The love story of Sidnee Douyon and Bryant Jacques sounds like a song out of a Quincy Jones produced movie soundtrack. A Queens, New York born and bred music executive meets an award-winning journalist from New Jersey at the height of both of their careers. You can hear it. Their tracklist of love is filled with big, crescendoing numbers and soft ballads. Sade-worthy peace in its tone with the spice of a reggae inspired, 90s Fugees number. Sidnee and Bryant’s story is a love tale worth listening to.
When Sidnee met Bryant, the two didn’t exactly deem themselves an instant match. With Sidnee’s fast paced career and Bryant rooted in his work, the facts of the matter nearly deterred them both from pursuing their love story. But the divinity of their relationship wove them together into a covenant, despite the distance.
“After a season of trying to clear my head, I was like, ‘You know what? I’m gonna take some time and have a season of clarity with myself.’ And I think because I cleared all that out both romantically and even with some of my friendships as well, I made room for better things and then here he came.” Sidnee smiles at her now-husband. “We met in the fall and he got an amazing job offer in LA in the following months. So, we originally were going to cut it off because neither of us were initially open to doing long distance.”
But just as fate would have it, Sidnee was offered a job in LA also, shortly after Bryant. “It just so happens I ended up getting a job offer in LA weeks after he did so, I’m like, ‘Okay, well, I’m moving too.’ So, we both ended up in L.A. at the top of 2022 and that’s where we’ve been for the last three years.
And on a New York night in 2023, Bryant proposed like a Kelly Price tune, complete with a diamond ring and a bended knee.
ON THEIR VIRAL ENGAGEMENT:
“I knew the best time to do it would be around the holidays because all of our people would be together.” Bryant says. “We told Sidnee that she was going to a Jean-Paul Gaultier event.”
Sidnee chimes in, “I was so excited because Jean-Paul Gaultier is one of my favorite designers. So, I come in and there were flashes everywhere! I’m assuming a celebrity is coming behind me, so, I initially moved to the side, like, “Let me get out the way because maybe Cardi B or somebody is coming behind me.” And then I stood in the corner for like five seconds before I looked around and I was like, “Wait!” Sidnee laughs retelling the story.
When it came to wedding planning, Bryant was happy for Sidnee to take the lead, but music is where he chimed in most. “Music is so important, especially to me and my friends and my family.” He explains. “And there’s a lot of cultures within us. She’s from Jersey, I’m from New York so we each have very specific hip hop and dance music. I come from a huge Haitian family and my family immigrated here and they love Zouk. Sidnee loves going to carnivals all across the Caribbean, so we needed a Soca element. We both grew up on dancehall. I grew up grinding in the basements of Brooklyn. We needed R&B and different eras of it. We needed the Isley Brothers. We needed Marvin. We needed The Gap Band. But then we also needed Luther. We needed a little bit of ’90s R&B. We needed the full gamut.”
The Wedding Set List:
Wedding Party Intro : “If This World Were Mine” by Cheryl Lynn (with Luther Vandross)
Bryant’s Aisle Song: “I Can’t Stop Loving You” by Kem
Sidnee’s Aisle Song: “First Time” by Teeks
First Dance: “Here I Stand” by Usher
Father-Daughter Dance: “Unforgettable” by Natalie King Cole & Nat King Cole
Mother-Son Dance: “Just the Two of Us” by Bill Withers
Reception Entrance: “I’ll Be There For You/You’re All I Need to Get By” by Mary J. Blige & Method Man
ON THE BIG DAY:
As for the overall aesthetic, Sidnee was going for a certain “classic elegance”. “I’m more of a classic girl.” She explains. “I like classic romance but I’m also kind of a little bit spicy. I wanted the aesthetics of my wedding to reflect myself and us as a couple.”
The celebration, which took place at the historic Crystal Plaza on April 25th of this year, married both the spice of their Haitian cultures with the rich classicism of their Black American heritage. Mounds of moss and live-moving butterflies filled the space in grandeur to whimsy their guests into a stunning enchanted forest to celebrate in.
