Groom: Marcus Sloan, 29, Professional Basketball Player
Married On: August 13, 2012
Wedding Location: Memorial Drive United Methodist Church and The Hobby Center for the Performing Arts, Houston, TX
Wedding Style: Glitz and Glam
A Secret Admirer
Stylist Tinnell met her pro-baller husband Marcus in a very non-conventional way: He pursued her out of nowhere online, and she flew across the world for their first official date. It all began back in the early summer of 2007. She was on her way to a sorority meeting and one of her sorors told her about a guy she attended high school with who saw her photo on MySpace and wanted to know more about her. Tinnell knew this girlfriend, in particular, wouldn’t call this guy a “good one” if he wasn’t, so she was intrigued. “Who?” she asked. “My high school friend Marcus Sloan,” her sorority sister replied. Tinnell recognized the name immediately – it was the same guy who recently requested to be her friend on Facebook and MySpace.
Just Go With It
Originally, she wasn’t interested because he lived in Germany, but this time, her mystery admirer came highly recommended. “Curiosity killed this cat, and I went home and accepted his requests,” says Tinnell. “We went from MySpace to phone calls, and after just two weeks I was always looking forward to his phone calls and texts. He decided it was time that we met and booked me a ticket to Germany.” It sounds crazy, she knows, but she had a feeling her time would not be wasted. “I think we were both falling pretty fast,” she admits. “Friends thought I’d lost my mind, but who knew I was going to see my future husband?”
A Slam Dunk Proposal
Tinnell and Marcus had already dated for four magical years when he decided it was time to maker her his misses. Each year he hosted a Shoot2Score Hoops Christmas party, and during the 2011 event, he asked Tinnell to help give out basketball ornaments to the lucky winners. He called the name; she gave out the ornament. Things were going just as planned when Tinnell heard Marcus say her name. He gave her a special ornament with an engagement ring tied to it. “By the time she turned back around to me, I was on bended knee,” says Marcus. “She started to cry and said ‘Thank you’ about 20 times. I didn’t hear a ‘Yes,’ so I stayed down there until I did.” Overjoyed, the happy couple began planning their summer wedding.
Photos: Sacred Image Photography