This past weekend has been the weekend of weddings. People Magazine is reporting that "Half and Half" actress Essence Atkins married her beau Jaime Mendez in Pasadena, Calif., on Saturday. It was a match made in Internet heaven.
The couple tied the knot at the Ambassador Mansion and Gardens and initially met on Match.com on Valentine’s Day of last year.
"I wrote him a quick little note that I had read his profile, and then I signed off, Happy SAD Day – that's Single Awareness Day," says Essence, 37.
A week later the couple went on their first date, and they were engaged a year later.
The bride wore a Stephen Yearick gown for the ceremony and an Angel Rivera dress for the reception. "I felt like a princess," she says.
Her former costar Valerie Pettiford performed original music at the reception. Plus, the bride surprised her husband with a salsa band to celebrate his Puerto Rican heritage.
"We've been taking salsa lessons. It's part of what we’ve been doing together as a couple," she says.
The menu, created by chef G. Garvin, blended Puerto Rican and traditional soul food dishes, which included mac and cheese, roasted pork, peach cobbler and plantains.
As party favors, guests received match books and travel-sized candles. But singles guests were given six-month memberships to Match.com.
"When people leave, I want them to feel like they ate well, that they had fun, that they enjoyed themselves and they were there to celebrate a union."
I'm really hoping my single friends are reading this who've been considering online dating. It's funny cause my beau and I went on our first date a few months ago and Essence and Jamie sat at the very next table. Hmmm...
The couple tied the knot at the Ambassador Mansion and Gardens and initially met on Match.com on Valentine’s Day of last year.
"I wrote him a quick little note that I had read his profile, and then I signed off, Happy SAD Day – that's Single Awareness Day," says Essence, 37.
A week later the couple went on their first date, and they were engaged a year later.
The bride wore a Stephen Yearick gown for the ceremony and an Angel Rivera dress for the reception. "I felt like a princess," she says.
Her former costar Valerie Pettiford performed original music at the reception. Plus, the bride surprised her husband with a salsa band to celebrate his Puerto Rican heritage.
"We've been taking salsa lessons. It's part of what we’ve been doing together as a couple," she says.
The menu, created by chef G. Garvin, blended Puerto Rican and traditional soul food dishes, which included mac and cheese, roasted pork, peach cobbler and plantains.
As party favors, guests received match books and travel-sized candles. But singles guests were given six-month memberships to Match.com.
"When people leave, I want them to feel like they ate well, that they had fun, that they enjoyed themselves and they were there to celebrate a union."
I'm really hoping my single friends are reading this who've been considering online dating. It's funny cause my beau and I went on our first date a few months ago and Essence and Jamie sat at the very next table. Hmmm...
Congrats Essence and Jamie.
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