Pink and Gray Wedding in Texas by Carolyn Jones Photography: C’na + Mark

Mark and C’na needed some help finding the “right one,” so they turned to Match.com.  Match.com’s survey said they were compatible, and they loved each other’s pictures, but both were weary of meeting in person.  They had heard numerous horror stories about first encounters from online dating; however, once they got the courage to meet up in person, they were inseparable.  Their engagement was a total surprise to C’na.  Mark invited C’na over for dinner as usual.  He asked her to help him proofread a PowerPoint presentation he did for a class. The presentation was entitled, “What is Love?” It was filled with pictures of them, and when C’na got to the last page it read, “Now close your eyes and make a wish?”  When she opened her eyes Mark was holding a ring.  (Good job Mark!)

C’na is a photographer who has shot many weddings, so she used her experiences to help plan a picture perfect wedding.  She held her ceremony and reception at Hotel Sorella in Houston, TX.  Carolyn Jones Photography, beautifully captured their elegantly chic wedding, which blended vintage with modern and had a refreshing pink and gray color scheme.  Bask in their love, and be sure to read their cute story on how their “Computer Love” evolved into a lifetime romance.

How They Met/The Proposal

C’na’s Version:

September 26, 2010 was Mark and I’s first official date at the Ice Skating Rink in the Galleria. To be honest, that was the first time we met in person too because we met on Match.com. My friend, Nu and cousin Kristal kept encouraging me to try online dating and I was so-ooo against it. They were hitting me hard with the “Mr. Right is not going to just come to your front door” and “You work so much where are you really going to meet a guy?” Needless to say, after coming home from a New Year’s Eve party, I signed up for a 6 month trial on Match.

The way Match works is that after filling out the survey and questionnaire and rating what is most important to you and what you absolutely don’t want they show you potential matches every week. I did not see that Mark was a potential Match until April or May. When I saw his photo, I immediately clicked and it and sent his photo to my cousin Kristal and my friend LaTasia and said, “Look at Match!”

A couple of weeks later, Mark sent me a “wink” which is like a “poke” on Facebook to get someone’s attention and I “winked” back. We began to chat on and off for a couple of months and at the end of July, my membership was up. Going out on a limb, a couple of hours before my membership ended, I sent Mark a message that said, “My membership ends tonight so If would like to continue to get to know me, call me {and I gave him my number.}” Mark texted me two days later {I guess he was playing hard to get.}

We talked on the phone and texted the month of August and September and he kept trying to hook up and meet in person but I was nervous. I kept telling him, “Ummm, you could be the killer.” He would laugh and then tell me that I too could be the killer. {You know like the killer you see on the news…}

The day of our first date, I dropped my roommate from college off at the airport and was dressed in what I was wearing on the date, so in case Mark was “the killer,” she could tell my Mom what I was wearing that day. On the date, we had a ball and Mark fell like 10 times on the skates but it was cute because he just got right back up.

After ice skating, we went to Chili’s to eat and talked for like 2 hours and the rest is history. We began to see each other every weekend after that first date. On November 19, 2010 he asked me to be his lady after dinner at Brio and on the way to the movies in City Centre.

Mark’s Version:

I signed up for Match.com because I figured I wasn’t able to find the right girl myself.  When I saw C’na’s photo, I thought she was very pretty and her pictures looked professionally done.  I initially thought she would be stuck up and full of herself, but I sent her a message any way.  After sending her a few emails, I quickly realized that she was nothing like what I thought she would be like.  My charm eventually got to her and she gave me her number, she said her subscription was going out.

We talked on the phone for a couple of months before we met because she thought I was “the killer.” I told her we could meet at the Galleria, which is a public area so she wouldn’t feel uncomfortable meeting me for the first time. We went ice skating and I pretended to fall a few times to make her feel like she was a good skater.

We had a good time skating and after that we sat down at Chili’s and had the 2 for $20 dinner deal.  Then she told me that the white chocolate molten cake was her favorite dessert and ordered it.  We sat and talked for an hour or two then we called it a night. I was pretty sure I would be seeing her again and I did every weekend after that day.

The Proposal…

From C’na:

Friday, October 7, 2011 was just a regular day for me.  I shot a couple’s maternity session that evening and had a blast doing it.  After the session, I called Mark to see what him and Shane were up to and he said that they were headed to Olive Garden to get something to eat and the rest of the conversation went like this:

Me: Cool, I will head that way.

Mark: No, we are about to pull up and it will take you too long to get here.

Me: {thinking…what is he up to?} I am just Downtown Mark, it will take me like 15-20 minutes to get there.

