Karl & Le'Son's Reception

I recently had the opportunity to experience a beautiful commitment reception for two very special people. The grooms were Karl & Le'Son. I have to admit I've never been to a more delightful event. The fact that it was a union between two attractive men was an added bonus. I hope that these 2 will be an inspiration for couples who look to make their unions more official. You have to check out these pictures from their RECEPTION.

1. So you guys have been together for a year. How has life changed since then?
Karl: In the last year life has changed for the better. When I look at where we were a year ago and where we are now, what I can see is growth. And I know Le'Son is the luckiest man in the world! (smile)

Actually, when I got into this relationship I thought I had something to give. Never did I imagine that I would receive and learn so much. Many people try to define what love is. We know it is a feeling, but there are many misconceptions about love. We keep trying to do love right by placing demands, restraints and conditions on our love and on those we love. Then wonder why it doesn't work. In the past I thought the measure of love was how much a couple was willing to sacrifice for each other, and I measured love and the depth of love by the amount it cost.

What I now know is love is wanting someone else's happiness above my own.

Le'Son: I think life has been great! Now-a-days one year in a relationship seems like five years, So it's hard to give you a short version of that, but one thing that stands out to me the most is going from just loving someone to being in love and understanding each other.

2. You had to post-pone your wedding from Memorial Day to Labor Day, what prompted this decision?
Karl: Well Le'Son was working very hard with his cheerleading team in Greenwich, and planning the wedding. The stress and strain got the better of him and he came down with a bug and wasn't feeling well just a week before the event. After working so hard it was important that he be at his best to enjoy the event so we worked with the wedding planners to change the date.

Le'Son: Well as the day was quickly approaching, I started feeling under the weather. I think between planning the reception and working, I stopped taking care of myself and started focusing on everything else that had to be done around me. Nathan as you know being an event planner yourself it can take it's toll on your body.

I had been planning and looking forward to this day for so long, I said "I be damn if I am going to have it and not feel well at the same time". Karl and I talked about it and decided to post-pone the date to Labor Day weekend. We wanted to make sure it was on a three day weekend for those who had to travel.

3. Have your families been supportive of your union?
Karl: Our families have been more than supportive, even to our surprise. When we sent out the invitations we invited all of our family (out of obligation), never did we imagine that all of them would return the RSVP cards indicating that they were coming. We then had to revise the guest list because we assumed most of them would not make the trip. All of Le'Son's family is on Cleveland and mine in Detroit. Le'Son's mother, aunts, and uncles all made the trip. As well as my mother, grandmother, siblings, aunts, uncles, and cousins. It was a great family reunion. More important it was a time for our families to meet and enjoy each other.

Le'Son: Yes! Both of our families have been very supportive, more than we expected. I think when we started our initial guest list we had more friends than family on it, but as soon as we started to receive our RSVP cards back from so many family members responding "YES". That list slowly changed.

You know you have to be honest with yourself when you're having a same sex marriage celebration and you want others to be a part of your special day. You just don't know how they are going to respond to that. Some people are just not ready.

4. The reception was absolutely fabulous. Which one of you planned it?
Karl: Le'Son did all the work. He worked with the wedding planner at the Westin Hotel in Time Square, as well as wedding planners from Detroit and Chicago, who flew in for the event. The theme was brought to life by Amy Guzzardo, of Guzzardo designs (DBA: 1-800-FLOWERS Detroit). Peach was the signature color. Roses are Le'Son's favorite flower, so over 1,000 peach roses as well as Calla Lilies, Orchids, and other exotics were shipped from Latin America here to NYC. The vases, linens, and other accessories were shipped from Detroit and Chicago. The place cards were gold 1/2-lb boxes of Godiva Chocolate for each attendee. No detail was left to chance. The music was very important so the DJ was hand selected and traveled in form Detroit. Our dog also attended wearing her peach dress. Custom peach lighting was built by a local Manhattan firm. And to compliment the ambiance everyone wore white. There was an open bar serving a signature peach martini, and a peach bellini.

All I had to do was write the check--(smile)
Le'Son: I would have to say I did most of the planning! But Karl was very much involved when it came to crunch time.

5. Was the reception all that you wished it would be? if you could change anything what would you have changed?
Karl: Even with a year of planning and all the hard work no wedding would be complete without the disaster story. Since so many people were traveling here to NYC we planned a three day event. The first night was martinis in our suite in Time Square, the second night was the actual event, and the third day was a Polynesian-style barbeque at our home in Greenwich. Well we had one additional guest that changed all of our plans, Hurricane Ernesto.

Since the third day was going to be hosted in Greenwich, we planned to have all of our guests stay in Greenwich near our home. On Saturday there were still some travelers arriving and that is when Ernesto made his entrance. Planes were delayed, roads were closed, and just hours before the ceremony the host hotel in Greenwich lost power...

Picture this... black women, rain/humidity, and no flat iron! Need I say more? The phones started ringing. We had no other choice but to reroute all of our guests to our suite to get dressed. What was supposed to be our time to reflect before the ceremony became a dressing room for a New York fashion show. But it gets better. After the dust cleared we noticed Le'Son's family was no where to be found. They were not able to get out of Greenwich before the roads were closed by the police due to fallen trees.

So we started the cocktail hour, where the guest arrived and enjoyed platted hor de'vours passed by butlers. After cocktail hour Le'Sons family still had not arrived. At this point the program had to be changed. We decided to allow the guests to enter the ballroom and take their seats. Le'Son and I went back to our suite and finished getting dressed so we could be announced into the ball room.

Once we returned to the event we were announced. The program was changed and we decided to have dinner served and do the ceremony at midnight to end the evening. We assumed by that time the his family would be there and we could get back on track.

Well dinner came and went, still no in-laws. Once we realized we were not going to be able to control the situation we decided to let everyone party and drink and when his family got there we would just do a toast.

It did not go as planned, but it was exactly what it was suppose to be!

Le'Son: The Reception was great, but if I could change anything about that day, it would have to be the late arrival of my mother and other family members due to the bad weather we had that weekend.

6. Did you guys take a trip? or should i say HONEYMOON?
Karl: Me being the person that I am needed to get back to the office. We had planned to take a trip over the holidays. After the ceremony all we wanted to do was rest. We did not realize until after it was all over, that it was alot of work. We spent most of our time over the three days attending to the needs of our guests. We wanted to make sure they had what they needed, and enjoyed themselves.

Next time I am going to elope! (smile).

Le'Son: Not Yet! But we plan on doing that real soon. I think after the weekend was over, we were both thankful just to relax and enjoy each other.

7. What's next for you guys?
Karl: Now we are focused on the next step. Le'Son wants to have a child. So as soon as he can figure out how to induce labor, I guess we will be parents.

Seriously, we have contacted some adoption agencies and we will be starting the process shortly. We will also be focusing on how to encourage others to take the steps we have taken to help build a community of families within the "family". We are going to be working with GLAAD, and other charitable organizations to make that happen.

Le'Son: I think that there are so many things in store for Karl and I, a list load of things we want to accomplish together. One that is at the top of are list is adoption. I feel we both have so much to give to a child who has had very little in life so far.

Congratulations Guys! May you continue to have a happy & healthy relationship.