On Saturday, June 2, 2012, Fatina left home, heading to the engagement celebration of a friend. For hours, she mingled with friends & coworkers over a seafood boil on a beautiful Memphis summer day. As the event ended, Fatina & best friend Monique (Maid of Honor) decided on a whim to meet some other friends at an event Downtown. The night was still young, so Fatina & Monique pulled up to what was then K2. Fatina, Monique, and a couple other friends, made their way through the crowd. Now, the story gets shaky here. Fatina will tell you that over the course of the night, she noticed a young man watching her a few times. Telvarant will tell you that he was being his cool, calm, & collected self, minding his own business. Some how some way, Candyce (Bridesmaid) whispered to Fatina that there was a young man who wanted to meet her. That young man was no other than…you guessed it-Telvarant. Candyce had previously met him through his friend Tubious (Groomsman). Telvarant had noticed Fatina with her at another event a few weeks prior and asked Candyce about her. Once Telvarant saw Fatina with Candyce the second time, he was ready to take his chance. A polite introduction took place, and not long after, everyone went their separate ways. Fatina will always say that Telvarant sent her the sweetest text message that night after getting home, which she still remembers. Before saying goodnight, he asked to take her to lunch one day the following week. He did just that on Monday, June 4th, and the rest is history.

The coronavirus pandemic forced us to reimagine life in every possible facet. Telvarant’s proposal was no different. He knew that Fatina wanted her friends and family to be involved if possible. Being in what seemed like a perpetually quarantined state made that difficult, but he knew the time had come. He’d decided to ask on Christmas Day, in front of Fatina’s mom & grandmother. Fatina & three of her girlfriends-Carmen (matron of honor), Monique (maid of honor), and Emily (mother of the flower girl), had started having Zoom Ladies nights during the pandemic to catch up and break the monotony of pandemic life. On December 20, 2020, they’d scheduled one such date. That night, at Telvarant’s home, Fatina sat behind closed doors in a different room, chatting away with her friends. T was aware that they usually chatted for about an hour, as 2 of the friends had little ones to attend to. That night, the conversation went longer than usual. A lightbulb went off for T, and he chose to seize the opportunity. He approached the door, asking if Fatina was still on Zoom. She replied yes. He then asked who she was talking to. She snidely remarked, “The same people I was an hour ago when you spoke to them.” A few moments later, he opened the door and entered the room, acting “weird” as Fatina would describe it. He was visibly nervous & perspiring, but Fatina still never saw it coming. He said, “You’re talking to some of your closest friends, and I couldn’t plan this any better than that.” Telvarant dropped to his knee and Fatina barely heard anything else after finally figuring out what was happening. As she repeatedly screamed, “WHAT ARE YOU DOING?” her friends pressed record on Zoom, capturing her reaction and those precious moments, while cheering them on. In shock, Fatina sat, eyes wide & mouth agape, until T said, “You’re gonna have to tell me something, baby.” Of course, she said yes. It was a moment that neither of them would have planned per se, but it was perfect.