how we met
I still smile as I recall the memory of a woman driving a motorcycle past me at a very high speed. I looked in shock and awe as the woman drove past me. The date was Sat, March 30, 2013. I was joking with my friends about how well the woman handled the motorcycle, and I thought to myself, “Wow, what a woman.” Little did hIe know that, three years later, the woman I briefly admired would become my fiancée. Yolanda and I both have a love for motorcycle riding, which put us both at the same time and place again at a bikers convention cookout.
Yolanda says that when she spotted me at the cookout, she jokingly told her biker sisters, “Hands-off, he’s mine.” I also spotted Yolanda and realized that was the “wow what a woman” who sped past me previously. After very little conversation, we felt an instant attraction to each other. I asked Yolanda if she was coming to the convention party later that night, and she timidly replied, “We’ll see.” Yolanda indeed went to the party, and I was there. So I touched Yolanda’s hand and uttered, “Wow, what a woman.” At that moment, we both knew it was our first magical moment together.
Speedy driving is a pretty prevalent habit in our fast-paced world, but since our first encounter, Yolanda has learned to slow down and appreciate the surroundings and what’s passing. Little did she know she almost flew right by her soon-to-be husband.
how they asked
Earlier in the week, the videographers had a friend contact Yolanda and schedule a business meeting with her. The meeting was scheduled for the morning of Friday, April 1, at Another Broken Egg Restaurant in Ridgeland, Mississippi. Little did Yolanda know the pretend business meeting would turn into a marriage proposal.
On Friday morning, Yolanda left her home and headed to her business meeting. In the meantime, I was with Premier Events and a host of friends in preparation for the surprise proposal. As Yolanda sat patiently waiting on the pretend business meeting to start, we instructed the food server to walk up to her table and advise her that a minor accident just happened in the parking lot with her vehicle and that she was needed in the parking lot.
As she began to approach the exit door of the restaurant, she begin to hear the beautiful sounds being played by our saxophone player. She then noticed me down on one knee outside the restaurant. As you can see from the video, she immediately began to cry.
Yolanda was overwhelmed with surprise as she walked towards me, but it only took her a few moments to excitedly say, “Yes, I do!”
Today was April Fool’s day, but it was no joke for us.