The bells have rung, the aisle has been walked, the vows have been said and the kiss was sealed! I don’t know about anyone else, but I am still in awe of this past Saturday’s Royal Wedding. I find myself reliving so much of it and still getting giddy and excited while looking at the photos.
Meghan was so lovely in her custom Givenchy dress designed by Clare Waight Keller. It was incredibly simple and elegant with clean lines and took 3,900 hours in four months to make! Meghan’s veil also had the sentimental hand-embroidered detail of a Californian poppy representing her homeland.
There are some mixed feelings about the overall simplicity of the dress, some loved it and other’s thought it was anything but flattering. Now that I’ve had some time to think about it, I didn’t mind how clean the lines were but what I didn’t love was that at different angles it looked frumpy and not completely tailored. Of course, if the new Duchess of Sussex loved it- who am I?! Meghan’s veil was stunning, her hair being pulled back only made sense considering the neckline of her dress and to add to her “Markle sparkle” she wore the breath-taking Queen Mary Diamond Bandeau tiara loaned to her by the Queen.
Besides the moment Harry told her “you look amazing” and melted all of our hearts, what got me ugly crying was the emotion he showed singing the hymn “Guide Me, O Thou Great Redeemer” which was sung at Princess Diana’s funeral. It was sweet as well that Harry handpicked Meghan’s bouquet of his mother’s favorite flower “Forget me Not’s”. Of course, in conjunction with honoring his late mother, the name of the bloom itself in relation to his mother not being there was enough to make us sob.
Overall it was more beautiful than I imagined it would be and absolutely worth getting up insanely early to watch. As a woman of color, I felt a twinge of pride seeing not just Meghan marry the love of her life and break through barriers that have never been challenged before. To hear a gospel choir and see people of color involved in various aspects of the wedding just made me burst!
To finish off all the fairy tale feels, Meghan wore a mind-blowing gown by Stella McCartney for the post wedding festivities. I have to admit, I adored this dress in comparison to her actual wedding gown. With all of this being said, I’ll leave you all to the photos and a huge congrats to the new Duke and Duchess of Sussex!
Another royal wedding will soon be upon us this coming Spring 2018 and we are SO excited! 
Create a custom jigsaw puzzle (or have one made) with a picture of you and the words “Marry me?” on quiet night when you’re spending time together, suggest the puzzle. Once you’ve both put it together, you can propose!
In true Canadian fashion, before your lady leave for work, offer to heat up her car and scratch your proposal in the ice on the windshield and the ring on the dash board.
The night before a beach day, write a poem or your proposal on a piece of parchment paper. Roll it into a bottle with a cork and bury it in a well-marked spot in the sand where you will remember. Make sure she finds the bottle and be ready with the ring!
Getting to organize and direct our very first stylized shoot this past summer was one of the most rewarding and mind blowing experiences. I had an incredible team from all over the GTA and Ottawa Ontario and there is no way I could have done it without them. Conceptualizing this shoot was so easy because I knew I wanted it to be intense. Personally, I find the wedding industry could use more multi-cultural models in their shoots so that played a monumental role in the models I chose. 
We were invited to attend the launch of the 2017 Sharleez Concept line sponsored by Elegant Wedding Magazine on October 14 2016 at Fountain Blu. The runway was lined with some extremely talented designers including one of my new favorites, Macedonian born Canadian designer Lidija from House of Lidija. All I can say is wow! Men’s suiting company D’Royce Customs located here in Yorkville rocked the runway as well. Canadian bridal designer Sharleez Thanga created some stunning gowns for her 2017 collection and we are looking forward to seeing more!
marriage. If there is a lack of respect, one person or both will start to shut down. Respect or lack of it is reflected in actions and speech. Condescending remarks, silent treatment, withholding “the cookie”, invalidating feelings are all areas you want to avoid if you expect to be respected in return. Be sure to keep your ego in check and remember that it’s not just about you, the world revolving around planet you stopped spinning the moment you chose to marry someone. They matter too, compromise is important.
oncern to your partner- you are essentially shutting them out. Likewise, if your partner is sharing these feelings with you- listen! If you feel like they invalidate your feelings or don’t consider what you think then tell them- in a tactful way. Here is what I do…if I need to get a point across I think about what it would take to convince me or help me understand if someone else was coming to me with the issue. What would someone have to say to you for you listen? Side note: Ladies, calling your man out in public or among a group of friends is not only a huge violation of #1 (see above) but will emasculate your man- reverse the roles, how would you feel? I thought so.
o is going to be there when you lose your job? If you don’t invest in your relationship and take time to laugh and spend some quality time together you will end up being nothing more than two roommates who live together. Husbands and boyfriends: plan surprises, go see a movie, make dinner reservations, dance, snuggle and read- anything! Women don’t want to be the creative, spontaneous ones all the time!
e shower or that her coffee mugs are literally everywhere- you aren’t going to enjoy much of one another. These are small insignificant things that aren’t worth dwelling on. Consider the fact that no one makes a latte better than her or that you never have to worry about him not fixing something that malfunctioned. It’s the little things you do for one another, like having his drink ready when he comes home or doing the dishes because she made a great dinner. These are the important things and the more you focus on them the more your bond will grow and strengthen.
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