Wedding Date on Aug 14, 2020

The summer of 2007. We tend to refer to that summer as the greatest summer ever. Our individual groups of friends became close with each other that year which eventually lead to us meeting. Being the persons of African descent in our respective groups lead to introductions that neither of us were initially interested in until we crossed paths again at a friend’s birthday party. If you want to know who made the first move, the answer will be different depending on who you ask. I definitely charmed my way into Ade’s sidekick but if you ask Ade, he did all the work. One thing for sure is that there was no looking back once the move was made. Fast forward through a bootleg version of Lion King (Ade used the movie to lure me in for a first date) and 10 + years later, we are still loving each other as though it was the summer of 2007. ADE'S PERSPECTIVE When it comes to the proposal, I knew I had to choose the best day possible since we’ve been dating for so long when I started planning. It was tough because I needed to choose a time that would be somewhat unexpected but at the same time meaningful. It hit me that our anniversary was enough time for me to plan accordingly for a proposal. I decided to use Abena’s not so subtle hints of things she would like to do or places she would like to go as a decoy for the real plan...the proposal. I told her I was gifting her a fancy photoshoot with a photographer, lights, outfit changes and the whole set up for our anniversary. The set of the photoshoot was a beautiful Presidential Suite with a balcony overlooking the Manhattan skyline. The whole night her smile was from ear to ear and she looked like she was overflowing with happiness. As she took her last few photos on the balcony with the city skyline in the background, I stopped the last scene of the shoot to ask her if she would spend the rest of her life with me as my wife. I had so much more to say but all she saw was a ring and she literally said “Stop talking and put the ring on my finger!”