THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, January 5, 1995 TAG: 9501050389
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
LENGTH: Long : 103 lines
If you haven't yet received your invitation to the Pat Southall/Martin Lawrence wedding this Saturday, don't feel slighted - even the father of the bride had to pull a few strings.
The marriage ceremony of the television comic and Virginia beauty queen being held at Portsmouth's Third Baptist Church is proving to be the most exclusive, and restrictive, ticket in town.
Talk about a tough ticket. When Portsmouth goes Hollywood, invitations go to husbands, but not wives. Pat's supporters, who go back as far as her days as Miss Portsmouth Seawall, get kicked to the curb. City officials get snubbed. Even some distant family members get the boot.
Of course Henry Southall, Pat's father, was invited, but until recently his girlfriend was persona non grata.
That's pretty much the way it's been with this affair.
No cameras. No video equipment.
One person per ticket. Strictly black tie!
Sources close to the wedding (and I mean really close) said Henry Southall, 67, threatened to walk his daughter down the aisle and then promptly walk out of the church if his 40-something-year-old sweetheart wasn't welcome.
The father began dating her six months after his wife, Mildred, died of breast cancer two years ago. (You didn't hear this from me, but one of his two daughters thought that a little too soon).
Wedding tickets are being issued with invitations. Off-duty police officers are being conscripted by the dozen to care for all the Hollywood glitterati expected to attend.
Eddie Murphy, Arsenio Hall, Patti LaBelle, Peabo Bryson, and the entire cast of Lawrence's sitcom ``Martin'' are just some of the Hollywood types expected.
Limousines will be making the trek from Norfolk's Waterside Marriott Hotel, where the top four floors have been set aside, to the humble little church in the river city.
Ebony magazine has exclusive paparazzi rights, and like his mentor Murphy's wedding, Martin's will be featured on an upcoming cover.
Not since Charles and Diana has there been a wedding so grandiose.
Pat's registered at Nordstrom, Robinson May, and Hecht's, where she's not yet gotten one of her gold-plated Oneida flatware, but she's done pretty well so far on her Lenox Eternal china.
Bridesmaids: 18 of them. An equal number of groomsmen. Ushers: who can count them?
And to think: all this in the shadow of the Ida Barbour public housing complex. Church Pastor Joe B. Fleming told Pat and Martin last weekend that he couldn't close off his church to his members, as the couple had requested.
Onlookers will no doubt flock to get a glimpse of the affair, and who can blame them?
It's not often that Hollywood does Portsmouth.
If you haven't yet received your invitation to the Pat Southall/Martin Lawrence wedding this Saturday, don't feel slighted - even the father of the bride had to pull a few strings.
The marriage ceremony of the television comic and Virginia beauty queen being held at Portsmouth's Third Baptist Church is proving to be the most exclusive, and restrictive, ticket in town.
Talk about a tough ticket. When Portsmouth goes Hollywood, invitations go to husbands, but not wives. Pat's supporters, who go back as far as her days as Miss Portsmouth Seawall, get kicked to the curb. City officials get snubbed.
Of course Henry Southall, Pat's father, was invited, but until recently his girlfriend was persona non grata.
That's pretty much the way it's been with this affair.
No cameras. No video equipment.
One person per ticket. Strictly black tie!
Sources close to the wedding (and I mean really close) said Henry Southall, 67, threatened to walk his daughter down the aisle and then promptly walk out of the church if his 40-something-year-old sweetheart wasn't welcome.
The father began dating her two months after his wife, Mildred, died of breast cancer in 1992. (You didn't hear this from me, but one of his two daughters thought that a little too soon.)
Wedding tickets are being issued with invitations. Off-duty police officers are being conscripted by the dozen to care for all the Hollywood glitterati expected to attend.
Eddie Murphy, Arsenio Hall, Patti LaBelle, Peabo Bryson and the entire cast of Lawrence's sitcom ``Martin'' are just some of the Hollywood types expected among the 600 or so guests.
Limousines will traverse the tube from Norfolk's Waterside Marriott Hotel, where the top four floors have been set aside, to the humble little church in the river city.
Ebony magazine has exclusive paparazzi rights, and like his mentor Murphy's wedding, Martin's will be featured on an upcoming cover.
Not since Charles and Diana has there been a wedding so grandiose.
Pat's registered at Nordstrom, Robinson May and Hecht's, where she's not yet gotten a single place setting of her gold-plated Oneida flatware, but where she's ``done pretty well'' so far on her Lenox Eternal china.
Bridesmaids: 18 of them. An equal number of groomsmen. Ushers: who can count them?
And to think: all this in the shadow of the Ida Barbour public housing complex. Church Pastor Joe B. Fleming told Pat and Martin last weekend that he couldn't close off his church to his members, as the couple had requested.
Onlookers will no doubt flock to get a glimpse of the affair, and who can blame them?
It's not often that Hollywood does Portsmouth. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
MARK MITCHELL/Staff
by CNB