Bride: Kyani Je’re-Nichole Lockett, 35, Realtor
Groom: Lynell O’Brian Dennis, 39, Information Systems Security Engineer
Married On: September 15, 2012
Location: Newton White Mansion, Mitchellville, MD
Style: Romantic Elegance
Is This Seat Taken?
Everyone knows that at a happening happy hour it can be tough to find a seat. Kyani and her two close girlfriends met at the bar one evening for drinks and decided to order food. With no open tables anywhere in sight, Kyani came up with a plan to find them a table. “I scanned the room looking for the kindest eyes I could find, and my eyes landed on Lynell’s,” she tells us. “I walked over, batted my lashes and asked if we could share their table. I told him that he was free to flirt with other ladies because we just wanted to sit and eat.” Lynell and his friends kindly obliged.
Despite her kind offer to look elswhere, once they took a seat, the only flirting going on was between Kyani and Lynell. When she saw that the home image on his phone was a photo of his grandmother, who was very ill at the time, her heart just ached for him. “That was the beginning,” she says. “We talked and talked and decided to keep in touch.” And, just like that, Kyani had met her future husband.
It’s Our Anniversary
Kyani and Lynell’s two-year anniversary fell on a Thursday, so they exchanged gifts, celebrated with friends and decided to save their romantic plans for the weekend. That Saturday, despite the heat wave in their area, they visited the Barrel Oak Winery, where they first fell in love. After a sweet lunch on the patio, Lynell asked Kyani if she’d like to go sit in their special spot. It was there, on a blanket, that he asked her to cover her eyes so he could give her one more anniversary present. Expecting an iPod accessory of some kind, Kyani was shocked to open her eyes and see Lynell on bended knee with an engagement ring in hand. “I covered my eyes back up with excitement and turned around,” she says. “I was speechless. Every time I tried to uncover them and look at him, I got hysterical. He finally said, ‘Are you going to say yes because it’s really hot out here?’ I was so happy, that even to this day, I’m not sure I ever answered.” Fourteen months later, they met at the altar and became husband and wife. Share their love!