[ featured couple ]
Brittany Reynolds & Donnie Thomas III D
onnie Thomas III is the owner of the Crystal Plantation reception venue in Kenner and is about to get married. He is engaged to marry Brittany Reynolds on May 4, 2013 at St. Joseph Church on Tulane Avenue in New Orleans. Brittany is from Kenner, attended Archbishop Chappelle High School, and went on to graduate at LSU. Donnie is originally from Laplace where he attended Riverside Academy and then Southeastern Louisiana University. We recently caught up with them to discuss their upcoming nuptials.
NWG: Describe your courtship after the first date. Donnie: We made it official that we were exclusive on August 24, 2005, just days before Hurricane Katrina hit. During the storm, Brittany was in Baton Rouge at LSU and I evacuated to Kentucky. We could only communicate through texts for a while. I then moved to Baton Rouge where I found a job, and actually moved into an apartment around the corner from Brittany’s apartment. That’s when the relationship really blossomed. Then, I moved to Hammond to go to SLU for the next 5 years. We would travel back and forth on the weekends and holidays to see each other. NWG: How did he propose? Brittany: He asked my parents first. He took them out to dinner and surprised them. They gave him their blessing. He then told me that he had a Friday night off (which is extremely rare since he works weddings on the weekend) and that he was taking me to dinner at my favorite restaurant. He told me to get dressed while he was going to a dealership to look for a new car and that he would pick me up after. Donnie had my brother text him when I was upstairs
NWG: How did you meet? Donnie: It was July 16, 2005 and I was the DJ at the Crystal Plantation at the time. Brittany’s friend worked with me as a server and had Brittany pick her up from work. We started talking and decided that we would meet up later that night to hang out as a group with the rest of our friends. We were actually trying to get Brittany’s friend and my friend together, but WE ended up talking to each other all night. NWG: Describe your first date. Brittany: It was Donnie’s birthday and we went to a steak restaurant. It really wasn’t romantic or anything, but it was fun. We had become friends since the first night that we met. It was kind of a last minute date, just to see where it would go, if anywhere. There definitely was a spark there.
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