Ronnie and Shamari DeVoe's romance is more than 20 years in the making. The couple, who originally met at an award show in 2001, now share two children and have been married for 14 years but this R&B-inspired romance didn't come without a few bumps in the road. After navigating non-monogamy, infidelity, and domestic disagreements, both Ronnie and Shamari agree that their marriage is stronger than ever before and in a recent interview with Atlanta Black Star, the recently ordained wedding officiants spilled the tea on how they leveled up their communication skills and got their marriage all the way together.
Ronnie told Atlanta Black Star:
"If you stick and you stay committed in the relationship that you vow to, you know, be in for the rest of your life till death do us part ultimately then the blessings are right around the corner."
Scroll below to read Ronnie and Shamari DeVoe's keys to a successful marriage:
On Why Communication Is Key:
"Definitely going into your relationship with trust and communication. Being open, honest, my husband tells me that I am brutally honest. So that is one of the things that he really loves about me. The fact that he knows that I'm loyal, that I have his back regardless. Really just putting down the terms and conditions, laying that all down early in a relationship."
On Getting A Marriage Coach:
"A lot of times in our community, in the black community [especially for] males, they don't like to go to counseling. You can go and get a fitness coach and buff up and you can go and get an acting coach if you want to act, but it's like you don't want to go and get a marriage coach? A marriage coach actually helped, along with God, save our marriage and it's important that we stay committed and our family stays together because that really makes up our whole society."
On Removing Band-Aids From Past Hurt:
"Our whole community is affected by marriage, by divorce. It just boils down to that. So I think that the fact that he finally opened up to go into counseling because it's important that we don't just continue to put a band-aid over that wound. Instead of doing that, you need to go ahead and start the healing process. So it's, I think that's one of the things that I guess separates us from other couples that don't take advantage of marriage counseling."
On Scheduling Alone Time:
"Schedule things. Considering that we have two boys and they sleep in the middle of us, as far as at night, it's hard to get spicy in the middle of them. But, you have to schedule things and make sure you have those date nights, you know, once, maybe even twice a week. You can look into each other's eyes––whether that's a walk in the park, whether it's a night out on the town or dinner or a movie or what have you. It's about maintenance for each other. And knowing your love languages and speaking to those things as often as possible."
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