You never know when love is just around the corner. Thysha and her new husband Shaun lived six doors away from each other for years and never met. When their paths finally crossed at a local event, they quickly learned they had much more than just a street in common. See their dreamy bohemian wedding style!
“My bouquet was made of off-white hydrangea, one of my favorites,” says the DIY-savvy bride. “I made it while I was getting my hair done.”
“I had a feeling Thysha was going to be ‘The One’ a few weeks after I met her,” says Shaun. “She was different from the women I dated and I felt like she was ‘The One.’ I met Thysha’s mom within a month after meeting Thysha. She told me if I ever hurt her daughter she would kill me and her husband would come and kill me too. I remember laughing in my head and saying to myself, ‘When Thysha and I get married I’m going to tell this story at our wedding reception.’ And I did.”
Shaun and Thysha’s nieces served as their bridal party. “Koi, was the first girl ring bearer in the history of weddings,” jokes the bride.
“I went through a lot during the time I’ve known Shaun and every single challenge — I mean every single challenge — Shaun was right beside me, and beside me with patience, understanding, compassion, humor and more,” says Thysha. “The last ten years of my life would have been really different had he not helped me through some things.”
On August 29, 2014, Thysha and Shaun tied the knot at Studio 450 in New York City.
“I had the most amazing story,” says Thysha. “I’d talked to three designers about the dress I wanted made and none of them were excited. I was so annoyed, and then one day while at the fabric store I see a young lady looking at similar material to what I am thinking of purchasing. We started to talk and she was really knowledgeable and humble, I pulled out a color picture of the dress and said, ‘Do you think you can design this?’ and without batting an eye she said, ‘Of course,’”
“Shaun’s attire was custom made by menswear designer B.OYAMA,” says Thysha. “I told Shaun what colors to work with and he worked with the designer to make his suit.” The teamwork paid off!
“I lost 40 pounds for our wedding, which took a lot of work in four months,” says Thysha. “I felt so beautiful on that day. Being a bride and being so happy to see my husband at the alter and the love of my family and friends – it all felt very blissful and spiritual.”
“I wasn’t looking for anything close to true love when I met Thysha,” admits Shaun. “Truthfully I had just gotten out of a not-so-good relationship and aspired to play the field, but Thysha was the only woman I ever dated and loved following that relationship.”
“I love Shaun’s mind, his hands, his broad shoulders, his will to be better and his ambition,” says Thysha. “He will set out for something not talk about it and you look up and it’s done – he is really focused on living a happy, healthy full life and he does the work that goes with that.”
Thysha and I had the benefit of dating for eight years before we got married. You go through a lot of life journeys over eight years. I remember reflecting on my accomplishments and what I was grateful for. I became a homeowner in Harlem. I started a business. I became more confident in myself as a person and as a man. I realized all of those things I was grateful for were ideas Thysha introduced to me or she gave me feedback to questions that I was having. She’s a direct contributor to my growth and that’s an A1 quality a wife should have for her husband and vice versa.
“I said yes to Shaun’s proposal because I was clear there was no one on the planet who I wanted to take this journey of marriage with except him – no one,” says the bride.
“The first time we went to Studio 450 the amount of natural light the place was illuminated by swept us away,” explains the bride. “When we spoke to the venue about possible dates, she explained that they were booked for a few seasons, except for one date that had opened up in four months. Shaun and I looked at each other and said, ‘Let’s do it.’”
The couple hired a three-string quartette to play at their wedding ceremony.
They weren’t kidding about all of the lovely natural light. They chose the perfect venue for an afternoon ceremony. It was serene and angelic.
These flower girls are too cute to handle. And, the camera loved them!
As the string quartet played Ava Maria Thysha’s father walked her down the aisle. “He is the first man who loved me,” she says.
“After pulling myself out of the daze of seeing her in her dress, my focus finally got to her eyes,” says Shaun. “I felt complete. I felt like my best friend had finally joined me. I wanted to kiss her and love her. I truly thought it was just her and me up there.”
“Looking into this eyes at the altar, I felt so safe and overjoyed,” says Thysha.
Thysha and Shaun chose circular ceremony seating so that all of their cherished guests could witness them exchange their vows.
“Kim Kirkley of Our Elegant Ceremony was our wedding officiate,” says Thysha. “Shaun went to a TedX Event and Kim was presenting about her journey to be a celebrant. During her presentation, she expressed that she generally attracted couples who are spiritual and want to customize their own ceremony to reflect who they are. That’s exactly the type of celebrant Shaun and I said we wanted. He approached her after her presentation and the rest was history.”
We see now who had the best seats in the house.
“Yes, we did write our own vows,” says Thysha. “We didn’t discuss them or anything we just decided to state things we would offer one another; our vows were almost the same to the T.”
Could this be any more romantic? We think not!
We can see the love that Thysha and Shaun share just radiating from this photo.
“Seriously, one of the things that made me interested in Thysha is the first time I saw the apartment she was living in at the time,” says Shaun. “It had so much style and color to it. She had art on the walls I could tell she really cared about her space. She’s that type of woman.”
“Thysha is a fun Black woman who is confident, honest and aspires to be better,” says Shaun. “She has a lot of spiritual moments. She doesn’t shrink herself down for people. She appreciates quality.”
“Shaun is so kind and so smart,” says Thysha. “The night I met him I just kept saying to myself, he is so smart. He is a subjective thinker who really looks at life fully and with a lot of care. He is also very funny to me in a really cute way – we can giggle all day and night!”
The couple chose “This Gift of Life” by Teddy Pendergrass for their first dance song.
As favors, the couple gifted guests with magnets with their silhouettes on them that read “Carpe diem with Love,” which means “Seize the Day with Love.”
Thysha partied the night away at the couple’s wedding reception party.
“Our cake was Tiramisu – we love Tiramisu and its brown and cream – it went with all of our décor,” shares the bride.
“We honeymooned on an island resort in Belize,” says Thsyha. “Shaun coordinated the honeymoon and we left two days after the wedding for a week.”
If you enjoyed Thysha and Shaun’s love story 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 Bliss? Email us now.
