distance between us.
Alisha: After a while, we started getting serious.
Matthew: Really serious, serious enough that I bought her a house for her 24th birthday.
Shanna: Wow! What a birthday present!!!! Alisha:( laughing) Instead of the big wedding we were planning, we invested in a house. Matthew: When we got engaged, we intended to have a huge wedding. We had our
engagement photos made and everything.
Alisha: We traded the big wedding for our home. We had a very, very small wedding at
church one Sunday after services.
Matthew: It was just our parents and grandparents. Her dad was the officiant on that Sunday
after noon.
Shanna: How sweet! So your wedding wasn ' t planned at all?
Matthew: Not at all! It was spur of the moment. I woke up on the morning of June 27, 2010
and said to Alisha, ' Let ' s get married today!". I put on an all grey suit and wore the 1st gift Alisha ever gave me, which was a polka dot tie.
Alisha: It was such a beautiful day! My dad was the officiant and I remember that I was so
happy! I was crying. I was scared. I was excited. All mixed into one! I ' m usually emotional. I cry all the time though. I wore this beautiful white dress. I had no bridesmaids, no flower girls, none of those bells and whistles that happen at weddings. We were having a tough time coordinating the schedules of our siblings to come to the big wedding we were planning. So this intimate ceremony worked out well for us. We didn ' t have a honeymoon either. We honeymooned in our new home.
Shanna: What is the secret to marriage success in one word?
Matthew: Openness. You have to give complete trust. You have to be an open book. Alisha: Perseverance: Regardless of what life
may throw at you, love is worth fighting for.
Shanna: Great love story! You two are a strong
team! You share in love and life, and you share a business.
Matthew: Yes, we started Eyeshadow
Photography. I bought her a camera, then another, then another, then another.
Alisha:( laughing) We have fun while we work.
Because we never had a wedding, we take wedding pictures personal. We want to give our couples what we never had. All the memories and images captured to have forever!!
Shanna: That made me tear up! How sweet! So looking into your future, where do you see
yourself in 10 years?
Matthew: Together.
Matthew & Alisha:( laughing lovingly)
5