Gregory & Youshika Scott
Bride
Youshika Chambers, 26
Groom
Gregory Scott, 28
Parents of the Bride
Novlette & Henly Morrison; Cliff Chambers & Jacinth Lawrence
Parents of the Groom
Horace Scott & Claudette Scott
Hometown of the Bride
Jamaica
Hometown of the Groom
Jamaica
Wedding Date
9/7/2011
Wedding Location
Hotel Sierra (now the Hyatt House)
Occupation of the Bride
Assistant Bank Manager
Occupation of the Groom
Architect
Alma Mater of the Bride
St. Katherine High School in Jamaica
Alma Mater of the Groom
University of Technology in Jamaica
How they met:
"We met in high school," recalls Youshika. "He was two grades ahead of me.
“We rarely saw each other. A few months before graduation a friend of his that I knew introduced us. We exchanged phone numbers and started talking. He said he had noticed me before and was always seeing me around, but I never took notice of him.”For their first date, they attended an expo together.“It was like a cultural expo in Jamaica that is done on our Independence Day,” says Youshika. We really hit it off. We dated for a while, and then we lost touch when I left Jamaica seven years ago."The couple reunited about three years later. "I went back to Jamaica to visit a friend, who told [Gregory] that I was there," says Youshika. "We saw each other and got back together. We had a long distance relationship for about three years.”
The Proposal:
The couple was engaged on August 4, 2010. Youshika didn't see it coming."He came to the United States for a vacation and had my sister tell me that she was going to Las Vegas to get married," says Youshika. "That’s the reason I thought we were going to Vegas, but really my sister wasn't getting married.“It was weird because I apparently he had been working with my sister to buy the ring and plan everything. We flew out from Charlotte to Las Vegas, and he didn't propose until the last day when we were leaving.“It was crazy. My sister and I were staying at two different hotels. The first night we all went out to dinner, she forgot the ring. And a lot of things like that kept happening that delayed it until the last day. That night, we went out to dinner and then we went to the Bellagio Hotel. They have this big water show that they do with waterfalls. My sister had left already, and it was just the two of us. I was ready to go, but he was like, 'I have to go back out.' I said, 'Go back out for what? It's like 110 degrees outside.' It is hot in Vegas. I didn't understand why we would want to go back outside and not stay in the hotel. We went back out to the Bellagio by ourselves.“As we were watching the water shows, I turned and noticed him getting down on one knee. I was like, 'No, no, no. You're going to bring too much attention to us.' (I'm a little bit of a control freak sometimes.) I started crying. Everybody was taking pictures. Then we called my mom and told everybody.“I think my sister and her fiancé' wanted to be a part of the proposal, but I think maybe he [Gregory] couldn't muster up the courage. I don't know why he couldn't do it with them. He waited until it was just the two of us. It was really sweet. It was amazing... The ring was huge!"Gregory moved to Charlotte about a month prior to the wedding.
The Wedding:
Eighty guests attended the wedding, which was planned by “The Event Host” Marsha Pruitt. The bridal party included 5 bridesmaids, 2 flower girls, 2 ring bearers. The bride’s uncle, Minister Dr. Delroy Chambers, officiated the ceremony."Our wedding was one of the most different weddings that anybody has seen," said Youshika. "This was not the type of wedding that you see everyday. So, it did not go how everybody else expected. It was our wedding, and we did everything that we wanted to do - as far as the food, entertainment, the flowers, the colors. Our wedding was not influenced by [anyone else]. It was just what we wanted to do for our wedding."When the couple announced that they would be getting married on a Wednesday, many of the invited guests disapproved."They were like, 'Who gets married on a Wednesday,' " recalls Youshika. "But the date that we chose was significant because it was the date that marked the anniversary of the first time he told me that he loved me. So, he chose that date because of what it represented. Everybody was complaining because it was a Wednesday and they had to go to work. I told them, 'If you feel that way, then don't come.' I wasn't changing the date to fit their schedules."Some of their friends and family also took issue with their choice of colors."At our wedding, the bridesmaids wore black," says Youshika. "Everybody said that black was the color of mourning, but it looked so good! We wanted that color and it looked good with green. Anybody who didn't want to wear black, we decided to just leave them out." Guests traveled from all over the world, as far as Paris, to attend Youshika and Gregory's wedding."About 70 percent of our wedding party came from out of the country,” said Youshika. “We had people from Jamaica, Trinidad, and obviously other parts of the United States. That was crazy, because none of our wedding party was here when we were planning the wedding. They came in like the week before. Some people came two days before the wedding.”Although her father attended the wedding, Youshika chose to have her sister walk her down the aisle. "I wanted to have my sister because we have been through so much together that I feel like she is the only person that I can say has been responsible for me and could give me away."
The Honeymoon:
"We went to Charleston, SC. We stayed almost a week. The phenomenal thing about Charleston is the great architecture. Because my husband is an architect, he is so fascinated with history and buildings. We took a tour of the Harbor and it was magnificent. It was very educational. We both learned a lot, and we did it together."
Their Plans:
"My husband and I bought a house, and we are living together. As far as children go, we are going to wait a while. If it happens, it happens, but right now, the biggest thing that we want to do is much more traveling. We have so many friends in all parts of the world. We just want to get out there and go to as many different places as we possibly can go to before we have kids and [additional] expenses.”
Advice to Others:
"A lot of people questioned how we did it and have made a lot of negative comments about our long-distance relationship. And I would just tell them that you need to know whom you are getting married to. The reality of it is that it takes work. Is it easy? No. It is so hard, but when you finish and you get the end result, it is so much better because you know how hard you had to work. It was a lot tears." Youshika also offers this tidbit of advice to brides-to-be in the process of planning their weddings, "Have the wedding you want to have. You family, friends and everybody else will have their opinions, but do what you want to do. Make sure you enjoy your wedding."