Farrah James Wedding New Jersey War Memorial

Venue: New Jersey War Memorial, Trenton, NJ

James: I have known Farrah since 1997. We met while she was working as a bartender at this new restaurant in downtown Trenton. I remember thinking two things: That she was gorgeous, and that it was smart for the owner to have this beautiful woman serving drinks, because suddenly I wanted a drink, and I don’t even drink!


We quickly became friends. Although I always thought she was beautiful, I always said she was not my type. I would see her out and we would talk and laugh, but we rarely met on purpose.

Farrah: Although I thought that James was a really nice guy, I really didn’t think that he was my type either.

James: A year later, I ran into Farrah again and she told me she was just downsized by her company and was looking for work. I asked her to forward me her resume and promised that I’d shop it to a few friends. I went away for a few days vacation, and upon returning, I found out that Farrah had turned down several job offers. I called her to ask why she hadn’t taken an offer given the difficulty of finding jobs at that time. She told that she was just around the corner, and asked to stop by to discuss her situation. So, we started out talking about why she was not interested in the positions, and then we ended up very casually laughing and talking about restaurants, food, and movies for hours.

Farrah: We decided to go out just as friends first, and ever since then we have been together. I think we were too quick to judge each other initially, but once we got to know the each other, we realized that we really had more in common than we had first thought.

James: I very casually invited her to join me for dinner at a new restaurant that I was dying to try. She agreed. From that night on, we were inseparable. I finally asked the question… “Are we dating?” I knew it was only a matter of time before we would make it official. I never thought I would get married because I couldn't imagine living with someone for the rest of my life. Then, suddenly, I realized I couldn't imagine living without Farrah.

Once I decided to purchase a ring, I decided that it would be best if Farrah came with me to pick out her ring. (I realized that picking the ring was difficult and I was clearly not qualified to make that decision on my own.) Of course, Farrah couldn't just get one of the rings that were there in the glass box, but I just kept thinking: "I can’t afford a custom-made ring!" Finally, after a headache, and seeing my life savings passing before my eyes, we headed back to Trenton.

The call came on Dec. 23rd that the ring was ready. I had no intention of proposing to Farrah on Christmas, so I didn’t go to pick it up until December 31st. I didn't want to ask on a typical day like Christmas or New Year’s, so picked up the ring with the intention of holding on to it for another week or so. I got back to Trenton and went to Farrah's house with no intention of giving her the ring until the following weekend.

Farrah: It was December 31, New Year's Eve. I had been home all day watching a Law & Order marathon, and I looked a mess: my hair was all over my head, I had stains on my pajamas, and I can't remember if I had showered or not, so I was trying to get myself together because James and I had plans for dinner that evening.

James: She opened the door to her apartment and quickly turned around and headed back to her bedroom, where she had been feverishly cleaning. Farrah is always stylish and very fashion-conscious, but that night she was a mess. It was right then, as she was in her closet, cleaning, that I decided to propose. Sure, I hadn’t planned on doing it that day. But Farrah is always so put together, that I thought it’d be funny and unexpected to do it at that moment.

Farrah: I knew that it was coming because, obviously, I had picked out my ring. I was putting my shoes away in my shoe closet and James asked me to come over, and said, “Farrah, I need to ask you something…” I was pretty annoyed at the moment, so I told him that whatever he has to say to me he can say to my back while I’m cleaning. Then I felt a thud on the floor and heard James ask "Farrah will you marry me?" I was frozen, I couldn't move, when I turned around James was on one knee and once I stopped crying and hyper-ventilating I said "YES!" I didn’t want some fancy, embarrassing public proposal - I had wanted it to just be the two of us and it was. I couldn’t imagine it any other way.

James: My proposal was perfect. I wouldn't change any part of it. It was classic Farrah and James.

Farrah: I planned the entire wedding. I had a vision and I felt like I was the only that could really make it a reality. I did hire a wedding coordinator towards the end just to make sure everything went smoothly on the day.

James: We were married at the War Memorial in Trenton, NJ. We had our ceremony on the front stairs and our reception in the grand ballroom, and the theater stage was our dance floor.

Farrah: I loved our wedding. The best part of the wedding would have to be the ballroom. We had a candle-lit reception. We draped the entire ballroom in white linens. As soon as the doors opened for me to walk down the aisle it took all I had to give it my all not to break down crying. I had already started crying in the elevator I was a ball of emotions all day long. I just had to pull it together so I could make it down the aisle.

James: It was a pretty dramatic entrance: she had to come down 50 feet of stairs. These large doors opened, and there was Farrah at the top of the stairs. It was just a beautiful sight and that’s when it hit me: I’m marrying the most beautiful girl in the world (and, hey, it’s a pretty nice wedding). The ceremony was outside just as it was getting dark and all the stairs and aisles were lit with candles. I’ll never forget seeing Farrah at the top of those stairs, and the moment we exited the ceremony as husband and wife.

Farrah: The theme for the reception was ‘urban lounge’. We wanted the reception to be one giant party. We had adults only, and it was just a huge celebration that went until 1:00 AM. We hoped that once our guests hit the dance floor, they’d never leave.

James: We have our dream home now. We want to pursue our careers and continue to grow our marriage. We are looking forward to what the future has in store for us.