2nd September, 2000 -
Marriage
"Don't wait for the one you can live with, wait for the one you can't live without."
- Brian
He's one of Pop's number-one pin-up boys, and she's the all-American girl on the verge of movie stardom. As one of the five stars of the world's biggest-selling boy band, the Backstreet Boys, Brian Littrell is used to big occasions, but even huge concerts and the adoration of the masses couldn't prepare him for his big day - his wedding to actress Leighanne Wallace.
Brian Littrell is a fortunate man - and doesn't he know it? As well as being one of the five men who make up the global pop phenomenon, the Backstreet Boys (their last album, Millennium, has sold a staggering 30 million copies worldwide), he is marrying actress Leighanne Wallace next month.
After two years of physical and emotional heartache, the happy day marked a new start for the singer fans known as B-Rok.
'Just two years ago, the singer was battling for his life after he underwent open-heart surgery to correct a hole-in-the-heart defect he had had since birth. And then, only a few months later, his beloved grandfather died. But meeting Leighanne on the set of the Backstreet Boys video, As Long As You Love Me, three years ago, has been enough to help Brian through his darkest days. He still refers to their first meeting as 'the day I met the rest of my life.'
But Brian came very close to losing all of this. In November 1997, doctors discovered that a congenital hole in Brian's heart had enlarged to dangerous proportions. Leighanne threatened to leave the Backstreet Boy after twice postponing a life-saving open-heart surgery operation to repair a hole in his heart for six months. Instead, he went on tour with the band to meet his group's touring commitments. Finally, Leighanne gave Brian the ultimatum: 'Have surgery or lose me and your health.'
She adds: 'It was tearing me apart to know he was risking his life. Now, he has been given a second chance, and it's terrific. He has a scar across his chest, reminding him daily of how lucky he is to be alive. But there was no way I would let him die, even if that meant leaving him.'
Brian admits it was foolish, and Leighanne's decision to walk out on him made him realize how selfish he was, finally going under the surgeon's knife in May of the following year. He says: 'The saddest thing is that I scheduled open-heart surgery around my work schedule. It was like nobody cared or felt necessary because my career was moving on.
'Music is my love, but it's also my job. Some things that aren't now used to be taken for granted - time with your family and enjoying the fruits of your labor. I'm trying to figure out ways to hang my hat at the end of the day.' And now he doesn't take any chances. 'I have a medic and oxygen for whenever I get short of breath on stage. I take excellent care of myself,' he says.
But Leighanne is not worried about her fiancé's health. Instead, the (now healthy) organ in question is what makes her own heart beat faster.
A Backstreet Boys spokesman confirmed the couple is to wed very soon. However, he explained that the actual day is being kept a secret from everyone, including their record company, to reduce publicity surrounding the event. In a recent interview, Leighanne explained that she and Brian hoped the event would be 'as intimate as possible,' much like the very private wedding of Bri's cousin Kevin Richardson. Littrell and Wallace became engaged in December.
Backstreet Boys fans have been in overdrive in chat rooms on the band's various Internet websites since the couple got engaged on Christmas night 1999 at her family's home in Marietta.
Soon after they were engaged last Christmas, Backstreet Boys singer Brian Littrell and his future bride, actress Leighanne Wallace, pledged to wed the old-fashioned way -- without a prenup.
"We don't need one," Littrell told PEOPLE. "I felt I was married the moment I met Leighanne. We believe in marriage, and this will be our only one."
You may want to know even more before your long cry exactly where and when the blessed event between Backstreet Boy Brian Littrell and his betrothed will occur.
Brian, the wedding planner
After dating for three years, Brian and actress Leighanne Wallace tied the knot in late summer. While BSB took a break between albums and tours, Brian and Leighanne worked closely together on a film project and their wedding preparations.
