Sweet Garden Engagement Session in New York: Roshelle + Wayne -Munaluchi Bride

After 1 year, 9 months, and 10 days of getting to know each other, on August 7, 2015 Wayne popped the question to Roshelle, at the sweet place where the couple shared their first date. And on August 13, 2016 they will begin their forever and unite as husband and wife. But without getting too ahead of ourselves – the bride and groom have so eloquently shared their sides of the “how we met” and proposal stories!

Read on for more from this fun-loving, couple while viewing their garden engagement session photos shot in the lush Wave Hill botanical gardens by coterie member, John Branch IV!

How We Met
The Bride’s Version: Wayne and I have been connected ever since he migrated from Jamaica to the States in 2004. Our mothers became close friends, working together in the children’s ministry at Bronx Bethany Church of the Nazarene. We found out that our fathers had both taught at St. Jago High School in Jamaica from 1989-1992, and our families even celebrated Father’s Day together one year at a dinner. These interactions made Wayne seem like family, but like an estranged cousin, since I had many more interactions with Wayne’s parents than I had with him.

One Friday in May 2013, two old acquaintances crossed paths as they went home from Manhattan. This was the first time we had seen each other outside of a church or family setting. Wayne stepped on the 5 train at E 180th St. and recognized me sitting. He immediately walked over to say hello, and we caught up and exchanged numbers. After a few text message exchanges, I stopped responding to Wayne. He tried to arrange to hang out, but I was always “too busy”. At that point, I was entertaining other “prospects”, and Wayne was not as interesting to me. So Wayne left me alone… for the rest of the summer…

A few months later, I crossed his mind again, so he decided to try to connect once more. This time, I was less busy (and more interested because my prospects hadn’t led anywhere). I admired Wayne’s initiative and persistence, and I was very ready to be courted, so we finally went on our first date. Wayne found out that I LOVE sweets, and we had our first date at a gourmet dessert restaurant called Sweet Revenge. We spent over five hours together that first date. After that, Wayne asked me out every week. We spent every Friday evening together in September and began seeing each other much more often. Too much if you asked my mother!

After the first month and a half, we knew we wanted to be together. We knew it so much that Wayne had planned a special day in December (when we would both be off from work) for when he was going to ask me out, two months in advance. I knew this day would be the day we made our relationship official. But I saw no point in waiting. In late October, I traveled to Jamaica for my uncle’s wedding, and it was the first time Wayne and I hadn’t seen each other for more than four consecutive days. It felt like an eternity. As soon as I returned from my trip and we first saw each other, the time away only confirmed the obvious. I anxiously said to Wayne “Can you ask me out now? I don’t want to wait.” We formalized our relationship on October 29, 2013, throwing away his initial plans to romance me into being with him =)

Bride-to-Be: Roshelle Selene Clarke
Groom-to-Be: Wayne Headley Smith
Occupations: Roshelle: Nanny, Afterschool/Camp Administrative Assistant | Wayne: Full Time Student, Afterschool/Camp Counselor
Wedding Date: 8/13/2016
Wedding Location: Riverdale Country School in The Bronx, NY (Roshelle’s old high school!)
Engagement shoot location: Wave Hill in The Bronx, NY

Groom’s Version:
I just had this natural feeling that it was time for me to ask the big question. I bought the engagement ring she chose, in February 2015. At first, I thought that March would have been the perfect time to ask her to marry me. But after speaking with some family friends, I realized I was rushing the process without being emotionally ready. After months of; pre-engagement counseling, encouragement from loved ones around me, personal growth of our love for God and much prayer, thought, and even more prayer, I chose to pop the big question on August 7, 2015 — 5 days after getting the ring resized.

The trick was to fool Roshelle. I didn’t want her to think I was going to propose right after getting the ring sized. I intentionally made it seem as though I was going to propose to her months later, and not that same week. The plan was to convince her to come out with me to a friend’s party in Manhattan near Sweet Revenge. But that party didn’t really exist. That would be the excuse to get her into the restaurant as a place for us to pass the time before the “party” started. My best friend Donovan was able to join me on this endeavor and even played the role of our photographer. He was a real trooper.

As Roshelle, Donovan, and I sat in the restaurant together, I anxiously waited for the right time. I wasn’t worried about Roshelle saying no, but being in front of strangers made me nervous. Sweet Revenge was playing music from Pandora, so I asked Roshelle for her favorite song. She named a gospel song, but when I specified by asking for her favorite love song, she said it was “I’m in Love with You” by Fred Hammond. Having the song in mind, I got up as though I were going to the bathroom. Instead, I told the waitress that I planned on proposing to my girlfriend and would like them to play her favorite love song. When I got back and the song started to play, Roshelle noticed the ring box in my pants’ pocket and immediately yelled: ‘Wait, are you gonna propose?’ I looked at her like this girl can’t be serious! I got down on my knees and took her left hand. She was in complete disbelief and burst into tears the moment I opened the box and she saw the ring.

So after 1 year, 9 months, and 10 days of getting to know each other, on August 7, 2015 I popped the question at the sweet place where we had our first date. On August 13, 2016 we will begin a new journey as husband and wife.

Tell us about the engagement session:
We had no particular theme, the bride-to-be knew she wanted to wear white and so the groom-to-be got an outfit to match and the rest was history! Huge thanks to John Branch for making this shoot as fun, carefree, and enjoyable as we could have ever imagined! Also, thanks to our makeup artists for a flawless beat and making the bride-to-be’s first makeup experience amazing!

What’s your favorite thing to do as a couple?
Eat out at new restaurants and pray together – not necessarily in that order (though we still should do a lot more praying)

How has wedding planning been?
Rochelle: Wedding Planning has been an eye opening experience. The hardest part was settling on “the list” and dealing with input on said list, but it’s been fun to collaborate with different people to work towards a vision that would best reflect us on the special day. I didn’t want a wedding at first because of the potential headache and drama-she wanted a simple city hall affair with a nice small family dinner post.

Weddings were a big family event for the groom’s family so we begun to plan, at first not knowing how it was really going to be paid for. However the process has only strengthened our faith in God and each other because various aspects continued to work out on in our favor, and we received help and support we couldn’t have anticipated. God has been very good to us!

What are you looking forward to most on the wedding day?
Rochelle: I’m looking forward to having all my favorite people in one place at the same time to celebrate love together. The groom is looking forward to consummating the marriage on the wedding night!