Top Weddings Of The Year - Brief Article

Ebony, Feb, 1999 by Joy Bennett Kinnon

From South Africa to South Alabama to suburban Los Angeles, major political and entertainment families hosted or participated in weddings that ranged in style from small, spontaneous and intimate affairs to traditional rites.

South Africa President Nelson Mandela surprised his country and the world by quietly wedding his longtime companion and soul mate Graca Machel and then combining his 80th birthday celebration with his wedding reception. Following the private wedding ceremony, Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson and 2,000 guests feted the happy couple in a celebration that was presented in a live national television broadcast. Machel is the 52-year-old widow of former Mozambique President Samora Machel.

Erinn Cosby, daughter of educator Dr. Camille Cosby and entertainment icon Dr. William E. (Bill) Cosby (TV's favorite father), chose an intimate ceremony at her parents' Philadelphia home as the site for her wedding to Dr. Michael Cannaday.

Khallada Farrakhan, the youngest daughter of Nation of Islam leader Minister Louis Farrakhan and Mother Khadijah Farrakhan, also chose her parents' Chicago home as the site for her marriage to Eurera Mita, in an intimate wedding of close family, friends and prominent officials. A festive reception followed the ceremony at the Salaam Restaurant in Chicago.

An outdoor ceremony overlooking the Pacific Ocean was the site for Nancy Wilson's daughter, Samantha Ivy, to exchange vows with Naeem Majied. The bride was escorted by her father, the Rev. Wiley Burton. After the couple exchanged vows, 100 dow's were released.

Well-known entertainment executive Cassandra Mills and Olympic track star Ato Boldon exchanged vows up on a roof, literally. The wedding took place on the rooftop of the prestigious and elegant L'Ermitage Hotel in Beverly Hills with a sweeping view of the Hollywood Hills.

Other celebrity weddings included the union of prominent entertainment couple, Lionel R. Ridenour, senior vice president of the Black Music Division/Arista Records, and his bride, Angelique Miles, vice president of creative services, Warner/Chappell Music Publishing Co.; former Miss America Kimberly Aiken and her groom, Haven Earl Cockerham Jr.; and Portland Trailblazers basketball star Rasheed Abdul Wallace and his bride Fatima Labretta Sanders. After Wallace placed a 10-karat diamond on his bride's finger, love birds took flight, confetti was sprinkled d flower petals dropped from the ceiling.

Featured on the these pages are glimpses of several of the most fascinating weddings of 1998.