Demonica and Jared met 6 years ago in December of 2009 through family and mutual friends. "Jared played college basketball for North Carolina A&T and had a game against Northwestern in Chicago. After the game he went out with his family to Chicago’s local pizzeria Giordano’s and I came along (his cousin is my best friend and maid of honor). He thought I was his cousin initially. He has a huge family and he hasn’t met half of them so he treated me as such," said Demonica. Jared had no idea that Demonica wasn't his cousin until the two reconnected on Twitter. Once he was sure that there were no family ties, the two embarked on a long distance love affair. Demonica and Jared are planning a Black and White and Gold, New Year's Eve wedding at Venue Six10 in Chicago. Check out their super sweet engagement session, captured by Lars Johnson Photography!
Bride:Demonica Jones, 24, Health Education Specialist
Groom: Jared Williams, 25, Business Analyst
Place of residence: Chicago, IL & Houston, TX
Engagement Shoot Location: Houston, TX
Wedding date: 12/31/16
Engagement story from the bride-to-be:
Jared proposed on September 21, 2014. He proposed after church with the help of Pastors, church members and friends. I wanted all of our family to be there but I knew that if we were all together that was a dead giveaway that he was going to propose and no one in our family can keep a secret and they would have told me his plan. So instead he had a friend live stream it via ustream and gave our closest family and friends the link to share it with us. It was a great way to include both our families when we all live so far away from one another. The most memorable moment about the proposal for me was knowing he had the ring prior to him proposing AND him being clever and proposing to me a day after our anniversary. A little back-story, my mom passed away in December of 2013 and afterwards I retreated a little and pushed everyone away. I knew he wanted marriage but that was not a priority of mine. Grieving seemed to take up my headspace. Although I did not want to get married or even think about it, Jared continued to take me ring shopping. I went into a store with a coworker and fell in love with a ring. I took down the specifics and gave the info to Jared. Little did I know he went into the store the same week and purchased the ring. This was February 2014. Like I said earlier, my family/friends cannot keep a secret and people spilled the tea several times. I was ok knowing he had the ring. Just didn’t know when he’d use it. He held on to the ring for 9 months to make sure I was good and in a better place. I told him whatever you do; do not propose on my birthday, holiday, or anniversary. It’s too cliché. Make sure there’s a photographer and our families are included. So he proposed the day AFTER our anniversary, had 4 photographers and included our families. He asked if I would spend a couple of forever’s with him and I said yes.
For the Groom: How did you decide that you wanted to propose in such a grand way?
Where do I begin? For starters, it was only right to make the occasion as special and intimate as possible for someone as special as my fiancé. Our anniversary was coming up on September 20th so I knew I wanted to pop the big question around this date. I spoke to friends, etc. about unique, memorable ways I could approach proposing. My very first idea was to create a video of me talking about how beautiful, wonderful, etc. of a person she is then edit and present/play the video in front of our church of about 200 people after one Sunday service. Sounds cool right?? But I know my fiancé–she probably wouldn't have care so much for the huge presentation and I knew she wanted something that would allow our friends/family to share the moment as well. Taking all that into account, this is how I came up with the idea I ultimately decided to pursue. Throughout the weekend of our anniversary, I gave her tickets for each event that we engaged in, such as rock climbing, anniversary dinner, mystery date/activity etc., but I held on to one ticket. This last ticket was a ticket with pictures of us together since the we started dating, with words from Chrisette Michele’s song that stated "Will You Spend a Couple of Forever’s With me?' So after church service, I had my Pastor pull her to the side and chat with her. Meanwhile, I had friends who drove in from Baton Rouge who were already set up with their phones to live video stream the moment to her family as well as mine via ustream. I also had friends in on what was about to go down as well, including our friend/photographer. So our pastor pulls her to the side and they are chatting away. I wait about a minute & then walk behind her and tap her on the shoulder. I then handed her the final ticket. As she read it aloud, I got down on one knee, and popped the biggest question of my life!
What makes your love special?
I think we all like to think there’s something different or unique about our love story versus the next but at the end of the day, it’s simply love. Yes we’re all different and take different paths, have different stories but we’re no different from the next couple who wants to make it work. We’ve had our ups and downs, we’ve been tested, and we’ve shared good times and bad times. Yet we still make it work. Our relationship started off as a long distance relationship. Which is ironic because from our very first conversation we said we’d never do long distance. Never say never. We have been from Chicago to North Carolina. St. Louis to Houston. Houston to Chicago. And even Australia to Houston. No amount of distance has gotten in the way. It is definitely in God’s will for this relationship to be and to prosper. What’s special about our love? Distance. It makes the heart grow fonder.
What are you most looking forward to about your wedding?
Outside of partying the night away with our family and friends, I look forward to starting a new chapter with him, continuing our journey, and bringing in the new year with our love that has intensified over these past 6 years.
Have you started planning your wedding?
YES! It’s a New Year’s Eve wedding so we wanted to get our big vendors booked! We even switched wedding planners in the first 6 months of our engagement. We have the best venue in Chicago! Overlooking Millennium Park, Navy Pier, and all of downtown Chicago.
Congrats to the happy couple Jared and Demonica! We wish you a wonderful wedding and a happy marriage.
Vendors:
Photographer: Lars Johnson Photography
Make-Up: Sonya Simone Make Up Artistry
Wedding Planner: Kia Marie Events
Curated by our Wedding Features Editor, C.K. Alexander. C.K. is the creator of the Single Bride Blog and the owner and founder of Love Ink and Brownstone Bridal. Keep up with C.K. on Twitter here: @Love_Ink
