“I knew he was the one when he remained consistent in his pursuit of me,” explains the lovely bride. “Above all else, he was a great friend who would drop anything he had going on to be there for me.”
“I caught a glimpse of a girl on Bridezillas who had gone crazy out of her mind and began cutting her hair off,” Alisha says. “By the end of the show, she had a really fly short cut/color combination that I fell in love with for my wedding.”
“I wore a silver peep-toe Guess wedding shoe, a birdcage veil to complement my short hair cut, and dangling pearl-colored white beaded earrings given to me by my mother,” says Alisha.
“My bouquet was completely DIY,” says Alisha. “It was covered with brooches and other pieces of vintage jewelry I found in different places. I hand laid the pieces to it each day until I got it to look exactly how I wanted it to. The reason I chose to do the brooch bouquet is because I thought it was different than what you see at most weddings. I was also excited that I could keep it forever and use it for different occasions to celebrate our love.”
“I knew my wife was the one when I met her in the community service organization we were both involved in,” says Jordan. “I remember telling my best friend, also my best man, ‘I’m going to marry that girl.’”
“I had visited all of the bridal shops in Atlanta to try on dresses,” says Alisha. “One of my bridesmaids, Ashley, came with me to try on dresses. I was so opposed to a big puffy gown, but none of the dresses I tried on were a good fit. She finally grabbed one that caught her eye and told me to try it. I was reluctant because it looked puff, however, I tried it on and fell in love with it.”
“No, I did not think I would find true love how and when I did,” says Alisha. “In fact, I was over it and definitely not looking for love. Jordan was not exactly the type of guy I would go for, but exactly the type of man I needed in my life.”
“We honored our sister, best friend and bridesmaid Genevieve Costello who lost her battle to breast cancer just one month and a few days before our wedding,” says Alisha. “We used the picture she sent us in her bridesmaid dress to walk her down the aisle along with a lantern and placed her picture on an easel in her rightful place among the other bridesmaids. The entire bridal party wore the pink breast cancer ribbon.”
Jordan was a hands-on groom! “My husband picked his attire and the groomsmen’s attire,” Alisha tells us.
Losing your best friend just weeks before your wedding is heartbreaking, but Alisha made sure that her bestie was there in spirit on her big day. This is absolutely beautiful.
There was room for all in Alisha and Jordan's sweet pre-wedding portrait session.
The bride strikes a pretty pose with her fierce bridal party.
“The format of my ceremony was an outdoor garden wedding,” says Alisha. “The ceremony chairs were set up to enclose my husband and I in a ‘circle of love.’ We used a lot of the natural beauty of the garden itself as décor.”
The flower girls (and baby flower girl) were the bride’s cousin, her goddaughter, and the groom’s little sister. Aww!
One hundred guests made up of the couple’s closest friends and family attended their special day.
“My father, who is the hardest working man I know, walked me down the aisle,” says Alisha, who chose to walk to John Legend’s “So High.” “My father deserved that honor!”
“I felt so euphoric looking into his eyes at the altar,” says Alisha. “It felt surreal, like we are here. Wow!”
Alisha and Jordan kept it romantic and exchanged traditional wedding vows at the altar. (Added bonus: The bride's grandmother was their officiant!)
“I felt complete,” says Jordan. “Everything was coming full circle.”
Alisha and Jordan untied their families by lighting a unity candle during their ceremony.
“I chose to make Alisha my wife because she was a woman I knew I could take home to my mother,” says Jordan. “She is kind, she is smart, she is important. No, seriously she was a woman who caught my eye from the first day I saw her. She had a certain presence that captured my attention.”
Jordan planted a romantic pucker on his lovely bride at the altar.
The new Mr. and Mrs. Johnson were all smiles on their way back down the aisle. We just adore this photo.
“My wedding cake was a three-layered red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting,” explains the bride. “The top layer was decorated with pearls. The second layer was decorated with a swirl pattern and the third layered was decorated with a square imprint pattern. Each layer was wrapped at the bottom with fuchsia or gray ribbon. I used some of the vintage jewelry from my bouquet to place in the center of each ribbon.”
“It felt so beautiful to be a bride,” says Alisha. “I was pampered and well taken care of. It was more than I dreamed of.”
Like many romantic brides, Alisha couldn’t resist sharing her first dance with her husband to the sounds of Chrisette Michelle’s “A Couple of Forevers.”
“The thing I love most about her is her personality,” says Jordan. “She is extremely smart, beautiful and talented, however, she is really down to earth and humble. She also has a smile that can light up a room.”
“I knew I would have to leave home (Ohio) to find a wife,” Jordan shares. “I did not think I would have to put in as much effort as I did trying to win Alisha over (she was a hard one to impress), but I’m glad I did!”
“The cake topper was a chocolate bride and groom holding hands in a first dance pose,” says Alisha.
Alisha's Spelman sisters were on hand to embrace her moment and help her big day become all the more special.
“The groom’s cake was also a red velvet cake. It was the replica of a Morehouse fitted cap that my husband owns," says Alisha.
Did you enjoy Alisha and Jordan's wedding day as much as we did? Don't forget to leave the happy couple a little comment love below. Want to see your wedding featured in Bridal Blss? Email us now.
