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Home · Weddings

Bridal Bliss: Let Love Decide

After their friendship matured into love, Marcus wowed his college sweetheart, Jennifer, with a romantic park proposal and a surprise dinner with her parents. Their modern wedding style was fierce and fabulous. Share their love!
Bridal Bliss: Let Love Decide
Project Duo Photography
By Charli Penn · Updated October 28, 2020

Bride: Jennifer Michelle Thomas, 29, Project Coordinator

Groom: Marcus Leon Buggs, 27, Entrepreneur

Married On: July 7, 2012

Wedding Location: Agnes Scott College, Decatur, Georgia

Wedding Style: Modern

Date Swap
One fall night Jennifer and Marcus crossed paths at a college fraternity party. She complimented him on his shirt and he thanked her, but they never had a chance to become acquainted. The following semester, Jennifer saw Marcus again at another frat party. She was there with her girls, and he was hanging out with the fellas. One of Jennifer’s girlfriends has her eyes on Marcus’s buddy so she approached him to get a little closer. Afraid Marcus was getting the wrong idea, Jennifer’s friend asked her to run a little “interference” and join their conversation. That’s when things got all messed up. Jennifer wound up going home with Marcus’s friend’s number, while he went home with her friend’s information.

There’s Something About Her
It didn’t take long for Marcus and Jennifer’s girlfriend to realize they weren’t compatible. A few weeks later, he was calling Jennifer instead. Marcus will tell you he asked and she gave it to him, but Jennifer knows better. She says he must have done some investigating to find her number. As they got to know each other better, Jennifer realized they were better as friends. She moved on, and they kept in touch here and there, until the next semester when she returned to campus and something had changed. “I arrived back to school ready to conquer my endeavors and along comes Marcus again,” she tells us. “Only this time, we were actually really hitting it off.”

You Ran Away With My Heart
It was a romantic evening in downtown Atlanta. After weeks of casually hinting, she’d finally persuaded Marcus to take her ice-skating in Centennial Park. They arrived early, and as they strolled through the park, a jogger running by accidentally dropped a small box near their feet. Marcus yelled and screamed to get his attention, but the jogger kept on going. That’s when Jennifer began to get the feeling she knew the man who had just run by. At this point, the happy couple had arrived at a beautiful bridge that Marcus had decorated ahead of time just for her. That’s when he opened the box, pulled out her engagement ring and proposed. “I immediately went into a state of euphoria,” Jennifer recalls. Afterward, Jennifer and Marcus headed to a celebratory dinner where her parents were waiting to surprise her and dine with them. Marcus’s well-planned proposal was a grand slam! Sixteen months later they were happily married in Decatur, Georgia. Share their love!

Photos: Project Duo Photography

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