Designed and planned by Khalid Briggs and the Three20 Experiential Team, the bride and groom’s fashion only upped the ante of the day’s radiantly opulent feel.
“My first gown was like the Cinderella dress of my dreams, honestly.” Sidnee says of her ceremony dress, an off-the-shoulder ballgown by Sima Couture sourced by For Love Bridal Salon.
Sidnee eventually transitioned into a fun and playful Jovani Couture ostrich-feathered mermaid gown for her reception vibe styled by celeb stylist, Sankara Turé.
“For my second dress, I wanted to make it a point to either wear a Black designer or work with a Black stylist. So, I worked with a stylist named Sankara Turé. I wanted the dress to be functional. I wanted to party. I love to dance. We’re Caribbean people. So my second dress was like an ode to that.” Sidnee shares.
“I knew from the jump I wanted a custom suit.” Bryant confirms.
“I met with Maximus Customs and I went to their showroom on Fifth Avenue in New York. It was me and my best man, Carlton. I knew I wanted it double-breasted and I knew I wanted a specific fabric. So, I found this fabric from Loro Piana, which is one of my favorite brands. They had it shipped out from Italy and then they were able to build the suit from scratch.” Bryant tells Black Bride Magazine.
But in the midst of the grandeur of their wedding day, the two managed to remember their point of it all; to be a beacon of hope and a representation that young Black Love is not only possible but necessary.
For many, Black Bridal-hood is a rebellion against the machine and to the powers that be that says, “You can try to stop us all you can, but love is love. And we’re going to pursue love by any means necessary.” So, when a Black Woman gets the chance to celebrate her love the way she desires, it becomes an incessant goal – a necessity to not only thrive but to boldly choose to continue to shine her light of love through the darkness of this world.
“The wedding kind of served as like the ultimate pick me up, I would say, not only for myself and my husband, but for everyone that came.” Sidnee says. “We’re one of the only young couples in our social circles that have had a wedding. And I know some of my girls and some of Bryant’s guys have never even been in a wedding.”
Sidnee adds, “So, for us to be able to provide a space for everyone to just block out everything that’s going on [in the world] – it gave them something positive to look forward to. We had our groomsmen and our bridesmaids come up to us in tears, like, ‘Yo, you don’t understand. I’ve been going through this, this, this, and this. I just really needed this wedding to come and to dance and to hug.’ And my father is super close with all of Bryant’s groomsmen now. They look at him as a father figure. And it’s just things like that, as Black and Brown people, we need those moments of joy. So, I was blessed that our wedding was able to provide that, especially during this time [in history].”
“My family told me that the wedding revitalized their idea that it’s possible to find love and to nurture it and care for it and find it. I had a cousin that said she almost gave up. She said, ‘You guys gave me hope.’ And for me, that means more than anything. Because I want as many people that I love to find love. And it’s not an easy journey to get here, especially the way the world puts us against each other. So, understanding that we are better together and that we need each other is a narrative that was on display that day.” Bryant shares.
“I’m still a kid from the hood of Queens, at the end of the day.” The groom continues. “And I wanted my friends to feel like we have grown up and maintained who we are; to know that the same songs we were playing on the block are going to be playing at this beautiful 300-person wedding and that we didn’t have to change ourselves to get here.”
As for their legacy as husband and wife, Sidnee and Bryant hope to continue to inspire others to pursue love on their own terms.
“I would like to show that Black women can do it all. I want that to be my legacy; that she did both and she got it all and she did it with excellence.” – Sidnee
“I pray that as a husband, that my legacy shows that I gave everything to love. And that I love everything I gave.” – Bryant
Since their April nuptials, Sidnee & Bryant have continued to thrive in their careers and continue to serve as an example of what it should and could look like to do Black Love well.
We wish these two lovebirds infinite years of marital bliss!
Images by One @aristaimagery.
Written by Kennedi LéShea.
