Celebrity Wedding Bar

Media executive Oscar Joyner married Alem Gola in a day-long multicultural celebration presided over by Bishop T.D. Jakes with special performances by award winning artists Yolanda Adams, Eric Benet, Tamia, Mike Phillips and Doug E. Fresh.

Joyner, President of Reach Media Inc. and Executive Producer of the nationally syndicated Tom Joyner Morning Show, and his wife, a TV and film actress, hosted more than 350 guests at the historic Plymouth Congregational Church and a series of receptions and concerts at The Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables.

The newlyweds met three years ago in Washington, D.C. during the National Urban League annual conference and have traveled the world together. Last year, Mr. Joyner proposed to his bride in front of the fountains of the historic Monte Carlo Casino in Monaco. As he videotaped her describing the scene, he dropped to one knee and asked her to marry him.

The weekend’s activities, designed and produced by The Design Group of Miami, were rich in culture and showcased elaborate floral displays, including more than 60,000 roses, and a Who’s Who of celebrities, business executives and civic leaders. The bride, Alem Gola of Columbus, Ohio, wore a custom designed gown by Monique Lhuillier. Joyner, son of media personality and philanthropist Tom Joyner, donned a Tom Ford tuxedo.

In addition to Tom Joyner, the special guests at the weekend’s festivities included fitness guru Donna Richardson Joyner, the legendary R&B great Eddie Levert, National Urban League President Marc Morial, NAACP President Benjamin Jealous, Florida Senatorial Candidate Congressman Kendrick Meek (D-FL), NBA basketball great Alonzo Mourning and his wife, Tracy, comedian Kym Whitley and Budweiser senior executive Johnny Furr. Sybil Wilkes and comedian J. Anthony Brown of the Tom Joyner Morning Show also participated in the festivities, along with comedic writers and former Tom Joyner Morning Show personalities Myra J. and Ms. Dupre. Other performers included saxophonist and Hidden Beach Records recording artist Mike Phillips, Coco Brown, DJ Dee Wiz and the popular Ethiopian singers Behaliu Agonafir and Yehune Belay.

The bridesmaids wore traditional Ethiopian fine cotton handmade dresses. The groomsmen wore black tuxedos with red vests, which complemented the red and gold embellishments of the bridesmaids’ dresses.

In a unique multi-ethnic and multi-denominational ceremony, Plymouth Congregation’s Rev. Dr. Thomas R. Niblock introduced internationally renowned Bishop T.D. Jakes of The Potters’ House in Dallas, TX who presided over the ceremony. Ethiopian Pastor Abba Zekarias Gebrehiwot, speaking in his native language of Amharic, led the “Quieba Kudis”, known as the ‘Holy Oil Blessing” and the “Kabba” – a ceremony that involved the placing of red and gold-trimmed robes and crowns on the bride and groom. The bride walked down a 150-foot white carpet runner adorned with white rose petals in a sanctuary where the air permeated with the smell of roses and irises. As she entered the sanctuary, church organist Dr. Robert Heath and saxophonist Mike Phillips played a soulful, but regal organ and saxophone rendition of Mendelssohn’s “The Wedding March”.

As part of the ceremony, Grammy Award and Dove-winning gospel singer Yolanda Adams performed a skin-tingling rendition of “The Prayer. As the newlyweds jumped the broom, an African tradition symbolizing sweeping away the old and bringing in the new, the bride’s brother and cousin celebrated their marriage by playing the kebero, double-headed conical drums played to traditional Ethiopian music.

Following the ceremony, the guests were treated to an Ethiopian High Tea Brunch at the historic Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables. At an evening reception, guests dined al fresco on the second floor terrace of the hotel overlooking the lush golf course. Punctuating the tables were four-foot tall wrought iron centerpieces adorned with gold-rimmed hurricane candles and accentuated by red, fuchsia, and yellow rose encrusted spheres. The newlyweds were seated in a 12-foot tall custom-designed gazebo completely covered with Jewel studded roses. R&B singers Eric Benet and Tamia surprised the bride and guests, performing amidst an excited crowd waving sparklers in the night air.

Wedding planner Dionne Anderson and Creative Director Jean Augustin and their team of event designers and culinary specialists produced one of South Florida’s most luxurious destination weddings this season. The newlyweds also received congratulatory messages from President Barack Obama and Congressman Meek.

Actor Chad Lowe has recently married yet again, this time to film producer Kim Painter. The two were officially married this past Saturday at a small ceremony in California. It was a true family affair with the best man and ring bearer very closely related to the couple.

