They say, do what you love and everything else falls into place. Those words certainly rang true for Marcus (right) and Chris Wilson-Smith, who were married December 13, at the Sunny Gables Estate in La Canada Flintridge, Calif.
The couple first met at an event for the LGBT community, in which both are very active, Marcus Smith as the former vice president of L.A. Black LGBT Pride and Chris Wilson a coordinator for the Gay-Straight Alliance Network.
Chris, 28, is a graduate of Wiley College and currently works as a research associate at University of California, Los Angeles. He is the son of Terrie Woods and Christopher Wilson, Sr., both of Los Angeles.
Marcus, 31, is an Emmy Award-winning senior news producer at KTLA 5 in Los Angeles. He was raised in Milwaukee and attended the University of Wisconsin. He is the son of Lorena Smith and Clarence Armstead of Chicago.
Chris proposed to Marcus just after midnight on Christmas Day. "It was like a scavenger hunt, there were clues on a card and the ring was hidden in several boxes, not to mention tickets to see Celine Dion in Vegas," Marcus says. "It was one of the best moments of my life."
"It took a village to put our wedding together, friends and coworkers helping to make our day special," Marcus adds about their special day. "Everyone was hanging something or carrying a chair right up until the last second, so we never got a chance to rehearse, believe it or not. Eventually we were forced into our rooms to change so we couldn't see the finishing touches until we walked out, and everything was so beautiful--we tear up just thinking about it. As the ceremony got underway, no one could tell but we were literally directing the ceremony from the alter with our eyes and slight hand gestures."
Photos by Cher Calvin
