PUT A RING ON IT: The Chance Meeting That Changed Chris & Kendra’s Lives Forever

Who doesn’t love Black love?! We do and we celebrate it with our “Put A Ring On It” series. Each week, we’ll feature YOUR engagement and wedding stories, romantic photos and even tips that’ll help other Beauties out on their Big Day. Check back each week for a new installment!

This week, we spoke with Kendra and Chris about falling in love with someone you’ve seen from a distance for months.

HER SIDE

It’s amazing how the very thing, or in my case, person, you’ve dreamed of can be right under your nose. I always noticed Chris sitting in the same section at church. I sing on the praise and worship team, so we see a lot of the folks that come in service while on stage. He would come, sing during praise and worship, listen to the message, and then disappear as soon as church was over. He was like a phantom. We spoke to one another in passing during meet-and-greet time, but not enough for me to even really know his name.

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Although he had been coming to the church for a couple of years, no one knew who he was. A friend of mine started a singles’ ministry at church. The day of the inaugural meeting, I just happened to be outside as soon as church ended. I saw Chris briskly walking to his car and yelled out, “Hey, are you coming to singles’ meeting today? I don’t see a ring on your finger, so you’re single right?” He hesitantly said he would come and did. Our friendship grew from there. We kept our relationship light and fluffy. One day, I had a pot luck karaoke costume party. He came in a superman costume, brought a homemade chicken casserole big enough for an army and sang two songs. That was the day I realized that he had a lot of qualities I’ve been praying for; a man that loves God, has a great personality, gets along with people, good-looking AND CAN COOK! The list goes on and on so, I’ll just stop there. There was no way I was going to let this catch go!

HOW HE PULLED OFF THE SURPRISE OF A LIFETIME

A dream of mine has always been to sit court side at a basketball game. When the opportunity was presented to me for the February 12th Rocket’s game, of course, I jumped at it. Chris and I sat on the floor in our Rockets gear. The atmosphere was electric with the noise and lights and excitement of being so close to the players. During one of the breaks, the kiss cam man was standing in the section next to us. I couldn’t believe it. We might have a chance to be on the kiss cam. All of a sudden, the camera turned to us.

I turned to give Chris a kiss. This was our moment to be on camera and what does he do? He gets up to go and do God knows what. I was stunned and frustrated because he was messing up the moment. And then it happens. He gets down on one knee and whips out the ring box. I sit in shock looking at the ring for what seems to be forever. I always wanted to be with a man who loved me so much that he would shout it from the mountain top. Well, this was definitely my mountain top experience. I look up in the suite box directly across from where we were sitting and most of our close friends were there to experience this moment with us. He, along with my sister and the Rockets organization, made my dreams come true. Since Mom and Dad are the pastors of our church, my brother-in-law recorded it, sent it to our media team and the video was played at the end of the service for the congregation to watch that night. The icing on the cake was that the Rockets won by 1 point! It was a win for everyone that night.

NEXT: Check out his side of the story and that BEAUTIFUL ring!

HIS SIDE

The first time I saw Kendra was at church. I was invited to come to church with my best friend and his wife. When I met her, my mouth dropped; she was just so gorgeous to me. I started attending the church but was inconsistent due to work and my party lifestyle. After a few years, I finally got my “stuff” together. One day after church, we officially met. She bullied me to attend the singles’ meeting at church. It was the first time we had spoken more than five words to each other. While at the singles’ meeting, I felt like a gazelle surrounded by a pack of lions. The women had their eyes on me; I couldn’t help that I worked out six days a week trying to prepare myself for a bodybuilding competition. I missed the next month’s singles’ meeting due to being ill, so Kendra reached out to me via Facebook. She sent me a message saying that she hoped they didn’t scare me off with all the staring and intense discussions. We started messaging back and forth, which led to all-night long phone conversations and eventually dating. After dating a short time, I already knew she was the one for me. It was very apparent to her when I told her I’m dating her with intentions on getting married; that made her happy.

THE SURPRISE OF A LIFETIME

When her sister found out that we were thinking about getting married, she immediately contacted me so we could brainstorm on putting together an unforgettable wedding proposal. First, I had to get the perfect ring. I thought it would take days or possibly weeks, but ironically, it only took one hour. That was a huge relief and gave us more time to put the proposal together. Her sister came up with the idea to do it at a Houston Rockets game. I jokingly said we can do it on the big screen. She said, “okay, I’ll make it happen.” The next day, she called me and said it’s going to happen and took the initiative to invite all of our family and friends which, again, was another huge relief. The day of the proposal, I played it cool. Kendra knew we were going to the game, but had no clue on what was going to happen. She even made a comment asking, “what if we get on the kiss camera?” I kept checking my pocket so I could position the ring perfectly to pull it out smoothly. At the game, the time finally came. During the second time-out of second quarter when the kiss camera came our way, she looked at me like, what is he doing? since I stood up. It hit her that I was proposing. She burst into tears when I asked her to marry me. She said, of course, and that made me the happiest man on the planet at that moment. I can’t wait to experience that same feeling again on June 19, 2014 on our wedding day.

Chris and Kendra plan on officially tying the knot on June 19, 2014! We wish them well!

Are you recently engaged or married? Do you know someone else who’s about the head down the aisle? Let us know by messaging us on Facebook or emailing us at hbgotthering@gmail.com and you could be featured!

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