Clarie + Rashunda

There are always two sides to a story, literally. Dive into the love journey wof Clarie and Rashunda and hear how love in the most interesting moments can be found.

Her Story

“When you’re busy planning your own life, God has a funny way of showing you he is in control! Clarie and I met when we were in college and were introduced to each other by one of my cousins who was also attending the college. Meeting Clarie proved the saying, “Never judge a book by the cover”. I first thought to myself, “We won’t be friends, two different people, he is trouble!” Ha, boy was I wrong.

I started reading and each time I finished a chapter in his book he became more interesting. The same cover I judged became very attractive! His intelligence, shyness, and respect for me was irresistible. Then I thought, “Damn, my Dad was right, I should have read books more often”, (Hahahaha) I know he won’t get this joke. The more Clarie helped me with math problems that I didn’t need help with, the more I wanted him to myself. Mind you, at this time there were a few girls who wanted his help with math questions but once I looked at him, he knew I was the only girl he could help.

After a few conversations and winning him at an auction on Valentines Day, we went on our first date. We started dating on February 15ht, 2011. It was not too long after that, while we were sat waiting for the bus, he told me he loved me. Typical right? You’re just getting to know me how could you possibly love me so soon? But truth is, at that time I had already fallen for him too. The past 9 years that we have been together were not easy and of course both had our ups and downs. Yet time with Clarie I’ve not regretted any stage in our relationship. It not only made us stronger but I learned that he was the only one I wanted to fight for the rest of my life. When asked to be his wife, I quickly said “Yes” before he changed his mind. He’s my everything after God. I want to spend the rest of my life showing him how much I love him.”

“I can’t wait to be Mrs. Astwood!”

His Story

After reading Rashunda’s story…

“Well that was a story!” (lol) I don't think I could top that but I'll give it a try.

Here is my story of how I met a beautiful, intelligent, funny, and amazing woman! With the start of my second and final year at the college, I was interested to see what challenges and opportunities would come my way. If only I had known what was going to be in store when I met Rashunda! On the first day, as I made my way around the college to catch up with friends, I came by a young lady who seemed very quiet and shy. Boy was I wrong! Being introduced to Rashunda, I could sense the glaring eyes weighing me up and down. I could hear her thoughts as loud as day. “This boy? Valedictorian of HJ? Yeah right!”

While I had become used to those first impressions, I was equally impressed to hear Rashunda was the top CXC student having captured 13 CXCs. Having only attempted and achieved 9 CXCs myself, I took this as a challenge to test how smart she was and if she was smarter than me. As we were in separate years and separate courses, the one and only place I could test my wits against hers was on the domino table! While I was pretty good at dominoes (one of the best in college), Rashunda always seemed to be slightly better (very slightly). Through hundreds of domino games, she slipped by time after time and I always seemed to miss my chance to love her. The more she got away, the more of a challenge it became. So much so that the entire college knew that I had a wanted poster with her name on it (lol).

After a few months of trying, the day finally came! With my final card in my hand, I looked at the board, looked at Rashunda, and burst into a loud cheer. Everyone around knew that this was it. I’d finally got her. I skinned my teeth and dominoed. I then took out the marker and added Shunda’s name to the wall. ‘Rashunda loved by Clarie’. Not wanting to admit defeat all she could do was smile. That smile is the one that I fell in love with, the smile that still makes me feel warm to this day. Through the love of dominoes, our friendship turned into a relationship that blossomed into love. (Who would have guessed!) With the challenge completed, I became to love Rashunda more and more each day. As the days went by, I could hear a voice inside telling me “This is the girl for you. You better treat her right!” It could have been my inside voice or it might have been Shunda’s friends and cousin. Either way, I knew that I was going stay by her side forever. Here we are now, having been together for 9 years. While there have been a few ups and downs along the way, my love for Rashunda has always remained. I now look forward to call this beautiful, intelligent, feisty young lady, my wife!

“Our hearts entwined together. Always and Forever.”

Omar + Marquia

As their wedding photographer I wanted to get to know their story and how everything happened, detail by detail so I suggest you buckle up for this one.

Omar and Marquia were local church friends of mine and we volunteered many months together but now it was time to capture a side of them I never knew about. I was shocked when I was approached to capture their wedding day and I didn’t have a clue that they were even dating (haha). So this is the amazing story, enjoy the read!

