MEET THE DOTSONS

This Bride and Groom Danced to “JuJu on the Beat” and “Wipe Me Down” on Their Wedding Day! The video went viral with over 6 million views and counting! 

All Photo Credit Belongs To: Keyontae Lacey & Cadarrius Dotson

How it All Started:

The Bride's Story:

They say first impressions are everything. Well, if that’s the case Snap and I would not be where we are today. I still remember laughing at him from across the room in a house party as he danced on every female that crossed his path. I actually knew of Snap before I got to really know him. It was only so many African-American people at our school, so it was hard not to know of each other. I knew of him as a party-goer, a ladies man (with a lot of drama) and I left it at that. Even when fate kept dropping him in my life – he sat in front of me in class, we partied with the same friends, we ended up in the same study groups – I left it at that. We really had no interest in each other (I don’t believe it on his behalf).
It wasn’t until 2011 on Twitter that I let it (us) happen. It all started with a numbers game everyone was playing. You were supposed to inbox a number to a person and they respond with an anonymous message. When I sent him my “secret number” I was just looking for some laughs with my girlfriends, while he was obviously looking for something special.  He replied ” 4790 I can really see myself being with you, you’re different”. My friends and I laughed all night and decided to push this “crushing stage” a little further. I got his number from a friend and as soon as I texted him I received his 6-7 page text messages. I thought, this boy is crazy! After passing the phone around to my friends and laughing at his text messages I started to feel bad. I thought well maybe he’s not that bad.
Eventually the text became library visits, the visits became flowers, and when flowers eventually turned into food daily I thought ” sheesh he might be the one”. His consistency and confidence really won me over. Although it took some time, I finally let my guard down and we were left with so much in common. From our love for family to our beliefs in God we were able to really hit it off with each other. He turned out to be the complete opposite of what I had assumed about him. Fast forward to the bad part, I had to move away. At the time moving away seemed like the worst thing, but looking back, it really was what made us closer. Being apart was an everyday reminder of what we had and we couldn’t let it go.

The Groom's Story:

Man oh man. This is really crazy but on February 9th, 2011 it really went down in the DM, long before anybody was singing those lyrics to a beat. Till this day Key swears that she was just playing with me, when she sent me a direct message to my twitter account. I on the other hand, knew she wanted me all along and that she was just using this game to bait me in. I will admit a few things, it was a big game that night, and I responded with like a mini novel that I knew she wasn’t ready for. So she may have had a ball that night showing her girls the text exchanges, but I knew that I was the real winner at the time. Key was everything to me. I remember the next day rushing into the locker room telling Ryan and Doug “Bro I’m about to get on Keyonta”…with the biggest smile on my face. Next thing you know….WALAH MAGIC!!
I will say prior to that night, or actually prior spring 2010 I did not like Keyonta, despite us crossing paths often. We even took a class and worked on an entire group project together and still there was nothing there. She was a completely different person than the one that sent me a DM. She was just so LOUD!!! Like everything was loud from her hair (them braids tho), her wardrobe (those matching belts & bracelets), her attitude (she fought at every party, but she got hands though lol), just an all-out YELL!! It wasn’t until I actually got to hang out with her a few times that I noticed how cool of a chick she was. From pop-ups to my room, to her party buses, and going out to eat with her friends, she kept getting finer and finer and continued to grow on me, and each instance she would indirectly let me know she wanted me. So again that DM was a setup and all a part of her plot. That DM led to so many special moments for us, from texting each other all night, our “the game” watch parties, library dates, just everything we’ve ever done. I just want to take this here clause to say Thank God for social media platforms, thank God for twitter accounts, thank God for inboxes, and Thank God for the numbers games. Won’t He Do it!! Most importantly, I thank God for you.

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Something In Common:

They are both apart of Greek Organizations! He proposed at The "Delta After Dark" Talent Show in front of family, friends, and peers! Read about the proposal below!  

Cadarrius and I are both apart of black greek letter organizations. (Delta Sigma Theta, Alpha Phi Alpha) These organizations sparked tremendous personal growth for the both of us, and is something that we value and hold near and dear to our hearts. So every year my chapter holds an annual "Delta After Dark" talent show. This show gives students a chance to showcase their talent for everyone on campus. So when the show was over I thought that my sorors and I were about to head out and leave. I then saw a group of Alphas walking down the aisle singing "All my love, my peace and happiness I'm going to give it to" then my husband shouted my name. I had a few drinks before the show so I had to ask a friend for clarity for what I thought I heard. He then walked up to me and gave me flowers and everyone just ran to the front with cameras. My husband is such a show off and always "do it big" for me so I thought, oh, this is just him being extra as usual until I saw my family. Then it hit me! I was like Oh, Jesus! He's about to propose! He performed his own personal probate show for me! It was literally the cutest thing ever! He pulled me on the stage and of course I said Yes! (You can watch it on YouTube Here - Probate Proposal) !

The All White Wedding took place in Dallas, Texas. Read below for more details:

Ceremony: Cathedral of Hope
Reception: Nuvo Room
Theme: All White Everything
Cake: 5 tier Vanilla & Strawberry Cake!
Budget: $30,000
Guest List: 160 People

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Their dance went viral with over 7 million views! 

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Viral Video:

We actually planned the dance a few months before the wedding. We choose to do JuJu on the beat because it was the popular song out at the time. We also strolled to wipe me down. Strolling is something that we do in our greek organizations. This stroll was made up by my husbands chapter (Sigma Theta) and they often performed it in college. I always loved when my husband did it and knew that if we ever got married I wanted to perform that stroll. I kind of already knew it :) so that part didn't need much practice.

We did not expect it to go viral at all. Our video has over 9 million views now. I'm happy other people got to enjoy watching us be ourselves. We both like to stroll and get things all turnt up. We were very shocked but also very humble about the whole thing.

Advice from The Beautiful Bride, Keyontae Dotson:

Truly the best day of my life! Mrs. Dotson! □ #blackbride1998 #thecoordinatebride

A post shared by Key Dotson□ (@keyonce1) on Nov 7, 2016 at 1:50pm PST

"My advice to brides would be to do it your way! I feel as if society has all these rules on weddings and how it should be, and how it's supposed to look. I was "for the most part" a stress free bride because I did things my way. It's YOUR day! It's all about you. Make it count." - K.Dotson

"I planned my entire wedding. Take your time, do what you can afford, don't stress, and most importantly have fun!" - K.Dotson

"Keep god first, everything else will follow after that." - K.Dotson

Grooms Advice - "Stay out of the way and Say yes to everything! " - C.Dotson

A post shared by Key Dotson□ (@keyonce1) on Nov 7, 2016 at 2:13pm PST

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Wedding Planner: Keyontae Dotson
Day of Coordination: Makeita Miles
Hair: @HaveuBeenMuffd 
Make Up Artist: @DesireePhillipsMua
Photographer: @Meech213
Videographer: @Charlestatenjr
Dress: LuLu's Bridal (Maggie Soterro)
Wedding Reception Jumpsuit: @RevampedByTheStylist (Houston, Tx)
Bridesmaid Dresses: Etsy

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