From school bells to wedding bells – Charlotte NC Business Awards

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When Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell sang “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” they could have been singing about Jade and DeAndre Caldwell.

Bride to be: Jade, 25, finance.

Groom-to-be: DeAndre, 26, compliance

Wedding Date: October 23rd, 2021

Wedding Venue: Southern Charm Events Venue

Jade and DeAndre are natives of Columbia, South Carolina, now living in Charlotte.

How they Met

Jade and DeAndre met while attending high school in Columbia. He was a junior and she was a sophomore. First, they became Facebook friends, then decided on a first date.

First Date

“We were young, so it was a pretty simple date for us,” said Jade. “We saw Transformers at the theatre and had Five Guys pizza.”

Things got a little more complicated when they went off to college, Jade in North Carolina and DeAndre in Georgia. According to Jade, “When we went off to college everything became more real for us. We weren’t together as much due to us being at different schools in different states. We knew we had met the one when we couldn’t imagine living the rest of our lives without each other. That moment kind of came when we went off to college.”

The Proposal

DeAndre proposed in the comfort of their home before taking her out for a rooftop dinner in Uptown charlotte! They had dinner at Fahrenheit and enjoyed drinks while overlooking the city.

Planning the Wedding

“Our wedding planner made our wedding experience the best. However, we had to deal with the pandemic as well as unexpected obstacles. Our original wedding date was November 14, 2020. The toughest part of our wedding planning experience was losing our first venue due to the company going bankrupt in February 2020, approximately 10 months before our wedding date. We had to find a new venue very quickly because hundreds of brides were affected in the Charlotte area. We only received a partial refund from our deposit and that was from our bank. The venue did not give any refunds to any of their brides.”

We found a wedding venue within a couple weeks, only because we were moving fast, hoping to be able to keep our original date. Then Covid began to get worse, and we had to push the date back.

All of our other wedding vendors were so easy to work with and made the process very smooth. DeAndre and I were very organized, and I think that also helped keep our wedding planning process running smooth.

The Wedding Day

Finally, the big day arrived. We had done so much planning and prepping that neither of us were stressed out. We were both nervous to see how all our planning turned out, yet excited to be married! We had been together for 10 years at this point and were ready for that next stage of our relationship.

Memorable Moments

According to Jade, the most memorable moment from our wedding occurred during the ceremony. While the Officiant is preparing to read the section for the “I do’s,” he pauses for a moment, and I jumped the gun and said I do way before I was supposed to. Everyone laughed, and it was hilarious. DeAndre said his most memorable moment would have to be seeing Jade walk down the aisle.

Their Advice

Jade offers this advice to engaged couples. I would get a wedding binder and keep/print all of your documents and get some help. You cannot do it alone. Even if you cannot get a wedding planner, lean on help from your family and friends during the planning process. It will help make the process so much smoother, rather than trying to do everything yourself.

DeAndre adds, be realistic with your expectations and don’t stress. If you have a wedding planner, trust them to do their job.