Lamont Thompson called Tinnetta Rockquemore "his girlfriend" from the time the teenagers met, but she was bound for UCLA, and he was off to Washington State. "We were always pen pals," says Tinnetta. "We always said we would be together. We were so young, though."

When Lamont was drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals in 2002, "People said that maybe I should just follow him," Tinnetta recalls. But Lamont told her: "You have to follow your dreams." So, while Lamont's NFL career took him to Tennessee for four years, Tinnetta finished law school at Tulane in New Orleans.

In the spring of 2006, as Tinnetta packed boxes for a move to a new home in California, where the couple spends off-seasons, Lamont blurted out: "What if I proposed to you right now?" When he actually produced a ring, Tinnetta fell off a bench. "He said, 'I asked your father.' That's when I cried," she remembers.

They'd fallen in love with Hawaii while attending a friend's wedding and began planning a destination event, but five months before the celebration, Tinnetta had a change of heart about their chosen venue. Switching locations—to Oahu's Ihilani Resort & Spa—necessitated a change of date, as well. Her mother fretted about Friday the 13th, but Tinnetta was more religious than superstitious. Saturday the 14th was "the cloudiest, rainiest day our whole week in Hawaii," she says. "It worked out for the best."

Starting with Thursday's rehearsal dinner luau at Paradise Cove, the wedding was infused with aloha spirit. The couple worked exclusively with island vendors, and Tinnetta wanted everything to be "fabulous, fabulous, fabulous."

The distinctive bellow of a blown conch shell signaled the start of their traditional Hawaiian ceremony. Lamont will always remember holding their 10-month-old, Gavin, in his arms as Tinnetta appeared; groom and son wore matching custom suits. "I loved the ocean view when I walked down the aisle and the slight breeze," says Tinnetta, who chose an ivory satin Vera Wang gown. She also appreciated the Hawaiian pastor's efforts to involve their ninety guests—all clad in white as instructed—in the prayers.

As drummers played, hula dancers swayed and guests enjoyed cocktails, the newlyweds raced the setting sun for a photo session on the beach. Tinnetta was surprised to find the Ocean Ballroom luxuriously draped when the party moved inside. Lamont had vetoed that expense, but "that was his gift to me," she says. Although a Hawaiian band kept the party lively with Reggae-style tunes, Gavin snoozed through the festivities. Other young guests enjoyed dinner, games and movies at their own children's reception.

Training camp in Tennessee and an unanticipated, but welcome opportunity to play for Miami required the couple to defer plans for a honeymoon to Fiji or South Africa until 2008. But Lamont says they "just really enjoy being around each other. We can do anything as long as we're together," he says.

"I'm his number one fan; he's my number one fan," says Tinnetta. "It's a partnership."

Lamont admits his job is "physically demanding," but coming home to his family "puts everything in perspective. Football is going to be a short part of my life," he says. "I've made a lifetime commitment to my wife and my son."

Written by Kim Knox Beckius