Irene + Tyrone by Safeena Noah - Together Journal

I think it’s fair to say that even as kids we knew it was something special and it was something we knew we’d fight and work hard for. Our relationship has never been easy, but making the decision to spend the rest of our lives together was.

Tell us a little about yourselves, what you do, what you love…
I’m loud, he’s quiet. I’m on-the-go, he’s relaxed. I’m up and down, he’s constant. I love iced ventis, he hates coffee. You know the rest. We’re opposites. That attracted. Your regular ol’ fairytale.

How/where/when did you meet – and what were your first impressions?
Tyrone was always the cute older boy at school. I was at volleyball practice and a soccer ball happened to roll on the court in the gym. And very shortly after the ball rolled in, Tyrone rolled in. Let’s just say, volleyball shorts are very convincing.

When did you first realise that this was someone you’d like to spend the rest of your life with?
We were 17 and 18 when we started dating, he went off to New York for school and we were long distance for years. I think it’s fair to say that even as kids we knew it was something special and it was something we knew we’d fight and work hard for. Our relationship has never been easy, but making the decision to spend the rest of our lives together was.

Was there a proposal? Tell us a little about it…
It took 17 years, but luckily my fingers hadn’t started wrinkling yet. We moved from San Francisco to Las Vegas and bought a house. Our house was in the middle of having some work done to it, so we were living with my parents nearby. Pandemic living, with our cats, their cats, and my parents. It was fun. I had gotten back to my parents from getting a manicure (thank God) with my mom and Tyrone and my dad insisted we go check on the status of the work on the house. I was starving, and wondering what was going on. We went into our backyard of the house we were about to make a home together and he got down on one knee.

Tell us about the vision you had for the mood or style of your wedding…
Simple, magical, with good food and good music. San Francisco was really good to us, and we love the city so it felt right to get married there. It also doesn’t hurt that San Francisco has one of the most beautiful City Halls on Earth. The architecture is insane, it’s just gorgeous. There was no need to decorate, because the building itself is so beautiful. We then arranged two buses to take our guests from the building to one of our favorite restaurants in the city where we would have dinner and dance. We didn’t want anyone to worry or think about anything, just have fun, drink good drinks, and eat good food.

What was one element you were happy to splurge on?
Photographer Safeena and Makeup Artist, Ashley Bias. There’s nothing like looking back on the photos and wanting to relive it because the photographer captured the memory so perfectly and beautifully.

Tell us about your main outfits, what was unique, is there a story?
Tyrone is on the more athletically-built side, so clothes don’t often fit him correctly. We got his suit custom done at Indochino, and it was fun to do it together. Picking out the color, the fabric, the cut. It was an experience in itself. I knew I wanted my dress to be Italian, so Italian it was. La dolce vita.