#BlackLove: Couple who survived Charlottesville car attack get dream wedding
If there was ever a couple that deserved a “happily ever after” wedding, it’s these two.
Saturday, Marcus Martin and Marissa Blair finally got the wedding of their dreams after surviving the deadly car attack on Charlottesville’s Downtown Mall last summer.
“It’s indescribable. I’m happy, I’m excited, I’m nervous,” Blair beamed as over thirty vendors in their community all came together to give them their special day, free of cost.
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On August 12th, Martin noticed a gray Dodge accelerating towards a crowd gathered in Charlottesville, and in a split second jumped to action and pushed his fiancée out of harm’s way right before the car barreled through the crowd.
While Blair was safe, Martin was tossed into the air, a moment captured in the defining images of the violent protest, and left with a broken leg.
“I just had a reaction, not even a thought, just reacting. I can’t even explain it,” Martin said.
“He always said he would do any and everything to protect me and he proved it,” Blair chimed in.
Unfortunately, their close friend Heather Heyer was killed in the attack, which prompted them to put their wedding planning on the back burner. That is, until Christina Moore, a wedding planner and owner of Bella Giornata Events, heard their story and offered her services.
“It proves hate won’t win and it proves that there are more good people in the world than there are bad and that love will win,” Blair told CNN affiliate WVIR about the outpouring of love they’ve received.
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The couple also used their big day to honor Heyer, a 32-year-old Charlottesville paralegal, who had been demonstrating against the “Unite the Right” rally the day she died. They even selected purple, Heyer’s favorite color, for their wedding color.
According to WVIR Heyer’s mother Susan Bro, also led the crowd in a butterfly release in remembrance of her daughter.
“Even if me and Marcus had got married and August 12th didn’t happen, it would never have been anything like [this],” Blair admitted, “This is more than I could have ever dreamed of, it’s amazing.”
“We’re really, really grateful,” said Martin.
James Alex Fields Jr., the man authorities say drove the car that killed Heyer and injured Martin, has been charged with murder and other offenses.
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