Buying Black: The Davis Wedding Edition
Why is it important to spend our dollars with black owned companies or to… “buy black” ? In the words of Kenya Barris, it’s all because of slavery. As members of the African diaspora who just happened to be sold on American shores, we have this need to create a “black” distinction. We have to say Black Lives Matter - because some people act like they don’t. We have to remind ourselves that black is beautiful - because they told us it wasn’t. And we have to buy black because that’s the only way we’ll ever get a leg up in this country.
Black communities have historically lacked when it comes to entrepreneurial wealth because slavery had such devastating effects on our socioeconomic capabilities. We have had to operate with a lack of resources, and often, a lack of knowledge. The mind games that were instituted during and after slavery caused seemingly irreconcilable division amongst the African American community. With the destruction of family units and the removal of cultural heritage, black people became disenfranchised.
In the light of my people’s tumultuous history in this country, it is incredibly important to promote the longevity of black businesses and aid in the advancement of African American people. This was my husband’s thought process in 2018, when we decided to plan our wedding. Henry was determined to employ as many black professionals for our reception as possible and so he started by going to the Upstate Black Consumer Network page on Facebook.
Here he found our caterer, Justshons, which was founded by Lashon Mays. In order to make our decision on the food we would choose for our wedding, we attended a very inexpensive tasting. The food was amazing. It was the type of food that you expect to eat when you go to a black family gathering, but with a special culinary touch to it. We could taste the spices that were so effortlessly complimenting foods that were staples to the soul food experience. By the end of the night, my husband and I almost wanted to pay for another tasting. Personally, the pound cake, rolls, and macaroni and cheese were my favorites. Justshon’s motto is that they “cater comfort food in style” which is exactly what they do.
www.justshons.com BLACK PROFESSIONAL #1
While in the process of overindulging on Justshon’s amazing food, we were introduced to Savitria Hudgens. She was coming to speak with Lashon and told me about her events decorating company, Tria Events and Design LLC. We walked together to her workspace where I was blown away by all of the beautiful decor pieces she had available.
Prior to meeting her, I was planning on having friends and family handle the decor. Once I saw how amazingly gorgeous she could make our reception, I immediately found extra room in our wedding budget. By hiring Tria Events, my husband and I were able to save on a great deal of frustration and we wound up with a wedding hall that made us feel like royalty.
www.instagram.com/TRIA_EVENTS/ BLACK PROFESSIONAL #2
While I was speaking with Sevitria, she made me aware of the importance of a wedding coordinator. She said that this person would make sure that my special day was organized, timely, and stress free. This revelation also proved invaluable to the success of the Davis Wedding. Sevitria suggested a wedding coordinator that she had worked with plenty of times. His name is Jawoski Wright and he is a playwright as well as a wedding coordinator.
Jawoski was incredibly on top of his game and prepared to make wedding magic. He met with my husband and I to go over our favorite songs, the professionals that we had hired, and our vision for the evening. He even sent over a spreadsheet entitled the “proof of timeline” which detailed the start and end times for all of our wedding activities. We received numerous compliments on the food, decor, and overall quality of the reception, but many people were simply blown away by the effectiveness of Jawoski, our wedding coordinator.
www.jwrightproduction.com BLACK PROFESSIONAL #3
Jawoski reminded us of how quickly the night would go by and how important it was to have photographic evidence of our memories. He suggested a local photographer to capture our special day. Ironically, I had already met this photographer at one of the Upstate Filmmaker’s Network meetings. His name is Lee Smith of Smithalee productions.
Lee brought on a team of other filmmakers who worked alongside him. They were timely and very prepared to capture the small intimate moments that really made the day what it was. Lee’s team was silently effective. Never bothersome or in the way, but always there to capture what was important. Following the wedding day, we received a digital file of all our photos. There were a TON of photos. Smithalee’s photography skills are amazing and the rates were super affordable.
www.Smithalee.com BLACK PROFESSIONAL #4
On an amazing night like what our wedding turned out to be, one thing we definitely wanted to have on deck was drinks. This brings us to our fifth and final black professional; Gail Shields.
Gail made a punch that had everyone running back to the bar for more. Even my husband and I had our fair share of glasses. The drinks were superbly mixed; not too strong and not too sweet. Just what everyone needed to feel a little loose without getting sloppy and stupid. Gail paid attention to who was getting drinks so that no one would surpass their limit to do anything that would compromise the event. She also bottle up some of the punch for my husband and I to enjoy that night after all the hard work was finished.
www.glselitebartending.com BLACK PROFESSIONAL #5
All in all, I was hesitant about “buying black” because of the stigma that these businesses are not as professional as they need to be. Honestly, there are some of those unprofessional black business owners out there, just like there are for white business owners, but May 5th, 2018 was a glorious display of black excellence on all fronts. I am glad to have partnered with every professional we partnered with and I look forward to working with them all again in the future.
