Luxurious Black and White Wedding in Staten Island, NY

For Imani and Qadir, it was never a matter of whether they would get married, but when. They were childhood friends who met at the age of thirteen at Imani’s birthday party. Imani reminisces, “Qadir was no regular 13-year-old boy. He walked into my party in an all-white suit and quickly introduced himself to everyone. Guests assumed that Qadir was my date since his all white-suit and black shirt matched my all-white dress with a black bow. We still have the photos!”

Throughout the years, they kept in touch as friends, but Qadir caught Imani off guard when he asked her to accompany him to his high school senior prom. She reluctantly accepted because she had a boyfriend. But, to her surprise, they had an amazing time. “I broke up with my boyfriend the next week!” Imani says.

They soon developed a long distance romance. Imani shares, “We went to separate colleges in different states, studied abroad in different parts of the world. I went on to law school; Qadir started his career, and yet somehow we always managed to experience life together even when we were physically apart. We knew that we had something special from the very beginning and distance was never an obstacle.”

Since they love to travel, it was fitting that Qadir proposed to Imani on a family vacation to Disney World. He planned a fancy family dinner at a restaurant on the water. During the fireworks show, he suddenly dropped down on one knee. Imani recalls, “Our parents were in on it as well as the videographer who posed as a restaurant guest. We laughed, cried, ditched the overly priced restaurant, grabbed some fast food, and spent the night at our hotel celebrating with our families.”

The theme of their wedding was “Black Love.” During their ceremony, their officiant greeted their guests as “the beautiful people of Wakanda” and gave a heartfelt speech about the history of black love in America. They incorporated a Yoruba tradition called the “Tasting of the Four Elements” and concluded their ceremony with the African American custom of “Jumping of the Broom.” Guests headed inside for their chic black and white reception full of modern decor, silver accents and elegant cascading white orchids. A luxe candlelit sweetheart table, custom white dance floor, and six-tier white and silver wedding cake were just a few of the reception’s glamorous design elements. Guests partied the night away enjoying gourmet food, a cigar bar and top-shelf liquor. It was an epic wedding to celebrate the continuation of an epic love story.

Full Name of Couple: Imani Forbes & Qadir Forbes
Location of Wedding: Above- Staten Island, NY
Wedding Date: September 1, 2019

Quick Facts

Wedding flowers: White Orchids
Favorite item on menu: Waffles topped with Southern Fried Chicken, Grilled Peaches Balsamic Maple Syrup (Small Plate Appetizer at Cocktail Hour)
Bridesmaids/groomsmen gifts: N/A – We didn’t have formal bridesmaids/groomsmen.
First dance song: “The Closer I Get to You” by Luther Vandross & Beyoncé
Advice for brides: It’s your wedding! You can do what you want. There are no rules.

Interesting Highlights

We didn’t have formal bridesmaids or groomsmen. We wanted all of the people in our lives to know how special they were to us. However, I did get ready with some of my girls (and by some I mean nearly all). I surprised them with monogrammed robes the morning of the wedding. Qadir got ready with all of the men in his life and gifted them with monogrammed socks.

The morning of our wedding was completely nontraditional. Typically, the bride and groom don’t see each other until the wedding ceremony and for some less traditional couples, until they have their “first look.” Qadir and I decided to spend the entire morning together. We went around and handed out gifts to some of the special people in our lives, including our parents, grandparents, and godparents, and then had a huge family breakfast together before we separated to get ready for the wedding.

Best Wedding Memories

The runaway veil! As we were taking our final pre-ceremony photos, my veil flew off the balcony of the rooftop where our reception was to be held and into the crowd that waited for our ceremony to begin. We have the perfect shot capturing the moment. I thought my veil was long gone until I heard the crowd from our ceremony cheering as one of the guests had caught it. It made for a great laugh, released all of our nerves, and was the perfect start to our wedding.

Advice for Engaged Couples

Decide on your wedding values and must-haves at the very beginning! For us, we knew we wanted to have an epic party, that meant the DJ was a significant factor, top-shelf liquor was important, we incorporated a cigar bar, purchased monogrammed sweat towels, flats for the ladies to change into, had a late-night food setup, and made sure our venue was attached to a hotel so guests could have a good time without worrying about getting home. Others may value gourmet food, décor, or stationery. Knowing your wedding values will help you to make the best decisions for your wedding and your wallet. Otherwise, you may start making purchases and later realize that you spent a large chunk of your wedding budget on your stationery when flowers were really more important to you.