It only takes one summer to change things for the rest of your life. Daishaé and Warren didn't have to look far for love, the two met in 2003 during their junior year of high school, but did not start dating right away. While Daishaé was on break during summer volleyball camp, the two classmates ran into each other in the hall. They spoke a little and then decided to exchange numbers. From that day on they started talking daily and began officially dating in 2004, a little before the start of their senior year. As fate would have it, they both attended colleges in North Carolina, Daishaé attended Elon University and Warren attended Johnson & Wales University. Almost 10 years later Daishaé and Warren will celebrate their love with a romantic Valentine's Day wedding in Camp Springs, MD. Check out their city chic engagement session in the "Chocolate City," captured by Dotun Ayodeji!
Bride: Daishaé Pope, 27, Client Financial Management Senior Analyst
Groom: Warren Cox, 28, Branch Manager
Place of residence: Waldorf, Maryland
Engagement Shoot Location: Washington, D.C.
Wedding date: 2/14/15
Engagement story
It was December 6th and Warren and I attended a Christmas party hosted by friends. As the night progressed I noticed Warren was very uptight and just not acting like his normal self. I vividly remember asking him over and over again what was wrong. He continued to assure me that he was fine and was just a little tired so I brushed it off and continued mingling with family and friends.
As we were walking back to our seats from taking photos one of my favorite songs came on, “A Couple of Forevers” by Chrisette Michelle. As the song played in the background I looked at Warren with googly eyes and expected him to give me some type of expression but I got NOTHING!! Actually he looked like a dear in headlights. I didn't even get a second to say anything to him before I heard my Uncle Mike call me on stage. I recall being caught off guard and turned around to give my uncle a look like WHAT ARE YOU DOING? Everyone knows that I do not like getting on stage in front of a lot of people. My uncle then said “Is there a young man that needs to say anything to a special person in his life”? When I turned back around to look at Warren everything just clicked. Warren began walking away from me and my uncle once again called me to the stage. As I walked towards the stage I just began to cry because I realized what was happening. Warren made his way to the podium and got on the microphone and thanked his parents for guiding him in the right direction throughout life. He then went on to say that he should’ve asked me a long time ago and how much he loves me. He began walking towards me and greeted me on one knee and asked me to marry him; and of course I said “YES”.
For the Groom: Walk us through the behind the scenes of creating this special day
December 6th, 2013, at this point I had the ring for over a month and the only people who knew that I purchased the ring was my father, mother and groomsmen-to-be. Although I was planning on proposing on New Year’s Eve, about an hour prior to the holiday party Daishae’ and I were getting dressed in our formal attire but for some reason the ring kept popping in my head. As we get in the car and are about to leave I ran back in the house and grabbed the ring. In all honesty none of this was planned. When we arrived to the party it seemed that we came a little too early, which worked out perfectly allowing me time to speak with Mr. Pope (her father) and his friend who was hosting the party about my intentions for that evening. After working out the logistics I was nervous, jittery, quiet and all around not acting my normal upbeat self. But it worked out perfectly, she said “yes”. The night was one of the best nights of my life and I will never forget it. There is only one thing I would change and that would be planning it a few days in advance so that my side of the family could have had a bigger part in such a beautiful life changing event.
What makes your love special?
The mutual respect we have for one another makes our love special. We value each other and are willing to make an investment of time into our relationship day after day.
Our love is special because we have been through every possible thing that could make one another leave the relationship. But no matter how things are we always come back to one another
What are you most looking forward to about your wedding?
Becoming one and sharing our special day with family and friends.
Have you started planning your wedding?
Yes, planning is in full force. =) I am constantly watching wedding shows to get new ideas for planning our special day with my mother and our wedding planner. Warren is very supportive and helps to give his opinion. But when it comes to picking out fabric and napkins he’s out! =)
Congratulations to Daishaé and Warren! We wish you a wonderful wedding and marriage!
Vendors:
Photography: Dotun Ayodeji
Curated by our Wedding Features Editor, C.K. Alexander. C.K. is the owner and founder of Love Ink and Brownstone Bridal. Keep up with C.K. on Twitter here: @Love_Ink
