Bridal Bliss: High School Sweetheart's Ridge And Tamela's All-White Wedding Was Where Classic Meets Chic

Bride: Tamela Sheree Warren, 28, Elementary School Teacher
Groom: Ridge Anthony Williamson, 29,  Warehouse Management Systems Administrator
The Big Day: 12/22/17
Location: High Point, North Carolina/Villa de l’ Amour
Style/Theme: Classic all-white winter wonderland

“The process of finding my wedding dress was not difficult, though I walked away with something completely different than I thought I wanted,” said Tamela. “I envisioned myself wearing something either with a high neckline or long-sleeved but ultimately decided on a strapless gown. The process was easy. My mom, grandmother, and I only went to one store to try on wedding dresses. During our visit, I tried on at least 15-20 dresses. The sales associates just kept bringing me dresses to try. I knew my dress was the one because out of all of the 115-20 dress that I tried on, my dress was the only dress that my mom, grandmother, and I all liked.”

“I love that Ridge is always thinking ahead,” said the bride of her groom. “He always has a plan for everything and doesn’t settle for anything less than what he desires.”

“My bouquet consisted of hydrangea, white tulips, white mini calla lilies, white anemone, white ranunculus, wrapped in black fabric,” Tamela shared. “These flowers were chosen as my florist thought they would help our winter wonderland theme come to life.”

“It felt great being a bride! I remained calm and relaxed throughout the process,” said Tamela. “It was important to me that I was stress-free as well as the people around me.”

“I was completely blindsided as I was not expecting a proposal at all!  Ridge and I traveled to Washington, D.C. one weekend in September to attend the AT&T Nation’s Football Classic “Battle for the Real HU,” and he was going to drive to Maryland to spend time with his mother and brother or so I thought,” recalled Tamela. “I thought we were going to go to a “rooftop party” later but the moment I stepped in the lobby of our hotel and saw lit candles, and had flower petals spread out but I had no idea it was all for me! As soon as my friends opened the doors, I heard Trey Songz’ “Love You Better” and I immediately knew what was about to go down. I followed the candlelit path to Ridge where he whispered how much he loves me and wants to spend forever with me in my ear before dropping to one knee to ask me to marry him.”

We are loving Tamela and Ridge’s wedding decór. So chic!

“My dad walked me down the aisle,” the bride said. 

“I would describe Ridge as ambitious, loving, intelligent, easy-going, silly, spontaneous, and handsome.”

“I felt confident and loved,” said the bride about looking in her groom’s eyes at the altar. “I was so elated that the day and time had finally arrived that I would be Mrs. Ridge Williamson.”

“While at the altar I was simply happy,” the groom shared. “In my head, I started saying ‘Thank you, Jesus, for sending her to me.'”

“I knew that Tamela was the one while driving back from one of her cheerleading competitions,” recalled Ridge. “On the 5-hour drive back to Hampton, VA we had several in-depth conversations about life and goals. Those conversations made me realize that she was the person that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with.”

“I don’t remember the exact time that I knew Ridge was the one, but I knew that he was husband material while we were dating,” said Tamela. “He always made it known that he wasn’t trying to play games and his plans and career goals always included me. Everything that he did was for us and I admired that.”

What a gorgeous photo. 

The bride had some of her sorority sisters by her side on her wedding day! 

Sweet kisses for the newlyweds and their parents!

How special is this snapshot of the bride and her mother?! 

“I decided to make Tamela my wife because of her personality, goal-oriented mindset, and unconditional love that she has shown me over the years. Those three attributes about her alone made the decision to marry her a no-brainer.”

“I did not think I would find true love this early in life,” Ridge admitted. “For some reason, I thought I would be close to 40 years of age before I found the love of my life.”

“My bridesmaids’ dresses came from Vera Wang’s line at David’s Bridal. I decided on a style that would complement all of the girls’ various body types. I chose black because it is timeless and classic.”

The newlywed’s bridal party looked like it was had no shortage of good vibes and an amazing time!

Ridge and his groomsmen look so handsome!

“In my perfect world, I imagined that I would go to college, meet a guy, fall in love, and get married just like my parents and grandparents had done,” said the bride. “Little did I know, I had already met my husband in high school, and we fell in love during our college years.”

“We had a five-tiered cake consisting of 4 different flavors (carrot cake, spice, white, and chocolate) with white icing.  The cake was topped with an acrylic W.”

Congratulations to the bride and groom!