Twenty-two ballerinas from Philadanco carried her shawl, made by costume designer Perry Meek, up the 72 steps. Vincent met her halfway as Diana Ross’s “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” played. Arm in arm, they walked to the top together, Sheryl in a pair of Christian Dior Tribales pumps.
“Sheryl was beautiful—is beautiful,” Vincent says of his wife. “Coming up those steps? She was just all of that and a bag of barbecue potato chips.”
Sheryl’s daughter, Coco, helped style her mother for the moment. “Fashion for me is absolute theater,” Sheryl says. “I come from the stage, and I love the drama of what you bring on the stage.” Instead of a veil—which felt more appropriate for a first wedding—they envisioned a shawl with an eye-popping length that only a veteran of the stage and screen could pull off. Meek, known for his work with Lady Gaga, Cher, and Janet Jackson, instantly understood the assignment. She wore it over a custom white dress by Monsoori Haute Couture. For accessories, Sheryl chose a diamond Cartier watch.
The couple said their own vows, which centered on the power of love as well as community, in front of guests including Al Roker, Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania Austin Davis, and Sheryl’s sorority sisters from Delta Sigma Theta.
Afterward, it was time to head inside the museum for the reception, which included a dance by Philandco as well as a surprise performance from Sheryl herself, who sang “L-O-V-E” by Nat King Cole. (In addition to her award-winning turn in Abbott Elementary, she was famously nominated for a Tony playing Deena Jones in the original Broadway production of Dreamgirls.)
In light of their milestone, do Vincent and Sheryl have any marriage advice? Sheryl offers the following: “Don’t give up on love. Don’t give up on a union. Don’t give up on a commitment to each other.”
Below, go inside Sheryl Lee Ralph and Senator Vincent Hughes’s vow renewal in Philadelphia.
