Bride: Kale Woods

Groom: Joel McGill

Date of Wedding: 10/06/2012

Location: San Francisco Design Center United States

Photographer: Montana Dennis

Hair: Alkyseim Watson Atlanta, GA

Makeup: Jessica Mayeux Berkeley, CA

Description of the Event                           

“The theme for the wedding was chic and sexy. We wanted it to make people feel an emotion. We wanted our guests to feel connected to us, while feeling relaxed and ready to party. Decor wasn’t huge for us. Our space was so large that no amount of decor could fill the room. I love white flowers. All of the flower arrangements were white orchids. Orchids and white convey chic and sexy.

“The room was up lit in purple, and the linens were indigo blue pintuck with purple napkins, which were our wedding colors. We had three different stations, which represented our favorite cuisine. We had an Asian station, because Joel and I used to frequent this great Chinese restaurant when we began to date; a Caribbean station because Joel loves Caribbean food and also had a business in the Bahamas for a while. Finally, we had a Southern station, because we met in Atlanta and spent most of the beginnings of our love story there.

“We also had Cold Stone Ice Cream, because I am not a huge cake person, but I love ice cream! Having a good time was most important to us, after our ceremony. We had an incredible band and DJ, who had everyone on the dance floor all night long. I also performed a dance for Joel with my dance team, which ended up being a lot of fun.

“Our culture is very important to us. To celebrate our African-American culture, Joel and I jumped the broom at the end of the ceremony. We also began the ceremony with a traditional African libation ceremony in order to welcome all ancestors into the room. This was imperative because both Joel’s mother and my mother passed away in 2007.”

Most Memorable Part of the Day

According to the bride: “The most memorable part of the day for me is when we had all of the married couples dance with us after our first dance. It was amazing to see how many role models we have had and still have to model our relationship after. I felt a huge sense of community and love at that moment.”

According to the groom: “Watching Kale walk down the aisle and having all of our friends and family in the same room at the same time. The amount of love in the room was unimaginable.”

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