Bride: Latraviette Denene Smith, 37, PR and Marketing
Groom: Steven R. Wilson Jr., 40, Government Agency Official
Married On: October 27, 2013
Location: Southern Oaks Plantation, New Orleans, LA
Wedding Style: A Southern Plantation Wedding
All Fun and Games
True love snuck up on Latraviette and Steven when they both least expected it – at a golf tournament. She was enjoying a month-long vacation from work, and on this particular day, Latraviette decided to attend a friend’s golf tournament just for fun with a few of her girlfriends (they didn’t even bring their clubs!). Steven accompanied his mom to the same tournament so that they could spend some much-needed quality time together. Although their versions of their “how we met” story differ slightly, as most do, there was one element both Steven and Latraviette could both agree on – the moment they locked eyes at that hole, the chemistry was instant. They tried their best to ignore it, but fate had other plans. With a little coercion and hinting from Steven’s mom, he and Latraviette exchanged phone numbers before they left and they agreed to reconnect later in the summer for a friendly barbecue at his place.
So This Is Love?
They played phone tag for a while, but their interactions, although brief, were always friendly and upbeat. The first time they caught each other on the phone they talked for over two hours. A friendship blossomed between them and the more they talked the more they fell madly in love with the person on the other end of the phone. They never saw it coming but their love was meant to be. “I was just a few months out of a long-term relationship when we met and I was thoroughly enjoying my newfound single life,” Latraviette admits. “He was a self-proclaimed ‘bachelor for life’ who always imagined himself in the ‘single lane.’ We both always said we were never getting married. I guess that’s why one should never say never!” A year later he would ask for her hand in marriage.
With This Ring
Steven had originally planned to propose to Latraviette over the Christmas holiday with her mother, father and brother all present to share in the moment, but tragedy struck just a few weeks before. Latraviette’s father passed away suddenly from esophageal cancer and she and her entire family were distraught and heartbroken. Determined to lift her spirits, he formed a new plan and asked both of their mothers to help him surprise her for his proposal. “Steve picked my mother and I up from the airport and spent the afternoon with us before we met his mom for dinner,” she recalls. “What appeared to be a normal catch up dinner for our mothers was actually Steve’s big plan all along.” It was there at the table that he took her hand, looked into her eyes and told her how much she had changed his life. He followed his proclamation of true love with a romantic proposal she just couldn’t resist! See their romantic New Orleans fairytale wedding and share their love!