Cici & Desmond’s Elegant Cabernet and Navy Fall Wedding

Today on the blog, we’re reminiscing on a 2024 fall wedding that is near and dear to our hearts. Cici and Desmond are joining us below to share their favorite memories behind their Tate House wedding. From selecting their color palette to their fall wedding design decisions, they’re sharing helpful tips for current couples. Plus, a sweet idea to make for a more intimate wedding ceremony.

How They Met: Cici and Desmond will always be grateful to Georgia Tech Football for bringing them together. While at Georgia Tech, Cici served as a student athletic trainer for the football team, and Desmond played as a defensive end. Their story began during Spring Ball in 2017, when Cici was assigned to cover the D-Line position group. What started as stolen glances and playful banter quickly grew into a budding friendship.

On May 20, 2017, that friendship moved off the field when Desmond sent Cici a message on Instagram asking if she could do his hair. By June 2017, they had their first non-football hangout, and from there, the rest was history.

Interestingly, there was never an official moment where either of them asked, “Will you be my girlfriend/boyfriend?” Instead, they chose their relationship date based on a memorable moment during Hurricane Irma. The storm stranded Cici at Desmond’s apartment overnight when flooding made the streets of Atlanta impassable. They eventually chose September 6, 2017, as their date—both because it fell within the timeframe of Hurricane Irma and because they loved the symmetry of the numbers 9 and 6 flipped.

For the first year and a half, their relationship was their best-kept secret. Because dating technically broke the rules within their roles, only those who absolutely needed to know were aware. They finally went “Instagram official” on Valentine’s Day in 2019, a few months after Desmond graduated from Georgia Tech in December 2018.

How He Proposed: Cici and Desmond’s proposal story was just as memorable as the way their relationship began.

From Cici’s perspective, the proposal came as a complete surprise. She believed they were simply going to lunch at Ray’s on the River for one specific reason—Desmond loves their lobster rolls. When their waitress mentioned there would be a short wait for their table and suggested they walk along the restaurant’s outdoor paths, Cici didn’t think anything of it. After all, it was Valentine’s Day week.

The two spent some time strolling along the scenic path behind the restaurant, taking in the peaceful views of the Chattahoochee River. As they reached the riverbank, things suddenly shifted. Desmond began gathering the items from Cici’s hands and placing them on a nearby bench. Before she realized what was happening, he dropped to one knee. What followed was a blur—Cici later said she couldn’t recall a single word either of them said in the moment. She was completely shocked and overwhelmed with excitement, realizing she was about to marry her best friend. February 11, 2024, instantly became one of the most unforgettable days of their relationship.

From Desmond’s perspective, the plan came together once he chose a restaurant they both loved. With the river as the perfect backdrop, he led Cici out to the patio area overlooking the water. As a photographer waited discreetly in the distance, he got down on one knee and proposed, presenting her with a large bouquet of flowers. After she said yes, they celebrated the moment by taking photos together, surrounded by the iconic waterfront views.

How They Chose Their Fall Wedding Date: “We got married on 11.09.24. All I knew going into wedding planning was that we HAD to get married in the Fall. Fall was not only my favorite season, but Fall represented an important time period for Desmond and I: football season! Matter of fact, our wedding was the exact day that Georgia Tech defeated the #13-ranked Miami Hurricanes– let’s just say Desmond and I got some witty remarks from our fellow Yellow Jacket fans on our wedding day, for our wonderful date selection! 

Knowing we selected the last Saturday date, and that we were going to be the final wedding of The Tate House’s 2024 Wedding Season, was pretty special to us! We were truly ending the fall wedding season and ending our dating/engaged phase at the same time. The next things to come were new memories, new adventures, and our new life as The Branches!”

Why They Chose Tate House: “Out of the 7 venues in Georgia that we toured with our parents, nothing came close to The Tate House. The Tate House was quite literally the full package– the grounds, the ceremony spaces, the bridal and groom cottages, the other amenities and the all-inclusive package offerings. The Tate House gave us all we envisioned for our special day, and more! It was a wedding venue that not only “felt right,” but also fully supported who we were as a couple. When we selected The Tate House, we did not have to compromise or give up any element that we desired.

We are SO blessed for the role that each team member played in creating the best day of our lives– Cindy, Konda, Chef Raphael, Paul, Vicki, Cindy (Vicki’s lovely assistant from our wedding day), and all the other incredible support team members. From the initial tour, through the entire wedding planning process, and to the actual wedding, we felt heard and supported. We cannot thank The Tate House Team enough for the quality communication, for the ease of facilitating all the behind-the-scenes logistics, for the high-quality food selections, for the most perfect floral arrangements and decorations, for the spot-on execution of the timeline, and for addressing any last minute questions, comments, and concerns. We will never be able to fully express how much The Tate House and the entire staff means to us– they took so much stress off our plates, always with the friendliest smiles on their faces, and we were able to leave our wedding with zero regrets and zero things we would change.”

