Shares
How He Caught Her Eye (And Her Heart)
Brittany: The first thing that attracted
me to Kevin was his assertiveness. We both noticed each other at the
Freshman mixer but he took the initiative to approach me and strike up a
conversation, which I was impressed with. As we got to know each other
over the first few months, I realized how caring and genuine he is,
which is something that I truly appreciate years later. He is always
looking out for my wellbeing and making sure that I am happy, sometimes
even over his own happiness. I feel very safe and secure when I’m with
him and I’m confident in his ability to lead us and our future family.
As a young black woman who is very independent, it’s very reassuring to have a partner that you respect and trust to make the best decisions for you and your relationship.
Another trait that I admire about Kev is his adventurous
nature. Sometimes he goes overboard, like jumping off cliffs on vacation
[side eye], but I can honestly say that he does motivate me to step
outside of my comfort zone and be more fearless.
When It Was Time To Discuss Marriage…
Brittany: We always talked about marriage
as a goal eventually, but I didn’t get serious about it until I finished
grad school. When we decided we would move in together. I set real
expectations that I didn’t want to be a girlfriend forever, but I also
didn’t want him to feel pressured. I wanted him to feel 100% ready
because this is a serious commitment that we both needed to be prepared
for.
Kevin: We talked about it over the years. I
think it’s a natural progression of a relationship to talk about your
future, which for me included marriage. I knew that once we moved in
that within a year I was going to be ready to make that big step!
How She Balanced Her Career With A Long-Distance Relationship
Brittany:
Honestly, it was easy to balance when you have a partner who encourages
you to go after your dreams. We have both been each other’s biggest
advocates when it comes to motivating each other to be our very best.
Kevin was very understanding when I had to make time to study and make
time for friends at school. My education has always been my number onr
priority and something that my parent instilled in me from a young age. I
just had to have faith that if Kevin and I were meant to be, it would
work out in the end (and it did!)
Being in a long-distance relationship over the years did
have its challenges, but we made sure to set weekends apart to visit
each other and made the most out of the times we spent together. We had
the opportunity to explore two different cities (Philadelphia and NYC),
which made our dates even more fun. We would use FaceTime every night
and text to check-in throughout the day to helped us stay connected. We
both realized that this was a temporary sacrifice to pursue and build
our careers to eventually begin building our long-term future together.
How He Got the Family Involved
Kevin: Generally, I like to think about
things from a long term perspective. Months before I knew that her
family was traveling from Maryland to New York to visit family that was
in the Bronx. It just so happened to be the same week that my family
flew my grandparents up from Florida to surprise my grandma with a
birthday party, which had all of her family and friends. I knew this was
my time to strike!
Knowing the time frame all I had to do was plan something I
felt was worthy enough to demonstrate my love. I told her family and my
family that I wanted to have a brunch for Britt’s birthday which was a
few days before. I also called her best friends from Maryland and told
them they need to make this brunch. Overall, I think that it worked out
with over 50 of our family and friends able to attend. I takes a village
to cultivate a relationship so I felt it important to have them invoked
if possible.
Popping the Big Question
Kevin: I can admit now that I was slightly
nervous. I wasn’t nervous about actually proposing, but more so nervous
that my plan, which took sometime to plan was going to be executed with
precision.
The
day started off with us waking up early and having to first visit her
family in the Bronx. Her parents and grandparents traveled that same day
from Maryland to visit Britt’s great uncle who just had a knee
replacement surgery. We make it to the Bronx at around 11am.
It was great seeing her family, but that was not my main mission of the
day.While we were mingling with her family, I was texting my brother
and one of my friends throughout the morning to ensure that the brunch
location was set! Britt loves to be around family, needless to say it
was a challenge to pry her away from them so that we could make it to
the brunch location on time. We ended up taking an Uber Executive and
finally arrived to the pier around 1pm.
Previously, I told Britt that my brother wanted to take some photos for
his website and he wanted to involve us. Given that she was dressed,
hair done, nails done, perfect!
Upon meeting my brother and his now fiancée at the pier, we
began taking photos, partially to stall as people were arriving late of
course and so that I can start thinking about the moment to come. We
started to walk down the pier towards the brunch location. My brother
and his fiancée started to fade to the back as Britt and I walked up.
Now at this very moment in my head I thought well it’s time–man up!
Finally it was just me and her. I had her face the west side overlooking
the water and New Jersey. I got on one knee and expressed how much she
truly meant to my life and that I wanted her forever. Once the ring came
out, she was shocked! I then had her turn around and about 50 yards
away were 50 of our closest family and friends! Her reaction made it all
worth it!
Planning their destination wedding to Jamaica
Brittany: Since both of our families are
from Jamaica getting married there was kind of a no-brainer for us.
Since he planned the engagement, he jokes that I am responsible for the
wedding, but he will definitely be helping me to make the decisions. We
want an outside wedding with either a waterfall or beach backdrop.
Overall, we just want it to be one big party with friends and family.
Like Kevin mentioned, we are super family-oriented so my biggest wish is
that all of our friends and family will be there to help us celebrate
our union.
Kevin: I think that I am most looking
forward to being in the presence of family and friends. I want our
wedding to not only to solidify the union between Britt and me but also
solidify the union of the village of family and friends that helped to
cultivate our relationship.
