THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, January 13, 1995 TAG: 9501110120
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 10 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover Story
SOURCE: BY JANIE BRYANT, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 149 lines
IT WAS A FLORIST'S dream order.
Do the whole church lavishly. One thousand red roses and an appropriate accompaniment of lacy white Fuji mums, snapdragons and carnations.
Add plenty of gold to flicker in the light of 100 candles - touches of gilded ribbon and curly stems and the glitter of miniature lights strewn through about 75 yards of handmade garland.
Not to mention, 100 yards of gold lame draped artistically around the rich mahogany balcony and stained glass windows of Third Baptist Church.
Late Friday night and into the wee hours of the morning, people ``peeked'' into the church to see the splendor setting the stage for the marriage of comedian Martin Lawrence and hometown beauty Patricia Southall.
It took four days and 40 to 60 hours to create this breathtaking vision - a scene to make any florist cry tears of joy.
But later that day, Charles Etheridge, owner of Portsmouth Floral Co., could have cried tears of anguish.
He was told to take it all apart and move it to the Marriott Hotel in Norfolk.
Etheridge admits he ``felt really hurt at the time.'' But when you're being paid five figures, you don't waste time wallowing in an artist's wounded pride.
``I stopped everything at the store,'' Etheridge said, adding that he called in three other employees to join the 10 at the store.
The groom sent over three trucks to help transport the flowers and decorations.
In about two hours, Etheridge and his staff had managed to relocate and rebuild the vision of flowers and golden light in a square ballroom at the Norfolk hotel.
To the florist's credit, whatever trauma went on behind the scenes went unnoticed.
``Everything seemed to be as if it were planned there,'' said Mary Sue Davis, a board member of the Miss Portsmouth Seawall Festival pageant, which Southall won in 1993. ``It looked like there had never been any disruption in their plans.''
So while the wedding guests took in the elaborate wedding in one ballroom, Etheridge and his staff went to another ballroom and worked their magic on the rooms set aside for the reception and dinner.
Besides 65 table centerpieces, there were a dozen columns to decorate with the wedding's regal colors of red, white and gold.
Meanwhile in Portsmouth, the hundreds of people who had crowded about the church at Godwin and Queen finally had faced facts.
``We probably had 500 or 600 people . . . who started lining up at 10 or 11 in the morning,'' said Jimmy Ennis, a police department spokesman.
Police officers at the church were told that a decision had been made early in the morning to keep everything at the Marriott, Ennis said.
``The only thing they told us was that they had received threats,'' Ennis said. ``They didn't tell us what kind of threats.''
The officers were asked to remain at the church because some guests might not be reached in time to keep them from showing up at the church. They also needed to be there to make sure vans and workers would be able to get in and get the flowers and music equipment.
``Even after we told (the crowd) the wedding wasn't going to be there, they didn't believe us,'' Ennis said. ``They hung around until we left at 4.''
At that point, some joined the crowds that hung around the Marriott for hours hoping to catch a glimpse of a celebrity or two.
When Kay Sykes, director of the Seawall Festival pageant, walked through the crowds, some shouted, ``Who are you? Who are you?''
``I said `Nobody,' '' she said Monday. ``I should have made up a name.''
Many of the wedding guests did meet people like the cast of Lawrence's show, Will Smith (Fresh Prince) and Sweetpea Whitaker. But some admitted they hailed from a different generation, and they didn't recognize a lot of the celebrities that younger guests might have known.
``I'm sure there were celebrities that were there,'' Davis said. ``But they didn't dress any differently, and they didn't come there to stand out. I think they deserve their private time just like we all do.''
Like many of Southall's friends, Davis was more taken by the ceremony, and especially the bride, to pay attention to the out-of-towners on the guest list.
Sykes said what she will remember about that day is ``that she was probably the most beautiful bride that I've ever seen in my life. He just beamed when she walked down the aisle.''
Marlene Randall, a retired teacher who watched the Southall sisters grow up, agreed.
``The bride was radiant,'' she said. ``I hope (the wedding) was everything she dreamed it would be.''
It certainly was everything a lot of other people dreamed it would be.
Guests described the bridal gown as an off-white, form-fitting gown that flared a little at the bottom and had fur at the cuffs. The gown was slightly off-the-shoulder and was covered with lace, encrusted with diamond-like jewels and crystals that glittered in the candlelight.
Her veil, with crystal teardrops hanging down, was attached to a headpiece that one guest described as Elizabethan. Another guest said the veil seemed ``just molded for her face . . . like it was just for Pat.''
The bridesmaids wore cream off-the-shoulder gowns, which also had beading and pearls at the top. Hostesses wore similar dresses in crimson.
After the wedding ceremony, guests were served hors d'oeuvres for 90 minutes at a reception, which preceded a sit-down dinner.
The entree was a Cornish game hen filled with rice with a Grand Marnier demiglace. There were prawns filled with crab meat, corn and cabbage slaw and a yam duchess potato. Dessert was a tiramisu on a cocoa-dusted plate.
Along with the wedding toasts and rituals, Southall's sorority sisters sang a song for her.
Deloris Overton, city registrar, gave high marks to retired Lt. Col. Warren and Dora Harris, who directed the wedding.
The Portsmouth couple are longtime friends of the Southalls.
Davis also liked the details that made the wedding so personal and enjoyable for such a large number of guests, like arranging tables so that guests sat with people with whom they were acquainted.
Davis and her husband sat with friends such as Sykes; Hugh Copeland, director of the Hurrah Players; Jeff Bunn, a director of the Miss Chesapeake pageant; and Mr. and Mrs. John Thigpen.
The Thigpens' daughter, Angela, a former Miss Portsmouth Seawall Festival, was the bridesmaid who caught the bouquet.
Davis and her husband arrived at the wedding at 3:30 that afternoon and got home after midnight. The band was still playing when they left.
But what Davis will remember most is how happy the couple seemed.
``They were just all smiles,'' she said.
For all the talk and rumor about who would or wouldn't be at the wedding, only one person's absence was noted.
The bride and groom paid tribute to Southall's mother, Mildred, who died in June of 1993, with an inscription in the wedding program:
``This special day is in loving memory of Mildred B. Southall, mother of the bride. The warmth of her love is ever present, especially on our wedding day. May her love perpetually shine upon our union, Pat and Martin.''
Randall, the retired teacher, has no doubt Southall's mother was there Saturday. She remembers that breath-taking moment when she saw the bride walking down the aisle on her father's arm.
``I believe on this day, Mildred looked down and smiled down on her.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo on cover
Staff photos by MARTIN SMITH-RODDEN
A Portsmouth police officer stands guard at the Third Baptist Church
after telling disappointed crowds the wedding had been moved to
Norfolk.
Police controlled the Portsmouth crowds, many of whom stayed through
the day waiting for a glimpse of celebrities who never left
Norfolk's Marriott Hotel.
Photos
The wedding brought together comedian Martin Lawrence and hometown
beauty Patricia Southall, who was Miss Portsmouth Seawall Festival
in 1993.
by CNB