Happily Ever After Begins with Friendship First: Melanie & Antony Fall In Love

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In today’s society fairy tale weddings seem to be a thing of the past. The declaration of women’s independence, the cooling down of church memberships seem to have changed things drastically when it comes to marriage. Marriage for some modern couples no longer represents a lifestyle of choice but what can now be seen as a burden to run from. With divorce growing at such a high rate, you wonder if the union of marriage is still respected and cherished in this day and age.

But what about love, family, and good old-fashioned tradition? What has become of it? We have dedicated a special section of World Bride Magazine to just that, the Modern Family, and their view of love, marriage and family tradition. We searched high and low for couples that have loved each other all their lives, couples that started as friends and fell in love, and all of them knew they were created for one another.

World Bride Magazine is proud to present some amazing couples that still love all the beauty that marriage brings and the security that it provides to those who value this union.

Please meet our very first couple of choice and read their story, and see their love.

 

Your full name — Melanie Fontaine Tate
Your heritage/cultural background — African-American / Haitian-American
Your husband’s  name, heritage — Michael Antony Tate, African-American
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What did you wear?  Monique Lhuillier.
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What did your husband wear? Prada.

How did you meet?

Mike and I met for the first time when he was 16 yrs. old and I was only 14 yrs. old. We knew each other through the church we attended at the time. We never officially dated until after college but had always been very good friends. One day he had asked me out to dinner, and on this first date I was so captivated by his intellect and charm and, of course, he was a complete gentleman. I knew there was always something special about him and I knew right away that he was the one. I’d like to think he felt the same way because he kept calling me! They say friends make the best marriages and in our case that has been very true. Mike is my best friend first and he’s a wonderful husband.

How long were you engaged?

Mike and I were engaged for 1.5 yrs. It was perfect because we were able to take our time and plan the wedding just the way we wanted.

How did he propose to you?

Mike proposed to me on Christmas Day 2010. We were at my apartment and after he had given me a few other presents, he reached under my bed and brought out a tiny box. I thought to myself I knew what it was but I really wasn’t certain because my mom could never keep a big secret like this from me! He told me how much he loved me and that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with me as he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him, and of course I said yes!

Where did you get married?

We were married at Castle McCulloch in historic Jamestown, NC.

How involved were your family with your wedding plans?

Family is very important to us so it was known that they would be involved in our plans. My mom assisted in making all of the centerpieces and flower arrangements. Chef Irvin Williams of NOLA Catering, who is my husband’s uncle, catered our wedding. Both of our families helped in so many ways for our wedding day, which made the memories even the more special.

 

 

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What cultural thing did you incorporate in your wedding that made it special?

In most African-American weddings a unity candle lighting is done. We both wanted something that we could keep as a reminder of our love and commitment to each other. During our wedding we took a moment to do a unity sand ceremony where he took a vase of black sand and I took a vase of white sand, and we poured it into a larger vase representing the union we were making with each other. It sits in our home as a wonderful memory of our wedding day.

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What was most important to you about your wedding plans?

The venue, the guests, the invitation, the music, the photos—anything that made it special. Haitians typically have very large families so for me the venue and guests were the most important. I had the most family coming in from several states within the U.S. so it was important that the venue we chose was able to accommodate everyone. The party favors to thank our guests were a fun part of our wedding. We had a candy buffet, which guests of all ages enjoyed and we had personalized candles made for each of them. Both of our families enjoyed dancing to just some good ole music and the DJ we chose was amazing. The photos were also important because all of the special moments captured that day would eventually be shown to our children and I wanted them to see how cool their parents were!

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