Grace Ormonde, the wedding bible featured this story and I just had to share……
“There was never enough time in the day for me to spend with her: 24 hours wasn’t enough.”
When Earl Watson led Jennifer Freeman to a candlelit lily pond and asked her to close her eyes, he expected his proposal to elicit “a hug and kiss—not a punch.” Startled to see the NBA point guard on bended knee, the television and film actress jabbed him playfully and demanded: “This had better be for real.” After all, she’d arrived at Virginia Robinson Gardens to represent Earl at a Christmas Eve charity event—or so she thought. Earl’s scheme nearly fell through though when his flight was canceled. As they danced to her favorite song, “At Last” by Etta James, “It was surreal,” admits Jennifer, who didn’t expect her beau to make it, much less a ring.
After meeting a few months earlier at a summer barbecue, their paths crossed repeatedly, and they often found themselves lost in conversation. “Destiny had a way of putting us in front of each other,” Earl believes. “There was never enough time in the day for me to spend with her: Twenty-four hours wasn’t enough.”
Earl’s godfather, television producer Ed. Weinberger, insisted they wed at his Bel Air estate. “We couldn’t have picked a better place,” says Jennifer. As she prepared for the ceremony, flowers arrived with a two-word note: At Last. “I didn’t want to start crying, but I couldn’t help it,” Jennifer recalls. Earl’s second note, with a diamond heart necklace, made her laugh: “It’s too late to run.”
Walking down the aisle with her mother, “I was so excited that I wanted to burst,” Jennifer remembers. Earl “looked at me like there was no one else there, and I was the most beautiful woman in the world. I wanted to cherish that moment forever.”
Although Earl was determined, “there’s no way I’m going to cry,” he was soon caught off guard. “The agreement was: We would say traditional vows, then we wanted to say something to each other from the heart.” Instead, “Jennifer pulled out vows that had been written down and looked like they’d been proofread and rewritten three times. “She said the most amazing words. It came from the deepest spot in her heart. I couldn’t compete,” laments Earl, who sparked laughter when he blurted: “You made me cry.”
“He’s always been able to express himself,” says Jennifer. “I wanted to write something and tell him exactly how I felt. I wanted it on tape, so he could replay it.”
More than two-hundred guests joined the newlyweds at the Montage Beverly Hills for dinner and dancing. “Everyone was genuinely happy for us, which created so much positive energy,” Earl says. “We were the last ones there,” says Jennifer, and as they swayed to “At Last” and “Unforgettable,” she thought, “I couldn’t have dreamed of a better wedding.”
The couple hosted a post-wedding barbecue before their week-long Turks and Caicos honeymoon. Although their careers sometimes require time apart, “We’re constantly in touch, talking on the phone, texting,” says Jennifer. “He knows everything about me, good and bad.” “There’s nothing that Jennifer could ever do or say that would stop me from being in love with her,” Earl assures. “It’s unconditional love—forever.”
Article by Kim Knox Beckius
Reception and Caterer: Montage Beverly Hills, CA; Cake: Nancy Kay’s Confections Los Angeles, CA; Event Planner: Kimberly Bradford Event Planning and Design Costa Mesa, CA; Florist: Nisie’s Enchanted Florist Los Alamitos, CA; Groom’s Attire: élevée Van Nuys, CA; Wedding Gown: Kenneth Pool; Photography: TripleCord Photography Ladera Ranch, CA
Inspired by Jennifer and Earl,
Violaine Diogene
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