Sacramento Wedding Inspiration: Heaven Sent {Get to Know} Summer/Fall 2018

For Leslie and Lamar it wasn’t love at first sight, but love at second sight. Their second encounter proved that they had a meaningful connection, and we could see it while working with them on our Heaven Sent styled photo shoot! Keep reading to hear more about Leslie and Lamar, their relationship, and experience modeling with each other.

Get to Know our real couple models here, but there’s still more content to come! Be sure to like us on Facebook and follow us on Instagram so you never miss a post.

What made you want to model for this photo shoot?

Leslie: I thought the experience would be once in a lifetime, so I jumped when I heard that we could model together. What girl wouldn’t want to feel like Tyra Banks for a day?

Lamar: I wanted to do something special with my wife. I have never modeled before so I thought the opportunity to model with her would be fun and give us a chance to try something new.

What was your favorite part of modeling?

Leslie: The gowns! I only wore one dress to my wedding, which I loved; however, it was really cool to wear different styles of dresses on my body — especially the ball gown.

Lamar: My favorite part of the shoot was wearing different suits

What was your favorite part of this shoot? Did you relate to the concept?

Leslie: I’m a girly girl so I loved dressing up with the gorgeous gowns, jewelry, and hair and makeup! It was almost like our wedding day all over again! In fact, that morning I turned to Lamar and said, “We’re getting married today.” I also really looked forward to tasting the cake…for pictures of course. Once they got the shot, I inhaled the cake in one bite.

Lamar: When the shoot took place, we were only 10 months married so it was like reliving our wedding day again.

What do you do for a living?

Leslie: I am a Wedding & Event Manager at the Kimpton Sawyer Hotel. I live and breathe weddings so having this experience again was so special to me.

Lamar: I work for the state.

What do you do for fun?

Leslie: I love exploring different cities with Lamar. He is so fun to travel with! I look forward to exploring the world more and more with him. I also love reading, writing, spending time with family and belting my favorite songs out loud!

Lamar: I’m getting into gardening. I really love harvesting my own fruits and vegetables, which inspires me in the kitchen to create some culinary surprises. I also love going to Kings games and spending time with my “little brother” since I am in the Little Brother/Big Brother program.

Tell us about your love story. How did you meet? What was the proposal like?

L&L: We met through a mutual friend who tried to set us up at a friendly game night. Lamar had no idea he was going to meet me even though I knew that was the reason for why I was going. Poor guy was ambushed! Since we didn’t know anything about each other we really didn’t talk to each other much, so the game night was kind of a fail. The next time we saw each other was at my company’s holiday party – our same mutual friend invited Lamar to see if we could get another shot at making a connection. This time, Lamar knew he was going to meet me to try again. It worked! We spent the whole night sharing about our lives and our goals in life. The next week, he invited me to the Kings game for a date (I love basketball, so I was very excited to go). We have been dating every week since that night.

Lamar had the proposal planned for a few weeks. He decided to propose on Memorial Day, the day when both of our families would finally meet each other for the first time. What I didn’t know was that our parents had met the week prior to plan the rest of the details out, and for Lamar to officially ask my dad [for permission] to marry me. Everyone was in on it except me!

After the meal, Lamar came beside me and told me to follow him as he led me over to the pool. I stood up and looked around and saw my brother and parents with cameras tucked in their hands and then it hit me what was going on. I immediately started crying and Lamar said some words, which I couldn’t hear because I was crying and my mind just went blank because I couldn’t process everything that was happening all at once. I just remember seeing him mouth some words through my sniffling and I was just thinking about our future and how happy I was to marry him.

Lamar: She thought I was too shy to do it in front of her family but she was wrong.

Tell us about your own wedding.

Leslie: I probably got six straight hours of restful sleep and I remember waking up so refreshed and calm. I was almost worried over the lack of stress. Normally I’m a crazy stress-case but I remember the whole time I was getting hair and makeup I was just at peace and so excited to see Lamar. I was hidden in my bridal suite in which I could see everything coming together at the venue and as the time grew closer, I could see all of my friends and family arriving to the ceremony. I broke down one time and that was when my photographer, Liz, took a bridal portrait of me. She gave me one sneak peak and I remember breaking down in tears because I never felt so beautiful. That was exactly how I wanted to feel on my wedding day

The whole day was the best day ever! Our family and friends from both sides were just so excited to be there celebrating with us! Everyone was on the dance floor before it was even time to start dancing — and we loved it! The DJ made perfect song selections for our guests so the dance floor was packed until the wedding was over!

What was it like modeling with one another?

Leslie: So much fun! We were messing with each other all day, making jokes and silly faces. It was especially nice to see him all dressed up again looking great! Unfortunately, he had to wait for my many dress and make-up and hair changes so it was a waiting game for him but he was watching the sports game on his phone, so he didn’t mind.

If you could offer any advice to future brides, what would it be?

Leslie: I advise future brides to really enjoy your wedding planning experience. The process can be a bit stressful at times, but remember the end result is marrying your best friend, so all the little things in the plan are small compared to a lifetime with your husband. Also, ask for help! The process can be overwhelming so ask your friends, fiancée, family — anyone you trust to help you or just to be a shoulder to vent to. It really helps! You don’t have to be Super Bride, Super Fiancée, Super Designer and Super Planner all alone; rely on others to help you when you need it. Lastly, this is advice that a past-bride gave me, so I share it with every bride I can. The wedding day is go go go, non-stop from the time you wake up to the time you go to sleep that night. Take a few moments during the ceremony and the reception to really look all around you (looking at family and loved ones) and take in the moment. You’ll be pulled over here for pictures, first dance, cake cutting, etc, and you almost never get a chance to just be in the moment so I advise to take a few moments during the ceremony to look out at everyone who came to be with you to celebrate your day. During dinner is the best time during the reception because you get a few minutes at the table alone, just look out at your family, see everyone’s faces and be filled with the joy of your special day!