A DC Love Story
On January 15, 2023, Erika and Wendell will gather with loved ones at the beautiful Lorian Hotel in Alexandria, VA to renew their vows after 25 years of marriage.
Erika and Wendell first met in college in 1988. At the time, Wendell was a just a freshman and Erika was a sophomore. As fate would have it, he hired her to tutor him in Spanish. As the months passed, they became close friends and eventually started dating. After graduation, Erika went to law school. A year later, Wendell started medical school. Although their graduate programs were in different cities, they dated long distance and remained very close. After school, they made the decision to move to the same city and to finally get married. They were married in 1997, a year into his Wendell’s residency, and went on to have 3 beautiful children. The next two decades were spent pursuing their careers and raising their family.
In July of 2018, Erica woke up with terrible stomach pains. She had always dealt with stomach issues, so she didn’t think much of it. She was under 50 and wasn’t a candidate for annual colonoscopies yet. Eventually, the pain became too much to bear, and she was referred to a gastric doctor. She had a CT scan which revealed a blockage and a tumor. She was diagnosed with stage 3 colon cancer. She underwent surgery and 9 difficult months of chemotherapy. Sadly, this past year her cancer spread. She is currently undergoing more treatment in hopes of slowing the spread of her disease.
We were honored to meet this beautiful couple and have been deeply touched by their resilient spirt. We’re thrilled to grant this vow renewal wish and are truly humbled by the outpouring of love from our impressive wish granting team, lead by Jazmin Portnow of Anyvent Event Planning.
So much gratitude for this wonderful crew:
Wedding Planner: Jazmin Portnow, Anyvent Event Planning @anyvent_eventplanning
Venue and Catering: Lorien Hotel & Spa @lorienhotel
Florist: Flor de Casa Designs @flordecasa_designs
Photography: 3 Cats Photo @3catsphoto
Videography: Rivion Films, LLC @rivionweddingfilms
DJ: Batchelor Party @batchelor.party
Beauty: Priscilla M Beauty @priscillambeauty
Gown: David’s Bridal @davidsbridal
