“Jakob is the kindest and most compassionate person I have ever met in my life,” Allan says. “He’s such a wonderful person.
“I’ve never seen anyone who can relate to other people and give them spiritual support and emotional support. He’s always there for his friends. They look to him for that kind of role. He’s just willing to just drop everything and help someone who needs some help.”
Allan Hero-Shaw, who is a commercial order manager for Carrier Enterprise, and Rev. Jakob Hero-Shaw, who is the senior pastor for Metropolitan Community Church of Tampa, met a couple years back and knew right away they had something special from their first date. Allan is a father of 15-year-old fraternal twins, so they decided to take their relationship slow.
“Right from the beginning he said, ‘The kids come first’, and I really appreciated that,” Jakob says. “Once I got to know the kids, we became a family. We took time to get there. We were really conscientious of how much time I spent with the kids early on and them getting used to me.”
Over time, the couple says they became a family unit and that was something special and important to both men. During the first four years of them being together, Jakob became the senior pastor of the church.
“One of the things that I got from him was the courage to take bigger risks with my career,” Jakob says.
Jakob had been planning an elaborate proposal, when Allan ended up asking him first. Allan asked Jakob at the beach on Honeymoon Island, but the proposal wasn’t official until about eight months later. At the time, although the engagement was right for the couple, they did not think that the kids were ready for such a big change in their lives. After eight months, they told the children, and they were excited. They then began telling people and planning the wedding.
The couple wanted two things out of their wedding: They didn’t want it to be stressful, and they wanted everyone to be able to be there who wanted to be. They invited people through Facebook and word of mouth with very few printed invitations. They eventually had 250 at their wedding, and they livestreamed it also. Jakob has a leadership role in his denomination. They had more than 1,800 views of the wedding ceremony the day of.
“When I was saying my vows to Jakob, both kids stood with Jakob and I said my vows,” Allan says. “Jakob went first and the kids stood with me, and when it was my turn to do my vows, the kids stood with Jakob so that they were included in the vows. That was my favorite part.”
The couple plans on going on a cruise for their honeymoon in fall 2017.
“My absolute favorite thing about him is the way that he’s a dad. It’s not just that he has kids – it’s his whole personality,” Jakob says. “He’s a caretaker and he was a single dad, so he was on his own. The way that he just embodies that nurturing and caretaking with the children, with me, our friends, parents and everyone.”
He adds: “And he’s cute.”
YEARS TOGETHER: 4 years
ENGAGEMENT DATE: September 2016
WEDDING DATE: April 22, 2017
WEDDING VENUE: Metropolitan Community Church of Tampa
WEDDING PLANNER: The couple with the help of friend Angelica Weber
WEDDING CATERER: Publix
WEDDING COLORS: Purple and gray
FIRST SONG: “I Can’t Help Falling in Love With You” by Elvis Presley
INTERESTING FACT: The couple has a set of 15-year-old fraternal twins
Do you have an interesting wedding or engagement story you’d like to share with Watermark readers? If so, email the details to Editor@WatermarkOnline.com for consideration as a future feature on this page; and if you are in the trenches of putting together the biggest day of your life check out Watermark’s “Wedding Guide” for a list of LGBTQ owned, operated and/or friendly businesses and services.
You must be logged in to post a comment.