Love in Charlotte: Here’s what happened when COVID relocated their destination wedding
You won’t find this year’s most heart-melting romantic story on a Netflix rom-com, but it will involve all of the ingredients we love to watch with a pint of ice cream: a bounty hunter, a spur-of-the-moment wedding and a happy ending.
Joseph “Jay” Davis and Miketa Proctor, the duo behind Lulu’s Maryland Style Chicken and Seafood, celebrated a picture-perfect wedding in Charlotte on July 18 after plans for their Florida destination wedding were canceled. The intimate, socially-distanced ceremony was organized by celebrity wedding planner Courtney Ajinca and took place at Team Vision Estates, a $1.3 million lakeside home on Lake Wylie.
Proctor and Davis were accompanied by their closest family members, who attended both in person and via Zoom. The couple plans to hold a larger ceremony and reception on their one-year anniversary in 2021 at their original venue, the Waldorf Astoria Key West.
HOME IS WHERE THE HEART — AND WEDDING — IS
Much like Kenna Ehman, a local salon owner whose destination wedding to Spain was canceled due to COVID-19, Proctor and Davis found their Florida wedding plans quelled by the virus. What was supposed to be a mansion wedding in Key West would now need to take place in Charlotte.
“When COVID first hit, it slowed everything down because my original groomsmen weren’t allowed to get fitted for their tux. What we didn’t want to do was have everything potentially open back up in May or June and then have to last-minute rush everything,” Davis said. “Between April and May, we made a lot of phone calls to the venues trying to figure out what our options were. So in May, we finally made the decision to push it to next year.”
The couple called LaToya Evans, communications chief at The LEPR Agency, to help them plan a Charlotte wedding. Evans works to promote Lulu’s Maryland Style Chicken and Seafood and is also a good friend of the couple.
“She fixes every issue from personal to business, and she said, ‘I’ll make it happen for you guys,’” Proctor said.
Within two weeks, Evans had found a perfect mansion on Lake Wylie for the couple to tie the knot.
“If we knew we’d be able to pull off something like this last year, we would’ve probably tried to do something in Charlotte. We had no idea how beautiful it would be or how it would come together,” Proctor said.
“We are happy to keep our wedding weekend and legally get married,” Proctor said. “We are also equally proud to have our wedding in a city that has supported us as a Black-owned business. It’s not what we originally planned, but it’s a perfect pivot.”
HE SAID “YES” TO THE DRESS
Like most true romantic stories, a few small troubles kept the couple on their toes.
“The crazy thing that most people don’t know is that I had my outfit, my hair and my shoes all planned, and about two days before, nothing panned out,” Proctor said.
Some of the items needed for the wedding never showed up, Proctor’s hairstylist got sick, and her dress didn’t fit.
“Within two days, we redid everything,” Proctor said.
Enter Davis, who went and picked out his soon-to-be-bride’s wedding day ensemble, from the dress to the shoes and a hairstyle.
“Jay is a hopeless romantic to the core,” Proctor said. (To which Davis responded, “Allegedly, allegedly.”) “The dress I wore, the shoes I wore, Jay picked them out himself, which is actually very significant to me because I think every bride wants for their groom to think that they’re the most beautiful,” Proctor said.
With the wedding look complete, it was time for the ceremony. But, much like COVID, the weather had other plans. Wind and thunderstorms delayed the 5:30 p.m. start time, but it all worked out — the ceremony ended up coinciding with sunset, adding a stunning backdrop for a memorable day.
“I think that was the most perfect day. I don’t think we could have planned it any better than it unfolded.”
ALWAYS MEANT TO BE
If Davis and Proctor seem like the perfect couple, it’s because they are.
They’re from Maryland, but they met in Charlotte. Davis was a bounty hunter and planned a trip to Charlotte to pick up a bounty with Proctor’s dad and uncles, who were bondsman. Davis was long-time friends with Proctor’s family, but he hadn’t met the woman he’d want to spend the rest of his life with until that encounter.
The couple dated, culminating in Davis’ ultimate profession of love: a romantic proposal where Maryland-based group Ruff Endz sang “Someone to Love You” (a song the couple both loved) while Davis got down on one knee. (Men, take notes.)
Once the couple was engaged, they faced more than just wedding planning; they were looking into opening a restaurant.
When Davis and Proctor first met, Proctor was already in the process of trying to start a restaurant. Davis, too, was looking to open a restaurant in honor of his late mother, Lulu, who always used to sell dinners out of her home.
“I always wanted to pick up that torch and run with it,” David said. “For years, they were all just ideas. Our entire lives, we’ve had the same dreams and ambitions. All it took was the right person to make it all come together.”
After the couple was engaged, they planned to fly to Florida to look at their wedding venue in Key West. The same day, they received a call from the owner of the building that would later become Lulu’s. They took a quick detour to see the restaurant location before heading to the airport to catch their flight — and they were immediately in love.
“As soon as we walked in and looked at it, she said, ‘This is it,’” Davis said. “That was the first [restaurant] location we walked into where she was 100 percent on board.”
And, like a true fairy tale, the couple also secured their wedding venue the same day.
“We signed the paperwork for the wedding venue and then immediately after, we went ahead and signed the contract for the location of the restaurant,” Davis said.
NAVIGATING A RELATIONSHIP AND A BUSINESS DURING A PANDEMIC
Once Lulu’s opened, it picked up a ton of momentum. The couple quickly realized that between running a business and planning a wedding, they didn’t have much time for each other. To remedy the situation, they decided to close the restaurant on Tuesdays and use the time as a “date day,” where they’d enjoy whitewater rafting, restaurants and nearby travel.
And now, as a happily married couple, Davis and Proctor continue to navigate the ever-changing business landscape together. While COVID-19 has affected many local restaurants, the couple hasn’t seen a huge impact on their business.
“Our business didn’t really slow down much,” Davis said. “It slowed down for maybe about 10 days when they started the restrictions. The thing was, that weekend when everything started to hit, Keta and I had a conversation about what we were going to do as far as the business was concerned, and we decided we were going to do curbside even before the governor made the announcement.”
“We were ahead of the curve, which of course made transitioning for us so much easier. When people were at the height of the fear of COVID, things started slowing down, but when people started getting more comfortable and coming out more, business picked up for us again,” Davis said.
“It was a blessing in disguise because even for those few days what we slowed down, it made us re-evaluate our game plan,” Proctor said. “We were able, during this hard time, to hire more people to make our business even more efficient. So even coming out of COVID, we didn’t use that time to slack. We hired more people, we made our business more efficient and the numbers are progressively going up. The work we put in during COVID … we are seeing the fruits of our labors now.”
Now, as the restaurant continues to garner a line of cars around the building for homestyle cooking, the couple is focusing on both the business and their marriage — like planning the cutest COVID-style honeymoon.
“We’re taking a bunch of mini-vacations to make up for one big getaway,” Davis said.
To celebrate their recent union, Davis and Proctor are taking Sunday-Wednesday for six weeks to travel to different locations. They recently returned from Savannah and are planning to follow safety regulations and guidelines on trips to visit Maryland, Nashville, New Orleans, Dallas and Los Angeles.
“Our entire lives, we’ve had the same dreams and ambitions,” Davis said. “All it took was the right person to make it all come together.”