The 42-year-old Lowe is currently the star of the hit series “Pretty Little Liars”. According to PEOPLE, he married his girlfriend Kim Painter at an intimate ceremony next to the ocean at Terranea Resort located in Los Angeles. Rob Lowe was in attendance to serve as best man, while Chad and Kim’s 15-month daughter, born out of wedlock, was the ring bearer.

The couple first started dating back in 2007, and their daughter Mabel was born in May of 2009. Chad Lowe was previously married to award-winning actress Hilary Swank, and many are already comparing Kim Painter to Chad’s former significant other. She does have a similar look, however Swank has more Hollywood hardware in the form of statues. That’s not to say Kim Painter isn’t quite the catch for Chad Lowe. Congratulations to both on their recent wedding!

Konnie Huq and TV critic Charlie Brooker have married in a secret ceremony in Las Vegas.

The squeaky-clean former Blue Peter presenter and the acid-witted host of BBC Four’s Screenwipe eloped ten days ago to avoid the fuss of a showbiz wedding.

They had previously made plans to tie the knot in Vegas during a month-long road trip.

But those initial holiday plans were halted when Konnie, 35, took over from Holly Willoughby to present The Xtra Factor and began a tour of the country for the auditions.

Instead, the couple managed to hop on a plane between filming and headed to Vegas to get married.

A source said: ‘Charlie didn’t want a big, tacky celebrity wedding because he doesn’t see him and Konnie as a celebrity couple.

‘They are very much in love but when it came down to it, he wanted the wedding to be low-key.

‘He is finding it hard to accept the level of interest in their relationship.

‘If it was up to him, they would lead a totally private life, enjoying playing PlayStation games at home together and eating in.

‘But it is different for Konnie. She is used to all the attention her job brings her and doesn’t mind being in the public eye.’

Konnie and Charlie have always seemed a slightly strange pairing, but they defied the sceptics by getting engaged a few months ago.

And their wedding comes in spite of new strains caused by Konnie rubbing shoulders with some of the television industry’s greats in her new role.

Simon Cowell signed Konnie to The Xtra Factor and she is also close to Britain’s Got Talent judge Amanda Holden.

Konnie is happy to be in the public eye and even took part in a glamorous photoshoot and revealing interview for a magazine last week.

Meanwhile Charlie, 39, is struggling to understand why people are interested in them as a couple.

A source explained: ‘Charlie gets frustrated when people are surprised that they are together.

‘He doesn’t understand why it is an issue. He knows that she is beautiful but he sees a different side of her that the public doesn’t.’

In the magazine interview last week Konnie said: ‘We’ve known each other for years. We met at the Edinburgh Festival and always got on well.

‘We’re constantly laughing – that’s the brilliant thing about our relationship, it’s so much fun.’

Making for an evening to remember, details and pictures from Anna Paquin and Stephen Moyer’s weekend wedding have slowly but surely been revealed.

The “True Blood” co-star couple exchanged nuptials at a private residence in Malibu, California, with Anna taking to the seaside tent in a gorgeous white sleeveless gown.

With guests including actor Elijah Wood and “True Blood” co-star Carrie Preston among those on-hand for the “I Do’s”, attendees kicked things off with drinks outside while watching the sun set over the Pacific landscape.

After the ceremony had finished, Stephen went for a swim in the sea with several friends while sporting “a huge smile” on his face, according to a GossipCenter eyewitness.

Guests also danced to a band that played guitars on the beachside deck as they reveled their way into the early hours of the morning.

The wedding between pop star Beyonce Knowles and rap star Jay-Z took place in 2008 in New York. The wedding ceremony was noted primarily for being a low-key affair that was mostly kept private from the media.

Very little is known about the actual wedding ceremony. This comes from how the couple was out for a period of time to get a marriage license in Scarsdale, New York, just a few days before the ceremony. Data on the site of the ceremony is not fully known.

However, many other details that relate to the wedding have popped up. One notable part of the ceremony comes from the celebration and reception that took place after the wedding. This was an event that took place at Jay-Z’s apartment.

What happened here was that a local florist was called on to get a massive amount of flowers into Jay-Z’s apartment. It is estimated that at least fifty thousand white orchid blooms were brought out to the apartment. It was reported that they were ordered from Thailand and that the florist stated that they got an order that was related to a large scale party. The florist was not aware of how the flowers were going to be gathered for a wedding ceremony.

A series of different decorations, including candelabras, were also delivered off to the apartment. These are materials that were made with silver accents that were very appealing.

