for cute updos because my dad and Deven both love when my hair is out of my face,” the bride reveals. “I found one that was amazing!”
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“For my bouquet, there were roses, peonies, hydrangeas and rhinestone embellishments,” says Mekaela.
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“I only went shopping twice,” says the bride of her hunt for the perfect wedding dress. “We have a bridal shop in Northern California, where the other women in my family have found dresses already (Trudy’s Bridal, Campbell, CA), so it was expected I would as well. I did David’s Bridal trip, so that Deven’s family could still share in the moment and there were some cute dresses, but nothing I was sold on. My dress didn’t even appeal to me hanging up, but no dresses do really, so once I put it on and walked in front of the big mirror and they put the veil on me, I cried. That was the one.”
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We love it when the bride selects a special message to embroidered beneath her wedding shoes. From monograms to their wedding date, it's always the perfect little detail.
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The bride and groom couldn't keep their hands off each other on their special day. We love how romantic and creative this shot is.
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His and her wedding bands for the happy couple who couldn't wait to make their new relationship status official.
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“I was never one of those girls that dreamed of her wedding day or all that, so I had no set expectations,” says the bride. “I just wanted to enjoy the process and not have people telling us what to do, since it was about us.”
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“We got Deven’s coat from a vendor in Downtown LA since we wanted a specific color and style that the tux shop did not provide,” says Mekaela of her groom’s wedding day look. “We wanted him in an ivory coat with black lapels and for it to be slim fit. Savvi was the brand for the groomsmen.”
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“She already knew how to be a wife before even becoming a wife, and when I witnessed throughout our relationship everything she can do I was amazed,” says Deven.
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“She loves to love, to bear gifts, arrange convenience for others, and everything around action-oriented love,” Deven tells us. “She is very independent and self sufficient in her skill set. She also embodies the “arts” singing, dancing, and acting. Acting came to the forefront of her interests and that is her occupation now as we are married.”
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“What I love most about him is his love for God and me,” Mekaela tells us.
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“She goes all the way there to show that she loves you,” says the proud groom. “I knew it was unconditional too because even talking about our past with each other she would show love to those in the same way even if they may not deserve it.”
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“The girl’s dresses were by Alfred Angelo and the color was decided on based on my dress,” says Mekaela. “I had wanted them in these rose gold dresses I found, but it just didn’t match next to my dress, so we had to revamp and find another color. It couldn’t be ivory of course, so when I was looking at colors that went well with rose gold and ivory, I had found that this sage color was a nice compliment. There were two different styles of dress since my Matron and Maid of Honor are more hefty in the bosom and the rest of the girls, not as much.”
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The couple's bridal party style was elegant and everything!
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What a good looking bunch of fellas. Deven's crew had his back on the big day - during portraits and beyond.
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“Throughout all of our conversations from the beginning twitter days up to the time that we said “I Love You” to each other we’ve been sharing the same foundational values and morals,” says Deven.
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A sweet forehead kiss to remember between happy bride and groom Mekaela and Deven.
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“I can’t really pinpoint one exact thing really,” says Mekaela. “It was just the culmination of events that transpired that let me know that he was God’s gift to me. I had been in some relationships where I wasn’t being completely valued and I was carrying both of us financially, but Deven came in and showed me what it was like for a man to take care of me and look after me. That was the first step in realizing, but over time his actions just sealed the deal for me.”
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“He has literally been there through every step of my adulthood since we started dating just weeks before my 19th birthday,” the bride shares. “The kind of self-sacrifice and love he showed to me on a consistent basis at such a young age made him stand apart from every other guy I had ever dealt with. I wasn’t going to let this good thing pass me by for the appeal of being young and promiscuous.”
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The couple chose outstanding floral arrangements to make a true statement at the altar.
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“I said yes because Deven is the kind of man that has what I need,” says Mekaela, “He is just like me, but so different from me in all the right ways that he is good for me. He is a God-fearing man that is family oriented and loves like nobody else. He is the man I had decided long before the proposal, that I wanted to stick it out with. With God as the foundation of our relationship, I had no doubts that he was the one for me. Plus we didn’t jump into the idea of marriage, we took the time to discuss and take a pre-marital class.”
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The groom was happy to wait to meet the love of his life at the altar. “The funny thing is that I had no mind blowing expectations going into being a groom, but once everything played out I felt amazing,” says Deven. “It was one of the best feelings of my life. It was like you take all of a man’s true joys in life and put them in one place…Being a groom felt like being a kid, and a king all in one.”
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“The song I knew I would get married to, since I first heard and learned it in the 90’s, was ‘Spend My Life with You’ by Eric Benet and Tamia followed by Beethoven’s 5 Secrets by The Piano Guys for my dramatic entrance,” says the bride who choose to walk down the aisle to just that.
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“My dad and my stepdad walked me down, one on each side,” the bride recalls. “My stepdad married my mom when I was 6 and he’s been a major part of my life as well, so I wanted to make sure that they both got to have that moment with me.”
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The couple had a Christian ceremony inside a beautiful chapel.
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“My campus pastor, DeVon Johnson, officiated our wedding ceremony,” says Mekaela. “I met him when I started going to bible study at CSUN in my sophomore year. It was his lesson on making sure we produce the right fruit to attract the right person, that made me want to make sure that I was in the right place before dating someone new and then Deven. He was a major figure in helping me cultivate my own relationship with God for myself instead of what I knew just from growing up in the church and Deven would come out to bible study too and help at our events. There was no question it would be DeVon, since he saw us grow from the very beginning.”
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What's sweeter than a moment like this one between a bride and groom?
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The couple used a day-of wedding planner to help them pull together all of the final details of their special day.
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After making it official, Mekaela and Deven paused for a big pucker and a great photo opp.
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We just love Mekaela and Deven's love. Don't you?
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The couple chose “For the Love of You Pt 2” by The Isley Brothers for their first dance.
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The bride and groom sat like royalty during their dreamy reception party.
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The dreamy decor and romantic lighting made for the perfect wedding reception vibes.
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Deven's fraternity brothers surrounded his new bride with love on their big day in traditionally dope fashion.
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That's a wrap! Join us in congratulating the happy couple!
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