*Actress Kim Coles and former SWAT cop Reggie Mckiver tied the knot on June 17 at Paradisus Palma Real in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, according to People.com.
As previously reported, the former “Living Single” star met her husband when he was assigned to be her security escort at a natural hair expo. Mckiver, who also owns a health food store, took her hand to read her energy and ended up holding it “a little big longer than he should have,” said Coles.
“[My heart] was open just enough for Reggie to come though and I’m so glad he did,” she continued. “I’m 53 and Reggie is 41 but I’m not a cougar. I can’t run that fast. I’m a meerkat or a prairie dog. It’s about the right energy. It wasn’t like I was trolling for younger men. It’s about energy. We’re ageless. Just two people on the same plane.”
After a long-distance relationship, Mckiver surprised her by proposing without a ring at an Olive Garden (“I didn’t have a stitch of makeup on!” Coles says, while Mckiver jokes, “I was just going to ask for the eggplant parmesan!”). But in a stroke of luck, he found his mom’s long-missing engagement ring at his sister’s house to give to Coles, and the wedding planning was set into motion.
The couple called their closest friends and family and asked if they could make it to D.R. for an intimate ceremony, but it ended up a lot bigger when she announced at a comedy gig that she’d be getting married that week. (“Me with my big mouth announced I was getting married! People asked where and I was like, you can’t come, it’s a private wedding. We had to move the wedding from one beach to a whole other beach, but all the people from the tour showed up — 45 people in their bathing suits and towels — but they were very respectful.”)
The dress?
Coles wore a strapless tulle dress with mermaid hem.
“It was light and breezy and perfect for the beach. It was something I could zhuzz up … that wasn’t over the top,” she told People. “I knew I was going to be carrying it thousands of miles away, and I knew I didn’t want to carry it in a separate garment bag. I folded that dress and put it in my suitcase and then just hung it up and in the humidity it steamed itself!”
Coles’ accessories were also low maintenance. “The belt that I wore was a scarf that I have had for years,” she said. “Same with the earrings. The shoes were some $10 silver glitter thongs from Target. I didn’t need any red-bottom shoes if I was going to be walking on the beach! The bracelets I already owned. It was pretty, lovely and simple. Not overdone. I didn’t stress about the dress. It just all fell into place. It was just easy — just like the relationship has been. Aside from the fact that I don’t know how to cook. But he does!”
And the cake?
“The adorable edible butterflies were from Etsy,” Coles told People. Made by the in-house bakers at the wedding venue, the two-tiered cake included a strawberry-filled vanilla layer on top and a chocolate layer on the bottom.
“Chocolate cake is our favorite, but we wanted everyone to be happy” explains Coles, who invited just 25 people — including her baby brother and McKiver’s seven sisters (five of whom were able to attend) — to their ceremony on the beach.
Though Coles says their intimate wedding was “lovely,” she admits there was one downside to the festivities’ picturesque setting: “We had to cut the cake before the butterflies melted in the tropical humidity!”
Though this wedding was small, the couple has a second wedding coming up August 21 that will be planned by celebrity party planner David Tutera. “It couldn’t be any better,” she said. “Now we’ll have bridesmaids and groomsmen. It’ll be a whole other thing. We got to have our own private thing and now we get to have the big extravaganza.”
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