Muse Worthy- Kody's Avenue

Muse Worthy InStyle August 2000

Created: January 14th, 2001

ROB THOMAS MARRIED HIS INSPIRATION, MARISOL MALDONADO, ON A RANCH AS BOUNDLESS (ALMOST) AS THEIR LOVE

The first time model Marisol Maldonado, 4, met Rob Thomas, 17, lead singer for the rnulti-platinurn-selling band Matchbox Twenty, he looked anything but "Smooth"-to steal the title of the Grammy-winning song he would later write about her for Santana. "He was wearing a floppy hat and pants that were falling down because they were way too big," she remembers. The two were introduced in May 1998, after the band's show in Montreal, where Marisol and a friend were on holiday. At the concert, Marisol saw someone she knew, a technician for the band, who invited the women to the group's after-party.

Rob marisol marisol

Rob and Marisol talked for a mere 10 minutes, but despite the briefness of their conversa-tion (and Rob's frumpy attire), Marisol recognised him as the man of her dreams. "I left and told my girlfriend, 'That's the guy I'm going to marry.' I tell people I have always been married to hirn-I just hadn't met him yet." Apparently the feeling was mutual. The two were so sure their shared destiny that within a week of dating they decided to get matching tattoos. The symbol on his arm and her ankle, is the Japanese character for loyalty, which the couple saw in a tattoo parlour they passed on a weekend stroll in New York. Two months later Thomas offered Maldon-ado an antique-style engagement ring: a diamond set in platinum flanked by two baguettes.

"You hear all these great proposal storues, but... we were in a parking lot in atlanta, and I think we were arguing. I asked her, 'Do you love me?' and she said, 'I will love you for the rest of my life' ' I said I wanted our life together to begin that mo-ment and I gave her the ring. She started crying," recalls Rob, who says the ring had been burning a hole in his pocket for two weeks. "I think I won the argument," he adds. "Though I guess I can only play that card once!"

Ron and Marisol But Rob fell speechless when, on October 2 last year, Marisol, carrying a nosegay of black beauty and red garden roses interspersed with red pepper--berries, appeared for their wedding on the sprawl-ing grounds of the Santa Ynez, California, ranch of Matchbox Twenty's manager, Michael Lipprnan.

Wearing a Gucci tuxedo and brand-new gold earrings, a gift from the bride, Rob trembled as he watched Marisol, dressed in a Vera Wang gown of duchesse satin, walk down the aisle to of the strains of Keith Richards's version of "The Nearness of You", the couple's favourite song. "I know rob and..?? I'm biased, but she was just the most beau-tiful bride I have ever seen," Rob says. During the brief non-denominational ceremony, the couple pledged to "trust what changes the future may bring", then slipped platinum bands on each other's fingers (the bride also wore a second wedding band, of sapphire and diamonds).

After the ceremony, the crowd enjoyed poolside cock-tails and they moved to a tented tennis court transformed into an elegant hall, with blossoming pink cherry trees in each corner and three4evel chandeliers lit by 600 candles each. Not that they needed all that beeswax. Joked Rob's mother, Marnie Thomas, "The room would be lit up by the electricity between Rob and Marisol!"

After dinner, Lippman got the crowd up and swaying to the new dance version of "Smooth" and the fun didn't stop until well after midnight. Rob and Marisol made off for a Hawaiian honey-moon, sneaking back before the scheduled three weeks were up to go house-hunting in New York, where they plan to make their home and hope one day to start a family.

Is Marisol still Rob's muse now that they've wed? Not quite. Says the singer, "Our life to-gether has become my muse."

-Samantha Dunn