Wedding Vision: “We envisioned a wedding that was simply ‘us.’ We wanted something that was both extravagant, but yet still displayed what mattered most to us– our union as husband and wife, and celebrating with the family and friends who mattered most to us. We wanted a romantic, authentic, celebratory, and family-rooted affair. We wanted a wedding that was memorable for us and our guests, and one that felt like one big celebration.”

Color Palette: Cici and Desmond chose cabernet and navy as their primary wedding colors, complemented by supporting shades of grey and silver. They wanted a palette that reflected the richness of the fall wedding season while also complementing the look of their wedding party.

The deeper, richer tones were a deliberate choice. Cici and Desmond wanted their own looks—Cici in her white wedding dress and Desmond in his grey suit—to stand out. The bold colors worn by their wedding party created a beautiful contrast against the light and airy setting of the pavilion, helping to create timeless and memorable photographs.

Favorite Wedding Details: Cici and Desmond each had different favorite moments from their wedding day, but together they created a celebration filled with meaningful memories.

From Cici’s perspective, two of her favorite parts were the private dinner and the reception. After the emotional high of the ceremony, she and Desmond slipped away to the mansion for a private dinner—just the two of them. Taking that intentional time together turned out to be one of the best decisions they made. It allowed them to fully soak in the moment after the whirlwind of the morning and afternoon, and after finishing photos with their wedding party and family.

The reception that followed was filled with unforgettable highlights for Cici: being introduced for the first time as Mr. and Mrs. Branch, sharing their first dance, completing the father–daughter and mother–son dances, hearing heartfelt speeches from the people closest to them, and celebrating on the dance floor with their guests. Being surrounded by so much love and support for her and her husband meant everything to her.

For Desmond, the ceremony stood out as the most meaningful moment of the day. Having all of the most important people in his life gathered together to witness him marry the love of his life made the moment truly unforgettable.

Traditions vs. Making it Their Own: “We kept many of the typical wedding traditions, but we eliminated the ones that were not ‘us’ and we also implemented a few atypical aspects to our wedding! We ensured that we spent the night before the wedding apart, and that we refrained from seeing each other until our first look. The first look was another moment we carved out for just the two of us, amidst the chaos of the day. Doing a first look helped us lessen some of the wedding day jitters, prior to meeting at the altar. We were intentional of reading our hand-written vows during the ceremony. We both agreed that we wanted to publicly confess our love and our promises to each other, with our parents, our families, and our friends as witnesses.

We made it a priority to keep both bridesmaids/groomsmen and the parent dances in our wedding plans. Not only did we want to have a special moment with our parents who we would not be us without, but we also wanted to stand at the altar backed by our best friends and brothers; we kept the ones who supported us individually, and us as a couple, involved in the biggest day of our lives. We skipped the garter toss and the bouquet toss, because those traditions were something that we had zero excitement to do or include in our special day.

For the ceremony seating, we actually flipped the typical arrangement – we had the bride’s family diagonal to her and the groom’s family diagonal to him, so that the parents could see their child’s face and so we could steal glimpses of our parents.

A special element from our wedding day was the ceremony thank you speech and bouquet dedication. Upon completion of all the introductions, speeches, and dances, Desmond spoke to thank his parents and the rest of our guests for making our wedding so special. Cici then wrapped up by honoring her mother with a speech and dedication of her bouquet. The father of the bride and the mother of the groom had a special moment, so we had to make sure that the father of the groom and the mother of the bride had their moment of recognition during the day too. We are nothing without the foundation built by our parents, and we each hold such a special bond with our parents, so these few special moments were very important to us.”

Final Thoughts: “Selecting our ceremony spot was hands down the EASIEST decision – The Pavilion literally took my breath away, to where I elicited an audible gasp as soon as I entered the space. When I entered the space on the wedding venue tour, I immediately could picture myself entering that space as a bride and walking down that aisle towards Demond. The space was exactly what we wanted: an indoor area to mitigate the unpredictability of Mother Nature, that still provided the ‘wow-factor.’ As soon as we left the venue with our parents, we knew. We all knew. The Tate House was the venue we wanted, and The Pavilion was the perfect ceremony spot.”

Photography: Macy O’Connell Photography