Certified Coordinated Bride Amanda

Journal Entry #1

Amanda and Mohamed are getting married in New York on September 1, 2017.

Mohamed and I first met in the eight-grade at P.S 217, class 806.  My talent class was dance and his was videography.  We became great friends after spending time with each other at concert rehearsals and hanging out with mutual friends. During our sophomore year in high school we began dating.  As we grew older our friendship grew stronger and so did our love for each other. Mohamed proposed to me a few days after our ten-year anniversary.  He took me to dinner in Long Island City with a few of our closest friends and as soon as we got our appetizers, Mohamed received a phone call from his mother about a  “family emergency “ that he urgently need to get to.  Mohamed left and insisted that our friends and I should stay and enjoy our dinner. 

After we finished eating dinner, my friends suggested that we walk through Gantry Plaza State Park. As we headed towards the park, I saw my sister with a rose in her hand and she started a casual conversation with me and started leading me toward a number of people with their backs turned towardS me.

In the background I heard soft music…when I turned around,  I saw a saxophonist playing a beautiful melody and he began to follow me as I walked to enter into the park.   To my pleasant surprise, I saw more of my family members, Mohamed’s family and our mutual friends strategically aligned throughout the park, each with a rose in their hand.  

As I walked through the park, I collected a rose from each person and ended up with a beautiful bouquet of red roses. Directly after gathering my roses I was taken by the arm by one of Mohamed’s military friends. She began to sing the touching lyrics of “Bless the Broken Road” by Rascal Flatts, while leading me to one of Gantry Park’s piers.  

At the end stood Mohamed patiently waiting for me with his hands in his pocket standing behind the breathtaking view of the midtown Manhattan skyline, made up of the United Nations and the Empire State Building.   When I approached Mohamed, he got on one knee and popped the question. 

Of course, I said yes and now almost one year later prepping to start a new chapter in our lives as Mr. and Mrs. Islam.

Images by Alain Joseph.