Weddingbee Blog

High school in the early ’90s

+

Man-made rock formations

=

Sophomore year: I worked really hard to get my hair this poufy!

I have to say, my high school experience was pretty uneventful. I was super involved (choir, cheerleading, dance company, school plays), got good grades, and was pretty well adjusted for being one of five black students in a graduating class of over 900. While I had plenty of friends, was voted “Most Talented” my senior year, and was nominated for homecoming queen (although I lost to a cheerleader/football player couple…boo!), I didn’t really date.

And by “didn’t really date,” I mean, I went on one date in high school. One.

It was Mama Hippo’s house rule that we not date until we were 16, although I did go on a date once when I was 15 and she was out of town. (The truth comes out, Mama Hippo!) A friend of Mama Hippo’s stayed with me while she was at a work conference, and I didn’t quite explain the house rules. It was then that an older football player took me to see the movie Necessary Roughness on what was my first (and only) official date of high school. Not only was it a horrible not-date-material football movie, it ended up being a huge make-out session, and since it was my first kiss, it was all around pretty traumatic. Oh, high school.

Awkward high school picture…go!

I wore my hair like this (half up/half down) almost every single day in high school…except for when I wanted to get really dolled up.

It wasn’t really Mama Hippo’s rules that prevented me from dating, though. I just wasn’t ever asked out! I had guy friends, I had crushes, but I never had dates or a boyfriend. When it came time for the annual homecoming and prom school dances, I was always scrambling. I went to my junior year homecoming dance with this dude, and I honestly can’t remember his name. Paul…maybe? Or Mike. I think it was Paul…maybe. He was a football player who was friends with someone on my cheer squad. It was less than eventful. In fact, I remember being kind of grossed out by him and his table manners.

Homecoming 1992

Apparently the skinny tie was in back then! I’m not sure about the too-long shirt sleeves and short pant legs, though. And just as a side note, Mama Hippo made this and every other formal dress that I wore in high school. She’s an awesome seamstress! (Although back then I totally didn’t appreciate it…”Can’t I just buy a dress like everyone else?!?” Bratty, bratty Hippo.)

Back then, it bothered me that I didn’t date, but it certainly wasn’t the end of the world. I kept myself super busy with school activities, plus I spent almost every night at a local dance studio, taking classes and preparing for dance competitions. I never really thought about getting married when I was in high school. It just didn’t cross my mind much back then, as I knew college and a career would come first for me. I mean, I never thought I wouldn’t get married, but I wasn’t one who fantasized about her wedding day at all.

While I dated plenty in my 20s and had a few serious relationships (including one that lasted seven years!), I didn’t meet King Hippo until I was 30, and thank the lord for that! We both had our 20s to figure out who we were as individuals, what we did and didn’t want in a relationship, and how to be a good partner. Don’t get me wrong, I know there are plenty of high school sweethearts out there who met their soulmates at a young age and are happy as clams (or happy as Cardigans!), but that just wasn’t my experience. It took King Hippo and me a little bit longer to become the people we are today and to find each other, and the timing couldn’t have been more perfect.

Chavvon & Larissa Photography

For someone who didn’t fantasize about her wedding at all back then, I have very specific thoughts about it today. I know exactly what I do and don’t want my wedding day to look and feel like, and I’ve loved every minute of the planning process. I’m just as busy as I was in high school with slightly less poufy hair (most days).

Did you wait to start dating until after high school, too?