Darryl and I met at church in 2000. We were both apart of an online scripture memorization club called the Verse-A-Week club. I was the club’s secretary at the time and was responsible for sending out the scriptures that everyone committed to memorize for the week. Eventually, we decided to have a fellowship to meet everyone. We went out to eat and to a Wizards basketball game. Darryl asked Bode, the club president, who I was. He began to check me out from there. I thought he came with a girlfriend, who was Anitra, another girl in the club, but it turns out they were just friends. Darryl asked me out to brunch and I believe I gave him an excuse about not doing any one-on-one fellowshipping with men at the time. A few months passed and he asked me again. I said “yes” but then my mother came in town for the weekend and I had to cancel. Time passed on and I had not seen Darryl in a while. I found out that he got deployed to go to Iraq. By November 2003, Darryl had returned from Iraq and I saw him again at church. He decided to give me one more chance and asked me out to brunch for the third time. I accepted and we went to Shoney’s in Alexandria and then to Target afterwards. We had a great time! Darryl helped me to pick out a nice blue lunch bag from Target that I still carry to work today.

By January 2006, we decided to attend the pre-marital counseling class at our church. On, January 12, 2008, Darryl asked me to marry him in front of my family! What a blessed surprise! Darryl drove home with me to Hampton, VA to see my mother. He sent me to the store to get some popcorn and while I was gone, he asked my mom for permission to marry me. He showed my mom and brother the ring and they were bursting with excitement. Darryl did not know if my mom would be able to keep it to herself. Around 11:00pm that night, Darryl asked me to ask my mom to bring down the birthday gifts she had for me upstairs. I opened the gifts with excitement and when I finished, Darryl said, “I have one more gift for you.” Darryl flipped out the ring box and I said to him “You are joking!” Darryl took the ring out the box and put it on my ring finger and got on one knee and said “Yes or no, will you marry me?” I was in shock, but I responded with an overwhelming,“YES!”

Our wedding will be held at our church, From the Heart Church Ministries, on Saturday, July 26, 2008 at 10:00am. From the Heart Church Ministries is located at 4207 Norcross Street, Temple Hills, Maryland, 20748. The attire is "morning marvelous!"(which means, dress in your Sunday's best!). The wedding will be officiated by Pastor John A. Cherry, II.

Our joyful wedding party attendants are as follows:

Female Attendants:
Matron of Honor, Mavis Julian;
Maid of Honor, Keisha Moore;
Maid of Honor, Donna Whitney;
Bridesmaid, Andrea Robinson; and
Junior Bridesmaid, Aisha Hollins.

Male Attendants:
Best Man, Brian Exum;
Groomsman, Zachary Myers;
Groomsman, Royce Robinson;
Groomsman, Tomais Robinson; and
Junior Groomsman, Jaquavias Robinson.


Here are the directions to our wedding:

From Points North,
Take I-95 South to exit 7B (Branch Avenue/Silver Hill);
Turn Left onto Auth Road;
Turn Right onto Branch Avenue/MD-5 North;
Take exit for St. Barnabas Road/MD-414 South;
Turn Right onto 28th Avenue;
Turn Left onto St. Clair Drive;
Turn Left onto Norcross Street;
Turn Right onto School Drive and end at 4207 Norcross Street.

From Points South,
Take I-95 North to exit 4A (MD-414 West/ St. Barnabas Road);
Turn Left onto MD-414/St. Barnabas Road;
Turn Left onto Raleigh Road;
Turn Right onto Olson Street;
Turn Left onto Norcross Street;
Turn Left onto School Drive and end at 4207 Norcross Street.

We look forward to seeing you at our wedding!

Our wedding reception will be held at the Sheraton Washington North Hotel located at 4095 Powder Mill Road, Beltsville, Maryland, 20705. The reception will begin at 12:00 noon and end at 4:00pm. Our guests will celebrate and rejoice with us over a delicious wedding brunch!

Here are the directions to the reception from the wedding:

As you exit the church parking lot,
Turn Left onto Norcross Street;
Turn Right onto St. Clair Drive;
Turn Right onto 28th Avenue;
Proceed through traffic light to Branch Avenue/MD-5 South;
Merge onto I-95 North exit towards Baltimore/College Park;
Travel approximately 21.2 miles on I-95 North;
At the fork of I-495 and I-95, bear Right to I-95 North to Baltimore,
Take the MD-212 W exit, 29A-B, toward Calverton;
Turn Left at 4095 Powder Mill Road.

The nearest airports are Baltimore Washington International (BWI) or Reagan National (DCA) in Washington, DC.

Hotel accommodations are available at the Sheraton Washington North Hotel for out-of-town guests.
Please call 1-800-325-3535 and ask for the Burgess/ Robinson Wedding Reception or BRWJ26 code. Please make your reservations no later than June 26, 2008, to get the following discounted room rates: $119 (single/double), $129 (triple) or $139 (quad).

Other hotel alternatives can be found by using any of these travel websites:

www.ytbtravel.com/commitment,
www.hotwire.com, or
www.hotels.com.

Darryl and I are looking forward to all of the family and friends that will travel near and far to rejoice with us for our wedding day! God bless you and yours and may the Lord smile upon you and cause you to prosper and be in good health!