Full entertainment was available at the reception. DJ Cassidy spun tunes at the reception. He has been a friend of Jay-Z’s for years.

A full guest list has been found as well. Matthew and Tina Knowles, the parents of Beyonce, were present at the reception. Gwyneth Paltrow, who is a friend of the two people, also came to the event. The two other members of Beyonce’s former band, Destiny’s Child, also came to the event.

Very few pictures were available from the entire ceremony. The only real photos that were available were ones that featured paparazzi shots of the celebrities as they were heading out to the apartment. No other photos were available for the wedding ceremony. This was done as a means of making sure that the entire event was private.

The wedding ceremony of Beyonce and Jay-Z was one that was very private and sealed off to most people. However, it is noted that it involved a number of unique things and a good guest list. This was truly something that was going to be private and was successfully private.

In the year 2000, Brad Pitt exchanged vows with Jennifer Aniston in a plush wedding ceremony which took place at the estate of producer Marcy Carsey’s Malibu mansion. The wedding was considered as the best wedding of the year especially in terms of the designer attire that the couple wore. This wedding reportedly cost somewhere around $1 million.

Jennifer walked down the aisle on the arm of her father, in a Lawrence Steele wedding dress. The Milan designer; designed a floor length white silk tulle halter neck dress. The dress was embedded with minute pearl work throughout and made Jennifer look like a true princess. Brad was also no less good looking in the Hedi Slimane tuxedo jacket. There was a little disappointment for the overall designer town as the jacket was worn with a straight rather than a bow.

The wedding took a grand turn with the fireworks display and also the guest invitees which were almost 200 in number. The guest list included names such as Cameron Diaz, Courtney Cox, Salma Hayek and Edward Norton.

After the lavish wedding the couple left for their honeymoon at the Fregate Island in Seychelles.

Back in the year 2006, Nicole Kidman married Keith Urban in a truly fairy tale wedding ceremony. The thing that added an extra zing to the whole wedding was the ravishingly beautiful Nicole in her wedding gown.

Leading French Designer, Nicolas Ghesquiere, who is the creative director of Paris Fashion House Balenciaga, had designed her dress for the d- day. The beautiful looking gown was of the romantic ivory color, with one shouldered puff sleeve. All the fabric was made of silk and had the ruffled embroidered and organza fabric looks because of the overall stylization. The gown had a beautifully pleated empire style Cornelli lacework.

Her look was thoroughly complimented with the bunch of white flowers that she held while walking down the aisle. The gown actually made her look like a complete fairy in true sense of the word.

Well, though the tag of the four specially made custom dresses for Nicole was not leaked out in the market but sources claim that the design and the amount of minute attention paid to every detail on the gown must have cost her about a million dollar, but it was definitely totally worth it!

If there were awards for the best wedding of the year, then the winners would certainly be Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes for their Scientology wedding ceremony. We certainly know that Tom and Katie both like to remain in the limelight and hence much of the wedding details had been leaked out for the paparazzi. Tom has been looking into everything personally, right from the designing of his bride’s gown to the menu listed for the wedding.

When you say about the actual wedding Scientology ceremony, it lasted for a mere 15 minutes but yeah, the wedding kiss seemed like it would never end…! Finally after a long three minutes, guests starts prompting them. After the kiss, the magnificent fireworks took place and the whole fiftieth century Odescalchi Castle in Italy shined with the eruption of fireworks.

Tom cruise himself sung the song “You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling”, though it was pretty odd for him to sing this at his own wedding. Also, it is said that Tom and Katie had been married at an unknown date in their Beverly Hills Mansion in Los Angeles, before this wedding at Italy. Also, it is said that the scientologist weddings are not preferred in Italy.

May 28

2000 – Vince Neil (Motley Crew) and Heidi Mark, in Beverly Hills, Calif. The two met on a blind date arranged by Mark’s makeup artist in 1993 and were engaged within 2 months. Over the years they almost got married twice and finally exchanged vows in 2000 at the Beverly Hills restaurant Le O’rangerie surrounded by 40 of their closest friends.

May 28

1977 – “Wonder Woman” Lynda Carter and Ron Samuels, in Bel Air, Calif. The couple honeymooned for a week in Hawaii.

1959 – Muppets creator Jim Henson and Jane Anne Nebel. Henson met Nebel at the University of Maryland while they were students. They worked together on the live puppet show “Sam and Friends” for a couple of years before getting romantically involved.

