Naturally the Two of Us: Jesse and Blake's Elopement

Jesse and Blake are very much aware of the most obvious issue in their relationship: It’s too easy for people to get the “him” and the “her” mixed up. So, let’s try to clear this up.

Jesse is the one who cries every time their wedding video from Sandals South Coast is played. In it are scenes of the overwater chapel, the glass runway, and the heavenly color of the ocean.

Blake is the one who comforts Jesse in those moments.

Jesse is the one who hears people ask why the two of them eloped to Jamaica for a destination wedding and quickly explains, “I’ve seen how stressful weddings can be for brides, and I didn’t want us to go through that. I kept thinking, ‘Are we doing this for others or are we doing this for us?’”

Blake completely agrees.

OK, maybe we need to come right out and say it. Jesse is the “him.” He’s the groom full of energy and emotion. He’s a man’s man who loves, protects, and cherishes his wife and children, and often says about them, “God has blessed me far more than I deserve.”

Blake is the “her,” the beautiful bride who laughs at Jesse’s jokes and adores the way his eyes get all watery whenever the topic of their Caribbean wedding at Sandals comes up.

“I love listening to him talk about our wedding,” Blake says, “because his emotion is the purest form of joy.”

She goes quiet and listens to Jesse again.

“The story of our wedding,” he begins, “was her, me, the ocean, and our vows. That’s all we needed for the most incredible, fabulous wedding you can possibly imagine.”

Jesse’s voice cracks. So does a beer. The man has proudly spoken.

Jesse-Blake or Blake-Jesse, either way, they both find humor in the him-her and sir-ma’am mix-ups because that’s precisely what brought them together in the first place. It all started when Jesse, who owns multiple businesses around Tupelo, Mississippi, received a message about doing some IT work for a homeowner named “Blake.”

Jesse’s first text to Blake opened like this: “Sir, I’d like to introduce myself …”

Each follow-up message carried the same southern respect.

“Yes, sir.” “I’ll be happy to check it out, sir.” “Would next Thursday be convenient, sir?”

Blake never corrected Jesse. “She’s too sweet,” Jesse says.

The mistake didn’t register until Jesse showed up at Blake’s home for the first time. He saw the door open and a radiant woman standing there. “Good morning, ma’am. Is Blake here?”

“Yes,” said Blake. “I’m Blake.”

Jesse’s face turned as red hot as lava, partly from embarrassment but mostly from what he describes as “the sight of this stunning woman in front of me.” He quickly turned the awkwardness to courtship. As a busy entrepreneur with the IT businesses, rental properties and a pizza parlor, Jesse has to move fast. So does Blake. She’s the founder of Vibe Aesthetics, managing a full-time staff and training technicians in all 50 states — even internationally. This is in addition to each of them taking care of their children.

“And four dogs,” Jesse says.

A few months after they started dating, Blake was invited to Paris to celebrate her business for earning top-50 status in the U.S. Jesse joined her. He saved up his money for a ring so he could propose in the city he considered “the love capital of the world.” There, in the Eiffel Tower and with a surreal view of Paris, Jesse dropped to one shaking knee and nervously asked Blake if she would honor him by being his wife.

“The most phenomenal experience any girl could ask for,” Blake says.

After all of that — the romance, the setting, the “yes” — Jesse immediately faced a monumental question: Now what? How and where in the world do you top a Paris proposal with a wedding? He first imagined a big wedding with hundreds of friends and family congratulating him for marrying such a gorgeous bride.

“I reminded him what it would be like to try making so many people happy,” Blake says. “There wouldn’t be much time for the two of us.”

That’s all Jesse needed to hear. The husband-to-be rethought his manliest wedding dream. They would elope to an island. He and Blake looked up Sandals Montego Bay (“convenient”), Sandals Ocho Rios (“energetic”), and Sandals Dunns River (“fresh”) and then Sandals South Coast (“that’s it!”).

“Everything we wanted would be right there,” Jesse says. “The chapel. The runway. The ocean. Us. God. Love.”

“And a Rondoval suite,” Blake says. “We wouldn’t have to do anything. Just go. Enjoy every minute.”

Between running their businesses and raising their kids, Jesse and Blake literally had zero time to plan a wedding anyway. Three days before the ceremony, they arrived in Jamaica and stepped into a BMW for a private transfer from the airport in Montego Bay to Sandals South Coast — a 90-minute ride. There in the backseat, alone and relaxed, they planned their wedding.

“How many couples can say they organized wedding details like that?” Jesse says, laughing. “The Sandals team was so friendly and helpful. Everything we mentioned, it was ‘No problem’ and ‘Our pleasure.’ We didn’t consider them staff — they became friends.”

On property, Jesse and Blake went for massages together, lounged at the pool together, and thought of their lives together. Occasionally, Jesse would text his butler friends with the types of requests you’d send a best man: Could you make me look good by putting rose petals on the floor of our suite and warm water in the soaking tub? We’ll be back from breakfast at 8:45. That would be sweet!

“I’m on this Caribbean island and the woman of my life is telling me, ‘Oh, thank you, honey, you’re amazing!’”

On the afternoon of the ceremony, those same Sandals friends would be their witnesses in the overwater chapel. While striking a sturdy stance in his masculine suit, confidently facing the ocean, Jesse heard a voice coming toward him from the beach.

“I was expecting a traditional wedding song through the speakers,” he says.

When he turned, he saw his beautiful bride walking on glass and singing I Get to Love You by Ruelle. Jesse, the gallant guy, wiped away a tear with a quivering hand.

“A grain of sand must have blown into my eye,” he says.

His and Blake’s voices shook through the reading of their vows.

Jesse: “I am blessed to be yours. I’ve been praying for you before I even met you.”

Blake: “I want you to know there is no happier version of me than the one standing in front of you today.”

The two of them were giving 100 percent of themselves to each other, with no distractions. How perfect for not only a wedding, but for a marriage.

The only easier event than their Sandals wedding was their Sandals reception. Jesse and Blake sat at a candlelit table on the beach, with stars twinkling above and Sandals friends stopping by with heartfelt congratulations. They would also have a second reception back in Mississippi, with 300 people dancing and celebrating. During the party, the music dramatically stopped so everyone could be reminded of why they were there.

“We played our Sandals wedding video,” Jesse says.

A grain of sand apparently got into his eyes again. Actually, there was so much sniffling that sand must have been swirling around the room. When the video finished and the Kleenex was tucked away, friends and family came up to Jesse and Blake to share the same sentiments.

Now we know why you went to Sandals for your wedding.

That’s the smartest thing you could have done.

“I’m so glad we were married in Jamaica because …,” Jesse’s strong voice fades.

“We lived out a dream we never knew we had,” Blake says for her husband, “and we did it together.”