WEDDINGS: Puppy Love

Darryl Wilson, owner of D’Concierge Wedding Creative and a Navy veteran, met Jarod Moore, a business account representative for Enterprise Rental, when he joined the Delta Phi Upsilon fraternity and became his big brother. After watching Moore date a friend of his and seeing firsthand how thoughtful and kind he was, Wilson decided to get to know him better after his friends broke up. “I literally felt like I was stalking Jarod before he accepted my date request,” Wilson said with a laugh.

“After all that, he then made me wait eight months before he kissed me or did anything intimate, which I was totally not used to,” added Moore with a wink. “But I was totally intrigued by the chase.”

“When I first saw Darryl, I thought for sure he was of African descent and would have an adorable, sexy accent,” said Moore. “But he is from East St. Louis, Illinois. He is my tall, dark, and handsome prince—with a proper accent,” he added with a laugh.

Wilson, 34, was taken with Moore’s beautiful eyes and large ears. “Jarod was perfection. I couldn’t keep my eyes off of him. I am sure he thought I was a little full of myself, because my first pickup line was a text in which I asked him, ‘Do you think I’m sexy?’”

“Jarod and I started dating at a very young age, so we basically grew up together during our twenties,” shared Wilson, who is also 34. “We experienced a little bit of everything in our ten-year relationship, including a year-and-a-half breakup when I moved to Los Angeles for business.”

That time apart allowed them to grow as men and eventually end up together again thanks to their two dogs, miniature dachshunds Cupcake and Rudy, who gave them a reason to call each other and keep the lines of communication open. “Without them, we probably wouldn’t have had the courage to call each other after the breakup” Moore said.

“I knew Jarod was the one for me, even before we started dating seriously,” shared Wilson. “Jarod would spend the weekends at my place, and I would always slip on the marble tile getting out of the shower, almost killing myself on a daily basis. Then one day I got out of the shower, got dressed, and thought, ‘Wow, this is the first time I didn’t slip getting out of the shower, because Jarod had put a rug down.’ That’s when I knew I was going to marry him.”

“We both credit our healthy relationship to great sex, communication, and having other healthy relationships with other couples, because you can’t take this journey alone,” added Wilson. 

All it took for Wilson to propose to Moore on November 17, 2017, was family, friends and one little lie. “How else can you propose to someone who was a PI in their former life?” asked Wilson.

To set the stage for his proposal, Wilson told Moore that he was going to be a part of a wedding reality-show episode, and that the producers had sent a crew to follow him around and get behind-the-scenes footage for the show. Moore happily agreed because he knew that Wilson had a major celebrity wedding the next day. Wilson had cast friends to play the TV producer and crew, and had hired a cameraman to capture every moment.

Right on cue, Wilson’s assistant called in a panic saying he needed to come to the LifeHtx venue (where the next day’s celebrity wedding was scheduled) to deal with a power outage. When they entered the darkened building that had only a few candles lit, TV screens throughout the venue suddenly turned on with Wilson’s voice saying, “Boo. Let’s take a walk down memory lane.” The video included a montage of the special moments they had shared throughout their 10-year relationship, including many photos of family members and friends.

Unbeknownst to Moore, watching from the darkness were 30 very close family members and friends who drove or flew in just to be a part of the proposal. When it was time for Wilson to propose, in walked his mother with the ring and the hidden guests.

They were married on November 17, 2018, at the River Oaks Civic Forum, with TV host Diann Valentine as their officiant.

It was very important for both men to include their mothers in the wedding, and not just have them there to give them away. So each mother wrote a note that was read by friends as the grooms walked down the aisle, arm in arm with their mothers. There was not a dry eye in the room. The vows they exchanged were spoken from the heart, and very emotional.

All of their event vendors—florist, photographer, videographer, caterer, and bartenders—were from LGBT-owned businesses. The newlyweds live in Houston, and will honeymoon in Paris during the 2019 Fashion Week.

This article appears in the February 2019 edition of OutSmart magazine.

Want to tell your story? Email us at weddings@outsmartmagazine.com.

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