Andra & Marty – April 16, 2021

WHEN DID YOU GET ENGAGED?  December 31, 2017

ORIGINAL WEDDING DATE: May 17, 2020
SECOND DATE: August 16, 2020
THIRD DATE: April 16, 2021

OCCUPATIONS: Andra:  Makeup Artist/Model, Marty: Model/IT Vulnerability Management Engineer

HOW DID YOU MEET?
I had promised a friend I would visit them at a bar they worked at. I showed up by myself, thinking I’d just be there to visit a short time. As a approached the entrance of the bar, this very handsome, tall guy with a southern accent, asked to see my ID.
He saw me sitting by myself, politely declining advances and offered to move my table close by him so I wouldn’t be alone. We talked into the night and eventually he had to leave.

A few days had passed and I mentioned to my friend that I thought he was cute. My friend told me to find him on his Facebook, so I did. I messaged him a “hello” and we began talking. I discovered he had moved back to North Carolina the day after we had met! Of course! LOL!

We talked everyday, for about five hours a day, for a couple of months. Basically, we exchanged visits to meet each other’s families and then he asked me to move to North Carolina so that we could be together. Long story short, I did.

WHAT ATTRACTED HER TO HIM?
I was immediately struck by how tall and handsome he was. I melted when he spoke and then when we talked, I fell for his ambition, dreams, morals and personality. I knew very soon that he was the one.

WHAT ATTRACTED HIM TO HER?
When I first saw her, I was literally stunned by how beautiful she was. I knew that I would never have a chance to be with a girl like her. But to my surprise, she was even more beautiful on the inside. I’ve never met a sweeter and purer person in my life. Just being able to stand next to her gave me a feeling of peace that I had never felt before and I knew that was hooked.

THE ENGAGEMENT STORY:
Marty had it all planned behind my back—He hid a ring for weeks, and reached out to my friend Tom, who is an amazing photographer, sharing his plans of the proposal.

We flew out to Sacramento to visit my family for Christmas vacation and planned to sight see while we were in town, one destination being Lake Tahoe.

On the 31st of December, we were heading to Tahoe with my friends Tom and Jourdan. It was very important to me that we went there, because I knew Marty had never been. As I got ready that morning, Marty asked both my parents for their blessings.

When we got to Emerald Bay, Marty asked me to turn around from taking a photo of the lake and there he was on one knee. It was the happiest moment of my life! Tom captured it all beautifully!

TELL US ABOUT YOUR COVID WEDDING PLANNING EXPERIENCE:
Marty and I had a marriage by magistrate in the summer of 2018, after I had experienced a health scare. He wanted to show me and my parents, that he wasn’t going anywhere.

Even though we were legally married, I still wanted to have my dream wedding with all my family and friends. We planned our ceremony for May 17th, 2020 at Arden Hills and never imagined in our wildest dreams, that it would be cancelled. I was devastated. I hadn’t seen my family in over a year and I was looking forward to this chance to share this moment with all of them.

We were lucky that our venue was able to offer us another date in the same year, of August 16th, 2020. Even though I was disappointed our wedding was postponed in May, I clung on to the idea that now, I could perfect things with this extra time and I hoped the wedding would transpire.

But, as time grew closer, we were once again faced with the reality that our wedding would not happen, at least in this year.

It has been a roller coaster of emotions, but all we can do is focus on the positives. Now, we are looking forward to a wedding in April of 2021.