Although TaMyra and Ollie both attended Tuskegee University, they officially met through a mutual friend on July 31, 2014 at Dave & Buster’s in Marietta, GA. TaMyra's friend, who is now a groomsman in the wedding, invited her to company appreciation night at Dave & Buster’s, which was where she saw a man who she thought looked familiar. "My first words to Ollie were, “Hey, you look familiar. Did you go to Tuskegee?” He replied, “Yeah”, and said that I looked familiar also," recalled TaMyra. After everyone had left, TaMyra and Ollie discussed their extra-curricular involvements at Tuskegee, church affiliations, and social circles, trying to figure out how they knew each other. However, they still couldn’t make the connection. "Ollie walked me to my car and I suggested that we exchange numbers and hang out. We were both new to Atlanta and were Tuskegee grads so I thought it would be cool to have a friend," said TaMyra. Little did she know, Ollie had already planned to ask her on a date. They went on a date the very next day and a one hour lunch turned into 3 hours of talking and exploring each other’s interests and hobbies. Over the next few months, they dated off and on. However, on October 15, 2014, Ollie decided to take their relationship to the next level and asked TaMyra to be his girlfriend. TaMyra was hesitant at first, but accepted. "We knew early on that we were meant to be together," said TaMyra. Check out their fun and flirty engagement session, captured by Andre Brown Photography.
Bride: TaMyra Janae Robinson, 26, Financial Analyst in Marietta, GA
Groom: Ollie J. Johnson III, 30, Sr Systems Engineer in Marietta, GA
Place of residence: Kennesaw, GA
Engagement Shoot Location: Marietta Square, Marietta, GA
Wedding date: 5/ 27/17
Engagement story:
Ollie proposed on Christmas Day 2015. We spent Christmas at my parents’ house in Tuskegee, AL. As usual, we all got up and went to church that morning. After church, when it was time to open gifts, my mom insisted that I open my gifts first. She handed me a wrapped box with no label on it. I opened it and revealed a small canvas that had been painted with the word “Will” on it. My mom then proceeded me to tell me the definition of “will”. As I’m giving her a strange look, my brother handed me a gift-wrapped box that was identical to the first one. Unwrapping that gift, I discovered another canvas with the word “You” painted on it. My brother then told me how much he looks up to me as his big sister. I’m really wondering what was going on now. Then, my dad handed me a third identically wrapped box. Once I unwrapped it, I could see the word “Marry” through the tissue paper and immediately began to cry. My dad started talking about how marriage was instituted by God and faith in God will carry us through. Ollie then entered the room, dressed in a suit and said, “obviously, this last one is from me” as he handed me the 4th wrapped box that contained a painted canvas with the word “Me”. I have full tears streaming down my face by this point and I only know the sweet words that he said from watching the video! He got down on one knee, began telling me how thankful he was to have me in his life and asked me to be his wife! I bounced up and down on the couch and screamed, “YES!” This was the happiest day of my life and I was so thrilled that he’d incorporated my entire family!
For the Groom: Walk us through the behind the scenes of creating this special day
Like any other guy, I just wanted the proposal to be memorable. So besides picking the ring, (and learning more about diamonds than I ever wanted) I had to select when I would propose. Well, I purchased the ring in October 2015 and planned to propose on her birthday (New Year’s Day 2016). One thing that we have in common is love for our family. Over the past year, both of our families suffered great losses and I knew that Christmas would be difficult for our families. So in the effort to alleviate some of that inevitable sadness, I determined that I would propose on Christmas. So after doing a great deal of research on various proposals, I decided to incorporate her mom, dad and brother. I had already received her dad’s blessing to marry her, but she wasn’t fully aware of that. So with very valuable assistance from her mom, I not only had her closest family present during the proposal, I had them participate. I believe that was a physical representation of the buy-in from her family and I knew that buy-in was very important to TaMyra.
What makes your love special?
I think what makes our love special is it was built on faith in God and honest conversation. We’d both individually prayed for the person that God made for us. From a logical perspective, we shouldn’t have gotten together. We’d both just ended relationships with other people, we were both in a new city with new jobs, we’d only really known each other for a few months. But, the connection we were able to develop was undeniable and we just had to take a leap of faith! We also spent a lot of time discussing individual strengths and weaknesses. Ollie will tell you that I asked him a lot of questions! It was important to me to really get to know him, not only his goals and aspirations but also his past and his flaws. In turn, I had to rip the band-aid off and reveal my own downfalls. It was through these honest encounters that we were able to truly learn about each other, bond from similar experiences, and develop the trust that is needed to sustain a relationship.
What was the theme of your shoot?
The theme for the shoot was glam date-night and #BikeLife. We dressed up for many of our date nights early on in our relationship so the first part of the shoot paid homag
e to those experiences. The 2nd half of the shoot incorporated Ollie’s motorcycle. He is definitely the more adventurous one and owns 2 motorcycles. I think motorcycles are cool and we’ve made a commitment to each other to embrace the other’s hobbies, so I wanted to incorporate the motorcycle for our shoot.
Were there any memorable moments during the shoot?
Our very first photo was in front of a marquee at the Earl Smith Strand Theatre. To capture this shot, we had to wait for traffic to clear and run out in the middle of the street. The crosswalk is layered with bricks, so my brand new heels were quite wobbly and I had to hold on tightly to Ollie’s arm. It was hilariously awkward to be in a popular business area all dressed-up running into the middle of the street during the lunch-time rush hour. Many drivers were very understanding and either waited for us to take the picture or waved/honked their car horns as they drove by.
What are you most looking forward to about your wedding?
I am looking forward to many things, but I’m most excited about our families meeting and interacting with one another. Our parents have met each other, but we both have large extended families, so seeing them interact is going to be fun!
Have you started planning your wedding?
We have started planning! I’m at the early stages, but we’ve booked the venues and chosen colors, the wedding party, day-of consultants, baker, and the DJ.
Congratulations to TaMyra and Ollie! We wish you a wonderful wedding and marriage
