Real Housewives of Atlanta star Eva Marcille has married the ‘man of her dreams,’ exchanging vows with fiancé Michael Sterling in an emotional ceremony on Sunday.
DailyMailTV was granted exclusive access to the ceremony and spoke with Marcille, 33, just moments after she said ‘I do.’
She described herself as ‘just so blessed,’ and said, ‘I’ve spent my life trying to find out who I am and trying to find him and now life’s taken me on a journey to the man of my dreams.’
Federal prosecutor and former Atlanta Mayoral candidate, Sterling, 33, proposed to Marcille last Christmas.
The couple tied the knot at the weekend in Atlanta’s Southern Exchange Ballrooms after three years of dating.
Speaking to DailyMail TV before the evening ceremony, event planner Eliana Baucicault revealed that Marcille had told her that all she needed was ‘her man and her fashion.’
In the end she got considerably more than just that with an extravagant wedding that saw the midtown venue, once a Macy’s department store, transformed into a flower-filled grotto, lit by candles below and chandeliers above.
In keeping with the characteristic RHOA extravagance, the wedding cost north of $200,000. More than $20,000 of that budget was spent on the 12,000 white roses and armloads of white orchids and hydrangea blooms intended to fill the venue with ‘romance.’
The centerpiece of the room was a freestanding circular wall brimming with flowers that cascaded onto the stage and flanked the couple as they exchanged their vows.
Eva had no less than three dress changes, but the showstopper that drew a tear from her groom and gasps from their 235 guests was her voluminous wedding gown.
The haute couture mass of sparkling skirt and train came from Daughters of Nonyelum, International Haute Couture and Hollywood Royal Showroom. The bride paired it with a glittering tiara but no veil.
Eva said, ‘I have been fortunate as a model to wear the most amazing designers and the most beautiful gowns so today I wanted to look like a bride, [and] I wanted to feel like a bride and I wanted a wedding dress, and now I feel like a princess.’
But Marcille pointed out, ‘To know me is to know I’m still practical.’
Beneath the billowing gown, the bride wore Gucci sneakers – blinged out with dazzling studs.
Marcille’s four-year-old daughter by music star ex Kevin McCall, Marley Rae was the flower girl. She wore a mini version of her mother’s magnificent gown and scattered cream rose petals down the aisle.
Marcille said, ‘My daughter was just so excited to be in the wedding.
‘She doesn’t really understand though, she’s like, “Okay Mommy, you marry daddy I’ll marry Mikey.” Mind you Mikey’s her little brother.’
Baby Michael, Marcille’s child with Sterling was born on April 13. He was carried down the aisle in a miniature tuxedo by Dolce and Gabbana.
All of Marcille’s fellow RHOA cast mates were there to witness as she and Sterling exchanged traditional as well as self-penned vows.
The groom promised his ‘unconditional, unrelenting,’ love.
He brought tears to his bride’s eyes as he vowed, ‘To journey with you towards the same horizon and if the time comes that God decides to take you, I will ask Her if She will let me be with you because I don’t want to be in this life without you.’
Marcille took a moment to gather her emotions before responding with vows of her own.
She addressed Sterling as ‘My king, my prince, my knight in a very sharp tux,’ and recalled the night she met him at a restaurant in Atlanta.
She said, ‘I went home that night and I told my nanny, “Tonight I went on a date with my future husband.”
She continued, ‘I know without a doubt I was designed for you. We were written.’
After the rings were exchanged the congregation erupted into applause as Pastor Ozzie Smith Jr declared the couple man and wife and said, ‘You may kiss the bride.’
The bridal party – seven bridesmaids in burgundy gowns, seven groomsmen and a Man rather than Maid of Honor for the bride, makeup artist Terrell Mullins, was played out down the aisle by the song, ‘Signed, Sealed, Delivered.’
RHOA may be known for its drama but Marcille made it clear that she wanted a day filled with romance and free from the wig-pulling histrionics that have made the Atlanta version of the Bravo reality show franchise such a hit.
Led by show queen bee, NeNe Leakes, 51, cast members Kandi Burruss, 42, a heavily pregnant Porsha Williams, 37, Cynthia Bailey, 50, Marlo Hampton, 46, and newcomer Shamari Devoe, 38, appeared to have taken that to heart and to have come determined to ‘play nice.’
The champagne, wine and cocktails flowed as guests crowded into the upstairs balcony while staff flipped the ceremonial room for a sit down dinner that featured a serpentine top table – shaped like an ‘S’ in honor of the couple’s newly shared last name, Sterling.
A note placed on each table reminded guests to ‘respect the sanctity of the moment’ and abstain from using cell phones or posting anything on social media.
In fact cell phones had been confiscated on the way into the ceremony. Meanwhile eight Bravo TV crews were there to record it all for posterity – and season 11.
Marcille had requested vodka and pineapple juice as her drink of choice for the evening. The groom requested a ready supply of Old Fashioneds.
After cocktail hour and bridal party photographs, guests sat down to a meal of kale, cranberry and goat cheese salad and roasted cauliflower soup.
A choice of entrees followed: port wine braised boneless beef short ribs, thyme and tangerine marinated chicken breast with chardonnay butter sauce, fontina cheese risotto and julienne squash, seared salmon with fennel spinach cream, vegetable napoleon, grilled vegetables and roasted red pepper coulis and seared caramelized onion potato cake with a spicy tomato ragout.
Dessert was a dulce de leche pana cotta, apple compote and one of two wedding cakes.
The bride’s cake featured alternate layers of lemon and strawberry pound cakes. The groom’s was a rich chocolate cake designed to look like an open cigar box.
Keke Wyatt performed as the cakes were cut and the guests partied late into the night.
