#GoingGray: Donovan and Kolika Gray!
“I kept seeing his name on Facebook,” says Kolika Gray. She was happy being single and being mom to 11-year old Khamani, but Donovan Gray was persistent.
Kolika decided to say hello on Facebook. They chatted on social media for a time, and connected over music; Don is a drummer in his own band, Black Suede, and Kolika is a singer.
One day, she got a call from one of Don’s band members. The sound guy’s car had broken down, and he needed to get to Myrtle Beach for a gig. It seemed like a perfect opportunity to meet Don in person, so she agreed to drive to Myrtle Beach.
The good feeling between Kolika and Don was instant. “We just clicked,” Kolika says of their first face-to-face meeting in July 2015.
Don fell hard and first. Kolika thought he was nice but liked her single life.
Don — not so much. Soon after they met, he moved from Winston-Salem to be nearer to Kolika in Greensboro. As fate would have it, Don moved down the street from his future bride.
She knew he was a great guy, and they had many mutual friends, but it was a “Pokemon Go” scavenger hunt that turned her head and her heart toward Donovan. Kolika and her son were playing the game, and Donovan went along. He got into the game. “I realized that day what a great man he was, and that he was good to my son,” Kolika says. “That day took us out of the friend zone.”
Two years of dating followed, and Don surprised Kolika with the engagement she will never forget. Under the pretense of a friend’s birthday, they flew to the Dominican Republic with friends. A pretend birthday toast turned into a proposal when Donovan got down on one knee and proposed. The date was July 10, 2017. Keeping with their July tradition, the couple married on July 15, 2018.The two both went to Las Vegas for their separate bachelorette and bachelor parties. Kolika was going to have a low-key bachelorette party until Donovan mentioned his party in Vegas. Game on! What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, but Kolika admits to wearing her “Bride to Be” crown in the glitzy city.It wasn’t love at first sight for Kolika’s bridal gown. “I was hungry,” she says with a laugh. “I had looked at hundreds of dresses, and I was done. I hated the dress after I got it home, and cried over my hasty decision.”Her seamstress added some bling and made alterations, resulting in a gown she and Donovan loved.The wedding at the Kress Plaza was orchestrated by the bride, who discovered a new talent. Her new husband’s band played and Kolika sang at the after-party. A special bridesmaid’s dance was a highlight, making it a night to remember. Their wedding was jokingly nicknamed “The Royal Wedding” by friends, and their hashtag #GoingGray lit up social media.
Capping off the perfect wedding was an even better honeymoon to Jamaica. The couple took their friends along for a party-themed honeymoon.
Months later, the newlyweds are settling into married life. The introvert (him) and the extrovert (her) balance each other out with their yin-and-yang personalities.
