Her Leading Man: Marvin Smith, 29, IT Support Engineer
The Big Day: August 3, 2012
Wedding Location: Atlanta, GA
How did you meet your man?
Marvin and I were introduced by our mutual friend Reggie. Marvin and Reggie worked together a few years earlier when he lived in Atlanta. At the time I met him, he was living back in Pittsburgh. Reggie and I were in undergrad together at The University of Tennessee. One weekend while Marvin was in town, my best girlfriend from college was in town visiting me. Reggie called us, and told us to meet him for drinks. When we arrived, Marvin was sitting at the table. We had a lot of fun that night laughing and eating.
Was it love at first sight?
I remember Marvin being a fun guy, but I have to admit, I was not exactly interested in him. As a matter of fact, we all went back to my house after dinner to hang out and have a few more drinks, and I remember my friend Constance telling me that she thought Marvin was cute and liked his Pittsburgh accent. I may have even urged her to get his number!
What was your first date like?
Marvin and I went to a Braves Baseball game at Turner Stadium. I hate to admit it, but I really didn’t want to go. I had recently ended a relationship and was not really interested in dating again for awhile. Marvin asked if I wanted to go to the game earlier in the day and I remember sitting at work looking for any reason not to go. When I couldn’t find a single reason, I decided to go. Once the game started, we had a great time laughing and singing “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” over hot dogs and beer. It was one of the best first dates I had ever been on!
When did you know he was ‘The One’?
From our very first date, he always treated me better than any other guy I’d ever dated, and he always went out of his way to make me feel special. He would tell me all the time how much he really liked me and tried so hard to always make sure he showed it. Eventually, I just kind of realized how much I enjoyed his company. We always had so much fun with each other no matter what we were doing and dating him was so easy.
How did he pop the question?
My company decided to change its vacation policy and required that all employees take the week of Thanksgiving off. I was bummed because I usually don’t travel for Thanksgiving but I had to use those vacation days. Marvin has family in San Francisco that he had not seen in years so we decided to use that as an opportunity to go see them. Plus, I had never been to San Fran before. The day we were supposed to leave, we met up at his house before going to the airport. I was in his room being silly and prancing around while he finished packing when he said he needed to have a serious talk with me about something. He sat next to me and started telling me how much he loved me. Somewhere in the midst of his speech, me managed to transition to a kneeling position. He continued telling me how much he enjoyed being with me and seeing me happy and that he didn’t want that trip to be like the other trips we’d taken together. He didn’t want us to go as just boyfriend and girlfriend, but as Future Mr. and Mrs. Smith. Then he pulled out a cute little red box from under the bed and asked me to marry him.
Photos: Jeff Roffman Photography