It goes without saying that a good love song sounds even sweeter when you’ve already found your happily ever after, and we found a video that totally proves it.
Newlyweds Andrea and Theo Talley-Hollingsworth created the perfect ode to Black love using a few of our favorite love songs.
The Howard University alums and college sweethearts created an epic wedding video mashup that we just can’t get enough of. They’ve been together for six years and recently tied the knot. The new Mr. and Mrs. told ESSENCE about the brilliant idea they had to use these classic Black music video moments to tell their love story.
“I actually had the idea about year ago, and we wanted to put it out as an engagement announcement video, but we got super busy,” Theo shared. “Then when we got closer to the wedding and Andrea suggested we take a dance class so we could do a choreographed dance number…I can’t dance that well, so I brought up the video idea again since I had already finished the storyboard and selected all of the songs. It worked out great. We had a lot of fun shooting it.”
The video was a hit at their wedding too. “We did a short one minute slow dance as our first dance as husband and wife,” Theo added. “Then the DJ played the video on a projector. The best moment was the reaction from our wedding guests. They we’re shouting and singing along. Neither one of us were expecting that!”
The video recreated iconic video moments from hits like “You’re All I Need To Get By” by dynamic duo Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell, Method Man and Mary J. Blige‘s “You’re All I Need” remix, “Cherry Wine” by Nas featuring Amy Winehouse and Erykah Badu‘s “Love of My Life.” Both Andrea and Theo say that the jams perfectly tell the story of their relationship — ups and downs included.
“We wanted to choose songs that represented different classic duets from various eras in R&B and hip hop that could also show the different sides of our everyday lives,” the groom shared. “We picked the 60s era R&B classic, our favorite hip-hop love song to show off our weekend personalities, a personal favorite of ours and one that was the perfect ending for us. Common’s first line ‘we broke up and got back together…’ resonated with me because Andrea and I did have a break for almost a year, but were able to work it out and have been super strong ever since. We ran in close circles in college and reconnected at a mutual friend’s Halloween party. She dressed as Erykah Badu and I followed her around the party trying to get her number all night. The fact that she dressed as Erykah makes this song even more special to us.”
Seriously, we can’t get enough of this video.
Congratulations Andrea and Theo!