Celebrating Black Brides: Profile #56

Couple: Erica Atkins and Warryn Campbell

Date of Wedding:  May 26, 2001

Place: Wilshire United Methodist Church (Los Angeles, CA)

Officiant: 

Fun facts: 

The bride wore a demure gown with fitted bodice.

400 guests attended the wedding, which was featured on the TLC show, A Wedding Story.

The wedding party included 12 bridesmaids, 12 groomsmen, 10 hostesses, 3 flower girls, 4 candle lighters, 3 extra ushers.

The brides's attendants included the her sister Tina and singer Brandy.  The groom's attendants included Heavy D.

Vanessa Bell Armstrong sang "If I Could" and BeBe Winans sang "Searching For Love" during the wedding ceremony.

The couple's ten-day honeymoon included a cruise from Puerto Rico to St. Croix, St. Thomas, and other islands in Aruba.

Celebrating Black Brides: Profile #52

Couple: Cari Tindall and Zachary Dillard

Date of Wedding:  July 19, 2014

Place: St. Matthew AME Zion (Rock Hill, SC)

Officiant: Rev. James Grubb

Fun facts: 

The couple met at Zaxby's in Orangeburg, South Carolina, where they both attended Claflin University.  The groom says that that bride hit on him, but she asserts that she was simply introducing herself.

The couple endured a long distance relationship while they were both in graduate school.  He was in Atlanta and she was in State College, PA.

The couple held their wedding at the bride's grandfather's church.

The couple performed a wedding reception entrance dance to Janelle Monae's "Electic Lady" and their wedding party created a bridge for them to walk under similar to what the wedding party did at bride's parents' wedding 25 years earlier.

The bride and groom took several trips during their courtship and a favorite was Chattanooga, Tennessee, where they visited an underground waterfall called Ruby Red Falls.

The bride and groom played tennis the morning before he proposed and he won.  She still hasn't forgotten that because they are both pretty competitive.

Celebrating Black Brides: Profile #28

Couple: Taineisha Sledge and Dorian Bolden

Date of Wedding:  August 18, 2007

Place: Pine Lake Pavilion (Mebane, NC)

Officiant: Pastor Nate Davis

Fun facts: 

The couple met at the information desk in the student union during the first day of the bride's freshman orientation at Duke University.  The groom was working at the information desk.

The couple got engaged in the frame of the first house that they purchased.

At their wedding, the couple danced to Stevie Wonder's "You and I" for their first dance and to Luther Vandross's "Here and Now' for their last dance.

Celebrating Black Brides: Profile #19

Couple: Brandon Erby and Grejika Abram

Date of Wedding: July 18, 2015

Place: Cheniere Lake Park (West Monroe, Louisiana)

Officiant: Rev. Greg L. Oliver, Sr.

Fun facts: 

The couple met during freshman orientation week at Tougaloo College in 2008.

The bride and groom are fall 2009 initiates of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. and Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.

The groom proposed on Valentine’s Day in 2014 by imitating the music video for the song “Come Close” by Common.

The wedding theme was vintage and country chic. There were over 30 individuals in the bridal party.

The bride’s dress was a fit and flare gown with a sweetheart neckline and dropped waist fully adorned with lace. It was embellished with rhinestones, pearls, and a buttoned-back that extended down her chapel train.

The bride declined a traditional veil in lieu of a rhinestone comb garnished with a string of pearls. The bride’s bouquet was handmade by her mother and bridesmaids.

The couple lived separately during their first year of marriage as they both attended different universities for graduate school. 

Celebrating Black Brides: Profile #7

Couple: Medgar Evers and Myrlie Beasley

Date of Wedding:  December 24, 1951

Place: Mount Heroden Baptist Church, Vicksburg, MS

Fun facts: 

The couple met at Alcorn A&M College where they were both students.

The couple had a major argument the night before their wedding.

The Evers' honeymoon consisted of one night in a segregated hotel in Jackson, Mississippi, and then visits with both sets of in-laws.

*A white supremacist murdered Medgar Evers in 1963.

Celebrating Black Brides: Profile #5

Couple: Courtney B. Vance and Angela Bassett

Date of Wedding: October 12, 1997

Place: private residence in Los Angeles, California

Fun facts: 

The couple met while both pursued graduate study at the Yale School of Drama in the 1980s, but they did not start dating until years later.

The bride wore a silk fitted gown with a 4-foot French lace train by Escada.

There were 3 bridesmaids and 3 groomsmen.

The couple delayed their honeymoon because they were both filming movies at the time of the wedding.