The ad was a little racey and featured a description of a 1958 classic 5 speed with nice curves that shifted flawlessly…experienced drivers only need apply. “All the other profiles were so mundane,” says Bonnie. “I had 200 responses in 30 minutes!” Robert’s reply was far more interesting than any of the other 199+. “All I wrote was, ‘I can drive a stick,’” says Robert. “It worked.”
That was in 2013. The pair were married on October 24th, 2015 in a beautiful lakeside wedding on Brookwood Lake at the home of their next-door-neighbor, Sid and Nancy Parrot. According to Robert, Nancy thought he had been single far too long and the couple was more than happy to host the memorable event. But, before the wedding came a romantic courtship-the stuff of fairy tales and fabulous cars.
Right: Bonnie and Robert are the perfect “match”. For the wedding, Robert’s gift to Bonnie was a 50th edition White Ford Mustang
“His response on Match.com got my attention,” says Bonnie. “But, he lived in the ‘country’ and I was happy in my high-rise condo in the city…I wasn’t so sure about it.” As it turned out, Bonnie was very familiar with Robert’s “neck of the woods”. Her hairdresser was just around the corner and, as fate would have it, so were her parents.
Their first date was at a restaurant called Twist located in Phipps Plaza. “It was amazing,” says Robert. “She was a goddess then and still is now.” Ironically, there was to be a “twist” in the relationship as Bonnie, a flight attendant, had been asked to exclusively date one of the first officers at her airline. She accepted. Then, a few weeks later, an aircraft had an emergency landing which prompted Robert to text Bonnie inquiring as to her safety. “It was so sweet,” says Bonnie who was fresh from a disastrous date with the first officer. “I was headed from the gym to get my hair done near where my mom and dad were living which was just four miles from where Robert’s house was-I thought it would be nice to get a man’s perspective on where things had gone wrong with my date.”
The perspective quest lasted four hours over dinner at Applebee’s after which the pair talked the night away. “I was thinking, ‘what did I miss about this guy the first time?’” says Bonnie. “I had to find out more about this gentleman.” The date? June 24th, 2013. Their next Applebee’s encounter? July 24th…a pattern emerged that would set the date for their wedding three years later.
Stealing a kiss
Robert and Bonnie fell very much in love as a variety of “signs” presented themselves as evidence that their classic match was ready to be road tested. Saint Simons became their favorite getaway. The Half Shell restaurant hosted many romantic dinners that always ended with a mouthwatering butter cake. “The chef, Connor, created and brought the cake up to our wedding,” says Robert. “He drove it up here himself!”
The couple’s love for one another was nothing short of captivating. Like a fast car speeding by, most people have to take a second look to make sure that what they saw is real. To seal the deal, Robert and Bonnie planned the wedding of a lifetime as they committed themselves to one another. “I asked her to marry me every day from the time we were engaged until she finally said, ‘I do’,” says Robert. The wedding rings became more significant with the engraving: DA MI BASIA MILLE, when translated means, “Give me 1000 kisses”. “We chose the black diamond with a Novette cut,” says Bonnie. “The jeweler, Atelier Gothique, became an amazing friend of ours and I still see him when I fly to Detroit.” Robert and Bonnie never found it odd that their rings came from an artisan who made his home in the Motor City-it was just another in a long series of interesting tidbits that drew the pair to one another.
It is the little things that make each day a continuous romance for Bonnie and Robert. Their wedding, with a harpist, a bacon bar (Robert believes bacon is its own food group), and dancing lakeside under the watchful eye of the neighbors who, for whatever reason, did not engage in yard work, car tuning, or any other loud activity on that particular day in October. Instead, they sat on their balconies and watched the wedding of Bonnie and Robert commence under the canopy of trees. Later, as a thank you and a means to really get to know each other, Bonnie and Robert hosted a Christmas party in honor of their neighbors. It was there that they shared the video of their engagement photoshoot which took place in a glittering Phipps Plaza and included scenes from the restaurant that would twist their date into a match.
The story could not possibly have a fairytale ending without a white coach to carry off the newlyweds. And this story is no different. At precisely 4:30 pm on their wedding day, Robert was led to the front of their home, and there, in the cul-de-sac sat a 50th edition White Mustang, a wedding gift from his bride, ready to ride the couple into the sunset. “The way it all worked out goes all the way back to my profile,” says Bonnie. “It was classic.”
