REAL WEDDING:: Terrion Lomax + Frederick Smith { THE BEST GIFT}

November 4, 2021
Jessica Burke
Featured Couples

::AS SEEN IN THE NOVEMBER 2021 ISSUE OF NOW WEDDINGS MAGAZINE::

Written by: Jessica Burke | Photos: Calvin Gavion, Jr

their story

Terrion and Frederick went to the same high school in New Orleans but the two, participating in cheerleading and marching band respectively, never crossed paths while there.

In May of 2015, Terrion sent Frederick a friend request on Facebook. “I did not recognize her at all,” he says, so he started a chat in Messenger and asked Terrion how they knew each other. She replied, “High School!”

The conversation flowed and eventually Frederick asked if he could get to know Terrion better.

“As you can see, she said, ‘Yes!’” he shares.

On their third anniversary, Frederick planned a romantic dinner at Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse. For the first surprise of the evening, Frederick hired a limousine to transport them to the restaurant.

“She was filled with so much emotion and joy, you could see it on her face,” shares Frederick. But this was just the beginning.

As they arrived at the restaurant, Frederick prepared himself for the big moment. “The driver opened up my door and I exited and gathered myself, as I was about to ask the most important question ever in my life, to the woman I love the most,” he says.

As Terrion exited the limo, Frederick began to get down on one knee. “She saw me and she instantly began to say, ‘I know you lying!’” says Frederick.

“I knelt down, with the ring in hand and attempted to talk, but I was fumbling my words. I then asked, ‘Will you marry me?’ and she replied, ‘YES!’”

Terrion’s wedding gown by Morilee from Pearl’s Place

the wedding(s)

The couple were scheduled to get married on June 20, 2020 with over 150 friends and family in attendance. When gathering sizes were limited to help curb the pandemic, Terrion and Frederick thought they wouldn’t be able to get married at all. “Fortunately, we were able to have an intimate ceremony, where we only invited 10-15 people,” shares Frederick.

After their micro wedding and honeymoon, the couple contacted their wedding planner, Tenisha Keller of Chocolate Bunnie Events, and discussed their options for their dream wedding. “We were allowed to push everything back to 2021 and chose the date of June 19th (Juneteenth),” says Frederick.

As the new date drew closer, their plans were again threatened, but this time by weather; a tropical depression had formed in the Gulf of Mexico days before their wedding. “I immediately began to ask God to shift it, have it cease to exist and allow our day of union to be one of sunshine, no rain and excitement,” says Frederick. The day before the wedding, the forecast had the storm clearing the area just in time for Frederick and Terrion to say “I do” in beautiful, sunny weather. “That was the best gift,” says Frederick. “Covid did not stop us, nor was Mother Nature going to stop us. I was elated because I prayed for a day like the day of our wedding and God gave me that, to give my wife the wedding of her dreams.

Mr. Terence Shanklin walks his only daughter down the aisle on her 2021 wedding day.

Terrion and her bridesmaids pose for portraits in front of Popp Fountain in New Orleans City Park. Her bridesmaids wore matching Jessica Angel Collection gowns from Pearl’s Place.

the wedding reception

Frederick surprised his bride with a beautiful, wrapped dance floor at their reception; seeing her face when he revealed the surprise is one of his favorite parts of the wedding day.