Tamayi + Chipo started their day at the adorable Oliver Inn, where they enjoyed time with their friends and family to prepare for the day (and for the bride to slip into her absolutely beautiful, swoon-worthy gown designed by Stephen Yearick)!
After the ceremony, the couple released doves outside the church and had a delightful getaway in a beautiful, vintage car! Following, they had an amazing reception at Gillespie Conference and Special Event Center, full of fun dancers, pastel flowers, candle light, chandeliers, and an amazing linen draped structure to surround their sweetheart table designed by Dan Hay Carpentry. The couple’s love radiated, and they danced the night away with all of their guests!
Here’s the grooms take on their love story:
“We met after Chipo had just graduated from high school and I had just begun college. As nerdy as it may sound, our first conversation was about biology and chemistry. She was planning on studying biology and I had just started my chemistry courses. I remember walking away from the conversation knowing she was an intelligent girl but books before boys was written all over her forehead.
Three years passed, which we spent in the friend zone. However, this was no longer enough for us, as we deeply cared for each other and we wanted to take the next step in our relationship. There is one memorable conversation that lingers in our minds that brought us together… It was an ordinary day in mid October of 2007 when I received a phone call from her. We discussed bio courses and she led me on a Histology quiz on cell lines. Determined not to lose the game, but more to gain her affection and respect, I took on the challenge and got every question right. She seemed really impressed and I thought I had won her over in some way. I ended up spending about four hours with her on the phone that day without realizing it until I hung up. I had never spent that much time on the phone with someone… At the end of the four hours, there wasn’t a question in the air that we both had realized feelings that would soon affect our lives in a forever and always kind of way!
After four years of dating, I decided to ask her to marry me. We had talked about our future together in terms of marriage. I remember talking with a designer to make a custom made engagement ring. I then drove up to Michigan to surprise her. I was about to move to Pennsylvania from Indiana for residency and Chipo thought that she wouldn’t see me for a few weeks. When she saw me at the door she was surprised and gave me the ” aint you supposed to be packing to travel to Pennsylvania tomorrow?” look. I then pulled out the ring and asked her to marry me and she said yes, making that the best day of my life. Our relationship has since grown in ways I can’t express in words. We argue like a couple, yet we laugh and make up like best friends. Together we have learned to make God the center of our relationship, not only for this life but also for the life to come. We look forward to spending eternity together. “