May 29

1967 – “The King” Elvis and Priscilla Presley, in Memphis, Tenn. Priscilla and Elvis had a second wedding reception at Graceland for family and friends who could not make it to Las Vegas for their wedding earlier the same month.

1998 – model Cindy Crawford and Rande Gerber, in Paradise Island, Bahamas. Crawford and Gerber went barefoot at their wedding at the Ocean Club. Some 100 guest attended the joyous celebration.

1954 – actor Kirk Douglas and Anne Buydens. Douglas met Buydens in 1953 when she applied for a job as his assistant on the French location shoot for the movie “Un acte d’amour.”

1937 – actress Rita Hayworth and Edward C. Judson, in Las Vegas. Hayworth was only 18 when she eloped with Judson who was more than twice her age.

1948 – director Stanley Kubrick and Toba Metz, in Bronx, New York. When they were married, Metz was 18 and working as a secretary and Kubrick was 19 and working as a photographer. They became man and wife in a civil ceremony at the home of acting Judge Harry Krauss.

May 30

1999 – actor Richard Dreyfuss and Janelle Lacey, in Los Angeles, Calif. After a year-long engagement, Dreyfuss married Lacey who is 17 years his junior at his L.A. home in an outdoor ceremony.

1998 – singer Ani Difranco and Andrew Gilchrist, in Canada. Difranco and Gilchrist wed in a Unitarian Universalist church, overseen by renowned folk singer Utah Phillips.

1981 – actor Tommy Lee Jones and Kimberlea Gayle Cloughley. Jones met and fell in love with Cloughley while working on the movie “Back Roads.”

1969 – actress Natalie Wood and Richard Gregson. The two were married after dating for two and a half years.

1966 – country entertainer Dolly Parton and Carl Dean, in Ringgold, Ga. On her first day in Nashville, and what would be two years before their wedding day, Parton met Dean at the Wishy-Washy Laundromat.

May 31

2002 – country singer Randy Travis and Elizabeth Hatcher. Maui, Hawaii. Travis and Hatcher were married in a private ceremony in the courtyard of one of their two Maui homes. The only people who attended were the two witnesses who the preacher brought with him. Travis proposed with a four plus-carat diamond engagement ring. The couple had been romantically involved for 12 years before making their relationship public. Hatcher is 16 years older than Travis.

Every one wants to sell a style statement of their own and when it comes to weddings we all love to be unique.

Celebrities and stars also love to publicize their lavish wedding celebrations and related ceremonies. Designer bridal gowns, exclusive diamond rings, innovative hair styles and make up, exotic locations and so many other splendid things related to celebrity weddings and parties become the talk of the town for months together. Whether these weddings stand the test of time or not, the ceremonies and the hype surrounding it are never forgotten by fans and the public all over the world.

This year 2010 began with the wedding of the ‘Bachelor’ couple Molly Malaney and Jason Mesnick in the Rancho Palos Verdes’ Terranea Resort in California on February 27. When Molly walked down the aisle with her father, Jason Castro an erstwhile American Idol performed the classic ballad ‘Over the Rainbow’ which also featured in the ‘Song of the Centuries’ list. Her $45,000 strapless bridal gown, jewelry and Blahmik shoes topped all fashion charts for weeks.

The next party in queue is the third time marriage ceremony of Mariah Carey and Nick Cannon who get married every year. They celebrate each wedding anniversary by tying the knot every year and re-strengthening their vows. Their actual wedding in 2008 was a fiesta in the Bahamas and the highlight was the $2.5 million wedding ring the groom presented the bride. Carey gets a new ring every year on their anniversary from Cannon.

Last December saw the winter wedding of Kevin Jonas and Danielle Deleasa that happened at the Oheka Castle in the presence of four hundred guests. The aisle was decorated with shimmering snow flakes and Swarovski crystals and the bride looked just breath taking in a strap less Chantilly lace Vera Wang gown. The first dance was for Keith Urban’s ‘Only you can love me this way’ which was followed by cutting of the splendid seven tiered wedding cake with Swarovski crystals.

The ‘Bachelor’ and ‘Dancing with the Stars’ contestant Melissa Rycroft married Tye Strickland before two hundred esteemed guests in Isla Mujeres, Mexico. Melissa walked down the aisle bare foot wearing a stunning gown designed by Alfred Angelo. ‘Monday Night Football’ which was the theme song was played soon after the traditional vows were exchanged. Celebrity weddings, proms and parties become trend setters for the manner in which they are organized and for the clothes and fashion ideas they launch.