These love birds met at church a few years back, perhaps 2012 at a Field Day Event hosted by the ROC Singles Ministry at The Faith Center, a church they both attended. She usually didn't attend singles events, but it involved sports so she was super interested. Over the years, they would walk past each other with a casual "Hi" and kept it moving. Marquia always thought he was a “ladies man” so she didn’t have much interest. Omar always thought she was really pretty but she always looked like she did yoga. It was typically every Sunday because she always had on workout clothes lol :)  Marquia wanted me to put this here, she said “For the record, I taught Sunday school and wanted to be comfortable” she laughed.

Fast forward to July 2018. During the summer of 2018 Marquia spent some time and prayer to initially pray for her family and her next moves concerning her future. While praying, she felt that she was hiding some deep desire that she tried to cover up by serving in multiple ministries, staying beyond busy at work, and working towards a Master’s degree. All things that she felt could fill a void. Well, God asked her “Do you want to be married?” Initially, Marquia felt a little ashamed because Christian circles always tell you that God is enough, which he totally is! However, He also places desires in our hearts. So she spoke truthfully and shared her heart’s desire. She left the request at His feet and started the top of the summer with a new attitude and a fresh outlook.

During this time as well, Omar was praying for a spouse after experiencing some misfortune in dating. He always said that he had a "type" but asked God for the right woman for him. Shortly after, Omar hosted an event called "Barbershop Talk" where the men would discuss topics that women could listen to concerning the male perspective. The event went very well and a group of them went to a restaurant afterward. Somehow, Omar and Marquia talked the whole night because he was absolutely mesmerized by her (lol). Seriously, it was a light and refreshing conversation that continued the next day and beyond.

About a few weeks after, he asked her out on a date. They talked a lot! Like the restaurant closed and they had to leave (lol).  During this initial date, they were very comfortable and felt like old friends. (Marquia even said out loud “This could work!”, it was supposed to stay in her head). Both of them then talked to their Pastors and gave the heads up that they were dating. They were very helpful in giving advice, praying for us, and later becoming our premarital counselors. Omar & Marquia also spent a lot of time with their family and close friends in the initial stage, as it truly helped their foundation and provided guidance. “It's crazy how you could walk by someone for years until something clicks,” Marquia said. “It’s been a crazy, wonderful, and challenging year but every day we look forward to a forever future together!”

Carl + Jelessa →

I was beyond excited to be Jelessa and Carl’s wedding photographer, more importantly having the opportunity to capture their intimate engagement session at the Wilder Restaurant in Fort Lauderdale, Fl.

She told me that their very first introduction occurred in October 2013 & at that time both of them were college students in Tallahassee. During that time their friends Jalecia and Dominic were expecting a baby girl and they asked both Carl and Jelessa to be her Godparents! They were super excited! Now being new Godparents, they played the role of their God daughters parent’s maternity shoot, baby shower planning, her birth, and christening which took place in April 2014. The christening was the last time Jelessa saw Carl before moving to Georgia for graduate school a few months later. While away, Jelessa would ask how Carl was doing and if he was visiting Jayde their beautiful Goddaughter, etc. but nothing more than that (lol). Nevertheless, they didn’t have each other’s phone numbers. He was truly just “Jayde’s God Daddy” in her eyes.  In May of 2016, Carl requested her on Facebook & he saw that she was a recent graduate and he left a “Congrats” comment under one of Jelessa’s photos. 

Fast forward 5 months later, (Yayy!) she’s invited to a surprise dinner at Shooters Waterfront restaurant for their God Daughters father and Carl was there! They hadn’t seen each other in person in years; (low key-sparks fly), it was good to see that he was doing well she thought. Throughout the night at dinner, Carl kept asking Jelessa to dance and she politely told him no multiple times. He was very persistent and she eventually agreed because he was not giving up. Here’s the BEST part; when they finally made it to the dance floor the band stopped playing & apparently their set was over lol.  Soooo Awkward... Carl was disappointed but he sparked a random conversation to prevent her from going back to her seat. Jelessa told me she never thought much of who he was as a person outside of his role in Jaydes life, but his growth & maturity throughout our conversations was evident and gave her a different perspective of the wild college boy she once saw him as. Lastly, a few days later, he asked for her number, they went out on a few amazing dates and then on December 7, 2016 Carl asked Jelessa to be his girlfriend and she happily said yes!