After a yearlong delay, my fabulous goddaughter and niece, Ashton, and her wonderful fiancé, Irby were married this past weekend at OceanCliff Inn in Newport, RI. Every moment shimmered in effortless elegance to create an ‘epic yet intimate’ celebration. Hats off to my brother and his amazing wife for hosting such an unforgettable weekend. I had the honor (and anxiety) of officiating their fairytale wedding against a spectacular backdrop of sailboats on the sunset.
I admire my niece so much for sticking to her guns and holding out to have her dream wedding in Newport rather than cancel it and host a much smaller ceremony at her home. She stayed true to her vision against the odds, and it worked out beautifully. The experience also taught me to turn off the negative talk that I say to myself. After 15+ months of not hosting a Divabetic outreach event, I felt very unsure of myself in my abilities to host such a monumental event in front of 200 people. Thankfully, I stumbled upon this phrase, “Stop being afraid of what can go wrong, start being excited about what can go right,” which I repeated to myself for two weeks leading up to the event. It worked! Everyone enjoyed the ceremony, and my niece told me, ‘it was perfect!’
By the way, it was truly a family affair. My mother, Mama Rose Marie was the flower girl, the bride’s sister was the ‘Maid of Honor’, the groom’s father was the ‘Best Man’, my nephew, Troy and his wife, Devon, were attendants, my brother, Rich designed their wedding monogram, and Joe did the bride’s hair and my mother’s makeup and hair. The Bride’s father, my brother, Bob highlighted the fact the newlyweds patiently waited over a year to exchange their vows in a speech that can only be described as ‘astonishing and mindblowing’!! I’d also like to add that there’s no way an event of this size and scope could have been presented in such a masterful way without one of the most accomplished women that I know at the helm, my fabulous sister-in-law, Laura. She rocked it!
Since my niece is also a Luther Vandross fan like her uncle, she plays his Christmas album nonstop every year (!) I used Luther’s beautiful song lyrics as inspiration for my wedding ceremony. Unfortunately, the happy couple didn’t choose ‘Here & Now’ as their wedding song, but I’d like to send this heartfelt message to them on their new journey together.
Divabetic’s Luther Vandross Tribute podcast guests include Lisa Fischer, Jason Miles, Jeff James, Patricia Addie-Gentle RN, CDE, and Chuck Flowers.
By the time Luther Vandross headed to the studio to record his fifth album Give Me the Reason in 1986, he’d become one of the most successful soul singers of the first half of the eighties. His four previous albums have been either certified platinum or double-platinum in America.
For Luther Vandross’ fifth album Give Me the Reason, the album comprised nine tracks including the hits: So Amazing, There’s Nothing Better Than Love, Stop To Love and Give Me The Reason.
Throughout the podcast, we will be featuring music from Luther Vandross’s Give Me The Reason album courtesy of SONY Music.
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