Bride: Tinique Parker, 32, Early Childhood Learning Center Director
Groom: William “Bill” Hall, 32, MLB Player
Married On: November 19, 2011
Wedding Location: Northside United Methodist Church/St. Regis Hotel, Atlanta, GA
Wedding Style: Classic Romance
The Perfect Gentleman
On April 19, 2009, Tinique, who was living in New York City, accepted a dinner invitation from a friend and happily obliged. She showed up to popular restaurant Philippe Chow expecting to dine and catch up with good friends but arrived to find she was seated next to a gorgeous and charming man she’d never met before. He was a friend of a friend named Bill Hall, a major league baseball player in town for a big game against the New York Mets. There dinner group was fairly large, but Tinique and Bill were glued to their conversation. He was the perfect gentleman. “When I needed to go to the restroom, he grabbed my hand and walked me there, stood with me in the line and waited for me outside,” she recalls. After dinner they went dancing at a nearby nightclub and could not take their eyes off each other all night. “Neither of us was looking for a relationship but the chemistry from our first encounter left us both smitten.”
Love In the City
A year and a half later, lovebirds Tinique and Bill found themselves in a long distance relationship, yet happier than ever. She had moved to North Carolina to work for her family business and he was in Boston playing for the Red Sox. Bill’s team had a big game with the Mets coming up, so Tinique, her mom and her grandmother took a ladies’ trip up to New York City to see him play. After the game, they decided to go to dinner at Philippe Chow, Tinique’s favorite dinner spot and the place where she first met Bill. She was worried that they wouldn’t get seats with such last minute notice on a Saturday, but to Tinique’s surprise, they were seated right away upon entering, and at the very same table she first dined with Bill.
When it came time for dessert, the waiter recommended the “chef’s special” and all of the ladies ordered it. Oddly enough, their sweet treats came out on covered plates. “I quickly removed the top of the dish and was stunned to see the most beautiful, sparkling diamond I could have imagined,” says Tinique. “I turned and noticed Bill had shifted and was now down on one knee asking me to be his wife and spend the rest of our lives together. I was completely shocked and tears of joy ran down my face.” She was so overcome with excitement, she forgot to answer Bill’s question and instead just grabbed him and squeezed him tightly. The couple was already thrilled to learn she was three months pregnant with their first child and just like that they were also celebrating engagement news. The following fall they were married in Atlanta, Georgia in an elegant and romantic ceremony before their closest friends and family. Share their love and see their gorgeous wedding photos now.