Long Island Real Wedding Ja'Nair & Lummie

Music helped bring Ja’Nair and Lummie together. Ja’Nair, a marketing manager, met Lummie, a professional musician, five years ago when she was organizing a networking event for her employer. The owner of her company was a jazz enthusiast, so she searched for a dynamic jazz musician to play at the event. That’s how she found Lummie. “He and I then worked together on a charitable event that I organized and we both realized that there was something special happening between us as we became friends and fell in love,” says Ja’Nair. 

Lummie picked the perfect occasion to propose. Originally from Hartford, Connecticut, Lummie had moved to New York to pursue his music career, but his mother and brother still lived in his hometown and hadn’t had the chance to meet Ja’Nair’s parents. “Lummie and I thought it would be a nice idea to host a Memorial Day barbecue so that my parents could finally meet his mom and brother,” says Ja’Nair. “It was going to be an intimate affair and everyone was excited to spend the entire weekend together.” Lummie helped Ja’Nair make sure that everything would be perfect for their guests. Lummie attempted to make drinks with two brand new blenders that kept breaking before announcing that dinner was ready and they should all say grace before eating. “Everyone gathered around in a big circle in the backyard and held hands as Lummie thanked our guests for coming,” says Ja’Nair. “Then he turned to me, looked me in my eyes, and began telling me how blessed he was to have me in his world and couldn’t imagine not having me by his side for the rest of his life.”

Music helped bring Ja’Nair and Lummie together. Ja’Nair, a marketing manager, met Lummie, a professional musician, five years ago when she was organizing a networking event for her employer. The owner of her company was a jazz enthusiast, so she searched for a dynamic jazz musician to play at the event. That’s how she found Lummie. “He and I then worked together on a charitable event that I organized and we both realized that there was something special happening between us as we became friends and fell in love,” says Ja’Nair. 

Lummie picked the perfect occasion to propose. Originally from Hartford, Connecticut, Lummie had moved to New York to pursue his music career, but his mother and brother still lived in his hometown and hadn’t had the chance to meet Ja’Nair’s parents. “Lummie and I thought it would be a nice idea to host a Memorial Day barbecue so that my parents could finally meet his mom and brother,” says Ja’Nair. “It was going to be an intimate affair and everyone was excited to spend the entire weekend together.” Lummie helped Ja’Nair make sure that everything would be perfect for their guests. Lummie attempted to make drinks with two brand new blenders that kept breaking before announcing that dinner was ready and they should all say grace before eating. “Everyone gathered around in a big circle in the backyard and held hands as Lummie thanked our guests for coming,” says Ja’Nair. “Then he turned to me, looked me in my eyes, and began telling me how blessed he was to have me in his world and couldn’t imagine not having me by his side for the rest of his life.”

After Lummie got down on one knee, Ja’Nair started to cry and could hardly stand still long enough for Lummie to put the ring on her finger. “I said ‘yes’ and everyone clapped and cheered,” says Ja’Nair. “His brother even had his father watching it all on FaceTime.”

The wedding ceremony took place at the Second Baptist Church in Baldwin. “The ceremony was the most important part of our wedding day,” says Ja’Nair. “All of the religious elements we included had meaning to us.” Ja’Nair and Lummie decided on a traditional Baptist ceremony, along with a few special additions including an exchange of their own written vows, a solo sung by Lummie’s bother, Lindsey Spann and Lummie’s father Lummie Spann, Sr., a Methodist minister, closing the ceremony by pronouncing the newlywed’s man and wife.

After the ceremony, the bride, who wore a satin YSA Makino ball gown and cathedral-length veil, and the groom, dressed in a navy Joseph Abboud tuxedo, left the church in a Rolls-Royce Phantom, while the bridal party followed in a Cadillac Escalade stretch limo. 

Photo: Déjà Vu Studios

The reception was held in the ballroom of Westbury Manor in Westbury, which was decorated in various shades of purple with gold accents. Each table was adorned with gold ruffled chargers, gold napkin rings embellished with the letter “S”, and alternating lush high-and-low floral arrangements.

At the end of the evening full of celebrating, the couple cut a three-layer vanilla wedding cake with raspberry-and-French Chantilly cream filling, covered in white fondant and gold wiring.  

“Lummie is truly the man of my dreams and those words we spoke to each other, witnessed by our friends, family, and clergy were sacred to me.” 

The next day, the couple hosted a post-wedding brunch and then left for a mini-honeymoon at a resort in New Jersey, which was a romantic getaway before their big Parisian honeymoon in the spring.