What up A Fresh Voice readers?
I’m sure you noticed that I was on a long hiatus this year. You may have asked, “Where’s the fresh view?” Well, I was tied up. For good reason, though. In fact, it’s one of the best things that’s happened in my life time.
I got married y’all!
God blessed me to find the love of my life and I couldn’t be happier! Her name is Jeffyvonne (pronounced Jefron), and she’s stunning! That’s just the icing on the cake. She completes me in ways I never knew I needed. Perfection is definitely attainable. I know because I got it! Editor’s Note: She’ll be reading this, so I had to spit some game real quick.
We were married in Nassau, New Providence, Bahamas as this is where she’s from. We honestly couldn’t have picked a better location. The island is gorgeous! For North Dakotans, sun, shorts, flip flops, white beaches, and clear water automatically means vacation time. Especially in the winter months. We were married in February of this year. So on top of getting married, I felt like I was in paradise.
My wife wanted a small, intimate wedding, and I was okay with that. However, it seemed as though the entire island was going to be invited. Momma Shawn (my second mom. We don’t do in laws over here) knows e-ver-y-bo-dy! Apparently, my wife has like 20 sets of Godparents. That’s not including family, friends, and church members in Nassau. That would have easily been 200 people from her side alone. I didn’t have to worry about too many people coming for me. Going to the Bahamas from the states means you need resort money. Everyone may not be in that financial position, so I understand. Then, there were the people who just didn’t want to come. I’m more than ok with that, too. God blessed, and we got the small wedding we wanted.
I learned so much on this trip! That’s because I got to experience Nassau from a non tourist point of view. I encourage everyone to do that at least once. The resort goers really don’t know what they are missing by staying in the tourist lane. There’s so much culture, good food, and conversation to be had. It definitely broadens your perspective.
There’s so much to write about. I mean it’s my wedding, ya know? But I don’t want to bore you, so I’ll leave you with a few quick facts I learned about Bahamians.
1. Bahamian weddings are usually three hours. Three. Hours. Can you imagine standing up there for that long? That’s almost a part time shift at work! North Dakotans are done with their wedding ceremony in like 20 minutes. Black folks may stretch it to an hour (Homegoing/funeral services are a completely different story). Thankfully, Granddaddy kept the wedding to no more than 45 minutes. Because our wedding was so short by Bahamian standards, people were walking in the church as my bride and I were exiting to go to the reception.
2. The food is amazing!!! I can’t rave enough about the good food I had. In fact, the food off the resort left such an impression that I was legitimately disappointed when I ate at the resort. Talk about being Americanized! Here’s a pic from a restaurant at the fish fry called Oh Andros. I highly recommend everyone go!
I will say, The Breezes came through with our reception meal. That food was right! Here’s another pic.
3. Driving in Nassau is an adventure in itself. Lots of horn honking and people pulling out in front of you. Bahamians drive on the opposite side of the road. Thus, left hand turns are easier to make. They also have more Japanese cars as these items are not taxed as heavily. Buying a car from America means you have to pay a 25-30 percent tax just got having the car on the island.
Well, that’s it for the wedding. It was everything we could have asked for and more. Stay tuned for the honeymoon adventure!
A Fresh Voice 