Last month I married my best friend, my soulmate, and the person who I plan to spend the rest of my life with. We had a few mini dramas at the wedding but luckily it went well.
I wanted to take a moment to thank everyone for making this day possible.
First and foremost, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ has been holding his hand over our union since the fateful day that we met. As many of you know, Matt and I didn’t have a fairy tale beginning, (our first date was a train wreck, lol) But the Lord God has watched over us and taught us the power of love, peace, patience, forgiveness and hope. With his continued love and our continued praise of him, I’m sure we’ll have that happily every after.

To my family: Words can’t express how grateful I am that I’m a part of such a loving, kind, dedicated, and fun group of people. I feel truly blessed to know you, and honored to be related to you.  I especially am grateful to all of my cousins for making it down here There were far too many of you to name but. To my 3 Steves, Arlene, Marsha, Sherry-Ann and John just to start, I'm soooooo happy you came!

My Mama: My first friend. Thanks for all of your advice, and help in helping me and Matt put the wedding together.  I’m especially thankful that you came to New Orleans to help me choose my dress, apparently we did good!

To my Siblings:

Brent, it was especially awesome to have you walk me down the aisle. Thanks for calming my last minute jitters and smiling as you lead me down most memorable 90 feet of my life. I’m sure you gave Matt a nice threat when you got to the altar, which is ok too. Lol.

Jason, you have been exceptionally generous in helping me finalize all of the wedding details. I was honored that you accepted to be a groomsman in the ceremony. Thanks for doing things to make me smile.

Nigel, thanks so much for  speaking the words of the Good Book in the ceremony in addition to being my go-to guy when I needed help with the loose ends of the wedding. You kept my laughing and happy and relaxed when I needed it most.

Michelle, My sis, thanks for being there to help set up for the reception. Everything looked so beautiful. I dunno if anyone has ever told you, but you give very, very calming hugs. Thanks for the pick me up.

Chevon, my other sis, thanks for allowing your adorable children to be in our wedding. They looked phenomenal! I know it was a sudden addition, but I’m glad we were able to pull it off. I miss you!

To my adopted family of Chi Upsilon Sigma. Lord knows I’ve always said that God did not give me birth sisters because he knew I’d have CUS.  Two special Cussies made the trip out to New Orleans and It’s something I am very grateful for and will never forget. Chi Hoot Marlene “Colibri” Sanchez and Brenda “Tiger’s Aye” Pescoran.

CUS also produced my wedding party, as all of my beautiful women in pink were all members of my sisterhood.

Jessie- You have been there for me through some of the most tumultuous times In my life. With you I have overcome tragedy and loss, pain and anguish, celebrated joys and excitement. You are an amazingly beautiful person inside and out. You constantly find the good in the situation, even in the most hopeless of  dilemmas. You constantly engage me mentally, and are fun to be around.  I think your only downfall is you didn’t pledge in the Fall lol.

Aknaris- My sister from a different mother. You have been a dear friend to me. You taught me the meaning of the word sister. We’ve cried together, cuddled together, insulted random track players together lol. But seriously, you have always cared for me on a different level, as if there was no difference in our blood. You have seen me at my worst, hugged me through my disappointments, and could make any day with absolutely no plans the most exciting, memorable, and fun filled adventure. RIP Peju, but long live the memories we shared with him. I’m thankful that you stood beside me as we became sisters of CUS, and will always think of you as my sister before CUS.

Aileen- My rock, my level head. You are as amazing a person as you are beautiful.  The past few years were difficult for me, from the loss of my grandfather to various other personal issues, I fell apart several times, but you were always there to pick up the pieces. You have been an phenomenal  sister and friend. I’ve told you personal things about me that no one else on this planet (including Matt) knows. (watch him ask me what they are now lol) You have always been available, sometimes even sacrificing sleep to talk to me in my time of need.  I will spend forever trying to show you how grateful I am to have you as my Maid of Honor and standing beside me as I married my favorite Kahlia. :0).

Special thanks to everyone who came to the wedding, especially those who traveled far distances to be with us on our special day.  We had guests from California, New York, New Jersey, Florida, Alabama, Oklahoma, Connecticut, and even Trinidad.

To my New New Orleans friends, ya’ll are quickly a growing part of our lives. I love ya’ll!
Thanks to the people who wanted to come but couldn’t due to miscellaneous reason. We know you were there in spirit.

To the people who didn’t rsvp, call, email, facebook, or send a smoke signal to acknowledge you even got an invitation: I know it’s bad of me to scold you, but the truth of the matter is we spent a lot of time compiling our guest list, as Matt and I both have huge friend and family circles. To not even reply so we could at least use your rsvp in our scrapbook is just plain hurtful, and rude.

Back to happy thoughts though, Thanks to our wonderful wedding coordinator Merideth for keeping the day running smoothly.

Our photographer Simone was capturing all of the most wonderful moments. I’m sure that Her creativity, speed, and cooperativeness will lead to some beautiful wedding photos.

And Finally, thanks to Matthew for even asking me to spend the rest of my life with him. In you I have found the man of my dreams. We have been through a lot together, and I look forward to sharing more memories with you. I know people say that your wedding day should be the happiest day of our lives, but here’s to the hope that we have many days that far exceed the amount of joy we shared the day we became one. Get ready for the ride of your life!!

PS. Etiquette police, don't worry, ya'll will still get formal thank you cards in the mail. :-)