Mark: Ummmmmmm… {insert long pause here} I will see you tomorrow babe. I am just going to spend some time with Shane tonight and I will see you in the morning. Ok?

Me: {thinking…is he serious? did he just not invite me to eat and I am hungry too…} Fine Mark, hang with Shane.

Mark: Ok babe, I will call you later because we are here. I love you.

Me: {thinking…he is really not inviting me to dinner} I love you too {as I pull into Whataburger to get a chicken sandwich}

Two hours passed and I am at home on my computer editing photos and I hear a noise that sounds like someone was trying to break into my house.  I get up and check the back door to make sure everything is locked and while walking back to my computer, my living room ceiling falls on me.  I repeat, my ceiling literally fell on me and I have the scars and photos to prove it.

I call Mark in a panic {of course I was crying my eyes out} and he was the voice of reason.  Little did I know, Mark had just left from having dinner with my parents at Olive Garden asking for my hand in marriage. {I guess that is a pretty good reason not to invite me to Olive Garden…}

Saturday, October 8, 2011 –

Mark and I met at my house to clean up because it looked like a dust storm blew though my house.  After a couple of hours, we go our separate ways and I head to my Mom’s house.  I end up getting locked out of my Mom’s house because no one had a key to the bottom lock that I locked…So, I had to wait on a locksmith to come and open the door and change the lock.  Four hours later…the locksmith is gone and Mark calls to tell me to come over for dinner later.

I arrive at Mark’s and he is in the kitchen peeling shrimp and he tells me to sit down because dinner will be ready soon.  He brings the plates and to my surprise he has cooked sauté shrimp with broccoli and snow crab legs {my favorite}.  Nothing seemed out of the ordinary.  We ate and watched “House” on TV and kicked back like we normally do.

Mark went into the computer room/Shane’s toy room and asked me to come and proof this presentation that he is going to give at class tomorrow.  I go, and it looked like a real PowerPoint presentation with a grey background and pink writing. The title of the presentation was “What is Love” and it had bullet points with definitions about love so I really thought this was for his class.

I began to read it and Mark told me that I was reading too slow.  There were photos of us throughout the presentation and when I got to the last page, there were two bullet points and the last one said, “Now close your eyes C’na and make a wish.”  So I repeated it aloud and said, “Now close my eyes and make a wish Mark?” and he said “Just do it!” So, I closed my eyes and I wished that the contractors fix my house right…

Mark says, “Did you make your wish?” {My eyes are stilled closed} and I said “Yes.”  Then he said, “Now open your eyes.  Was this what you wished for?” AND IT WAS THE RING!!! I busted out crying and said “No, but I’ll take it!”  Mark could not stop laughing at me and he kept saying, “Babe, how do you just cry like that and so quick?”  I told him that I didn’t know I was just happy because I was totally surprised. Mark got down on one knee and said, “C’na Roberts, will you be my WIFE?” and you know I said YES!

I called my Mom and texted all of my friends while Mark fell asleep on the sofa holding my hand because all of his family knew already.

Description of Event:

From the Bride: The planning process for my wedding was pretty simple. Being a wedding photographer, I have seen my fair share of weddings and I had a good idea of what I wanted from the start. Honestly, the hardest part was locking down a venue and once that was done, everything fell into place.

Mark wanted a venue that was modern and bright with natural sunlight and I wanted something different and out of the box of the weddings that I had previously attended.  Hotel Sorella was perfect for us!  Sorella embodied everything that we were looking for; the staff was excellent and the food was outstanding!

Since the venue was beautiful, I really did not have to over-do it on the decor. The theme for the wedding was “Romantically Chic” and we kicked of the ceremony with a candle wall as the set up for the alter with low lighting.

We did not want huge center pieces in the center of the tables where people have to look around it to see the person on the other side. The all-white floral center pieces with the white candles at different heights set the tone of the reception and complimented the white candle wall that was used during the ceremony.

Our DJ, Flash Gordon Parks, had the reception jamming and everyone danced and had a great time. Our wedding was everything we could have ever dreamed and more.

Incorporation of Culture

Mark was born in Jamaica; so our engagement party was Jamaican themed.  For the wedding, we made sure a good mix of reggae music was played and the bridal party entered on our song, “Is This Love” by Bob Marley.

The Most Memorable Moment

The most memorable part of the wedding was walking down to my groom with Chrisette Michele’s “Golden” playing in the background seeing my groom smile ear to ear. It was exactly how I dreamed it would be: he would be cheesing and I would be crying because I was so happy!

The one thing Mark loves most about C’na

C’na’s personality

The one thing C’na loves most about Mark

“One thing I love most about him is the way he loves me; he lets me just be me.”

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