Singers Chante Moore and Kenny Lattimore wed in Jamaica

Jet, Feb 4, 2002

Unforgettable is probably the way famed singers Chante Moore and Kenny Lattimore would describe the way in which they rang in the new year.

After dating for six months, the cute couple recently tied the knot on New Year's Day during a private ceremony at the Grand Lido Sans Souci Hotel in Ocho Rios, Jamaica.

"She completes me," gushes Kenny to JET during an interview. "People say, `You shouldn't say that because we're not half a person.' Well, 100 percent of me and 100 percent of her completes me."

Chante says to JET of her new hubby, "I think he was meant to be with me. It was ordained by God ... We enhance each other's life. It's about our being where God wants us to be."

The wedding was so private, says Kenny, that family members weren't told of their plans to wed until two days before they headed for Jamaica.

"When you elope, you roll with what sets your heart on fire at the moment," he explains. "I didn't want to wait and put on a show for the world. Weddings are usually for everyone else and not the bride and groom. I thought about our just doing this and eloping. We're going to have a reception later where everyone can come."

Though Chante and Kenny have won the world over with their soothing vocals, the two didn't sing to each other during the intimate affair. Instead, Chante strolled down the aisle to Minnie Riperton's Give Me Time, while Marvin Gaye's If I Should Die Tonight served as the song the couple had their first dance to as husband and wife.

Kenny describes his wife's taste as "kind of traditional and very classic," which is what inspired him to present her with an eternity band. His ring is comprised of two wedding bands, one a platinum band from Chante and the other a gold band from his father, Walter Lattimore.

"When my father first met Chante, he told her, `You're going to marry my son.' So the ring closest to my body is the band that my mother gave to my father when they got married. It's a beautiful tradition. Hopefully I'll have a son and I can pass it on," laughs Kenny.

The mellow-voiced singers, both known for their tender ballads, first crossed each others paths in 1997. At the time both were involved in high-profile relationships-Chante with then-husband, actor Kadeem Hardison of "A Different World" TV fame, and Kenny with actress Kellie Williams of "Family Matters" TV fame. Neither Chante nor Kenny showed any interest in the other. They were merely cordial in passing.

Hardison and Chante, who are the parents of a 5-year-old daughter, Sophia Milan, divorced a few years ago.

The dynamics changed last year when Chante and Kenny crossed each other's paths again. This time, both were single. But, once more, neither were looking for romance.

In fact, Kenny's first attempt to greet Chante after one of her Los Angeles performances with jazz singer Will Downing didn't turn out as planned. Kenny wanted to compliment the songbird on a great performance, but when he got backstage, she was nowhere to be found.

"I thought, `Lord, it wasn't meant to be. Maybe we'll hook up later. She really was beautiful," recalls Kenny.

A month later fate intervened and Kenny had a second chance to greet Chante when she performed with Downing in New York. This time Kenny was able to say hello to Chante; he even exchanged telephone numbers with the pretty singer in the hopes of collaborating on a duet.

"Initially, I wasn't looking for anything, so it was nice that we were just friends," explains Chante. "I thought he was a really nice guy and thought maybe we would hang out and have a good time, but the Lord had something different in mind. It seems like our parallels were so consistent. It seemed like everything else we liked to do with our time other than singing was in sync."

She continues, "I think we all have a journey that we take about what is ordained in our life and what is supposed to happen by God, who orders our steps. Any relationship that I've had before now has prepared me for right now. It's not a discredit to anyone at all I've ever loved before him because certainly they've been wonderful people and I've learned quite a bit and taken away quite a bit from the relationship. But it prepared me to be the best wife I can be right now."

Kenny says from their first conversation, which lasted five hours at her home, he knew she was "the one," because the feeling was "unexplainable."

He says they can just be and have the greatest moments. "We can sit in a room and do nothing and just enjoy each other's company whether we're talking or not. The depth of our relationship is such that we love each other. We have so much in common. Even our mothers died from the same rare form of cancer, multiple myeoma. Our fathers have similar personalities. It's like we grew up in the same house, but she on the West Coast and I on the East Coast."

Having fun is something the lovebirds are always doing. So when Kenny decided to pop the question, he figured what better way than to propose in a fun way. That's what he did. While sitting side-by-side in a limousine with Chante as they rode on their way to the screening of the movie Ali, Kenny says he two-way paged the love of his life.