"We're spending the rest of our lives together, why not plan the wedding together?" says Leighanne, revealing that her groom helped her to pick out colors, the menu, and flowers. "it's a team effort, and it always has to be when a relationship is involved," adds Brian. "she's dreamed all of her life of having a fairy-tale wedding... and I'm going to do everything I possibly can to make her dreams come true."
However, Leighanne did reveal a few details about the day, reporting that the wedding will take place near Atlanta, Georgia, close to where she and Brian live, and that her two sisters will be maids of honor. Leighanne will wear a wedding gown designed by Vera Wang, who was also responsible for Victoria Beckham's wedding dress. There will be seven bridesmaids, a flower girl, six groomsmen, and one ring bearer for the nuptials. None of the Boys will sing or be in the wedding party; Wallace said she just wanted them to relax, have fun, and have a good time.
Brian and Leighanne had a tough choice regarding electing a best man and ushers. The groom's bandmates were an obvious choice, but the couple chose not to ask them because such a task would interfere with their demanding schedules.
'We just knew that with their schedules, the boys wouldn't be able to fit in all the rehearsals we needed to have. Even Brian struggled to attend some of them!'
And what's more, Brian's cousin and bandmate, Kevin Richardson, had enough to keep him busy with his recent wedding to Kristin Willits.
"Everyone knows we are getting married in September in Georgia, but we keep the exact date a secret. We want to keep it as intimate as we can."
The wedding, which will take place in the Atlanta area, is set for Sept. 2. Fellow Backstreeters Kevin, Nick Carter, A.J. McLean, and Howie Dorough are expected to be Brian’s ushers on the big day.
We've sworn to secrecy about the exact locale of the September wedding by The Backstreet Bride, who doesn't wish to share the nitty-gritty on her impending nuptials.
Who can blame her?
The couple was so concerned about preteen security breaches and paparazzi party poopers that they had everyone near the half-million-dollar event sign confidentiality agreements. So, details will have to wait.
'There was a competition on the Internet to see where we were marrying and where the reception might be, so it was hard to keep it under wraps.'
Sorry. To quote the Boys, you may "Want It That Way," but that's "All I Have To Give" to you.
Wallace -- from the Atlanta area, where the couple has bought a 46-acre spread -- told the Sentinel earlier that she was planning a wedding for 200.
"That's been a big, huge thing to deal with," Wallace said. "We sent out 200 invitations. We had to put on the RSVP 'Invited Guests Only,' but we still get them back with six names on them."
They wanted their invitation to double as a keepsake, so A few months later, the couple's friends and family received an unusual invitation in the mail: handmade scrolls in gold mail tubes.
Brian: 'Once upon a time, not so long ago, in a land that peaches grow to ripe perfection, lived a beautiful golden-haired maiden named Leighanne.'
She planned a celebration befitting the Prince Charming of hip-pop and his Cinderella. "We wanted a fairy-tale wedding," explains Wallace. "The wedding had to be a fairy-tale wedding. It needed to be a ball, a gala."
"We wanted every couple that came to the wedding to feel like they were getting married all over again." Brian says, "I've always wanted what my parents have--a wonderful marriage."
Look for an exclusive video of the career-savvy actress's Vera Wang wedding dress on Entertainment Tonight.
Best wishes to them both.
For those keeping count, that's Five Backstreet Boys, Two Boys Down, and three single Heartthrobs. Hurry up, girls. There are currently only three eligible Backstreet Boys left. So, the number of BSB bachelors was reduced to three. In other wedding news, that noise you heard was Wedding bells as the music of choice for the Backstreet Boys on Saturday (September 2), and the sound of thousands of hearts breaking as another teen heartthrobs another one of the members of the Backstreet Boys tied the knot. No, it is not a "vicious" rumor!
Nevertheless, thousands of teenage divas will mourn as the news is out this week. While fans of 'N Sync no doubt cackled and threw a few more eyes of newt into a cauldron, Backstreet Boys fans everywhere beat themselves senseless with their Kevin Richardson-approved truncheon. Because Entertainment Tonight heard from the talented Brian Thomas Littrell - he of the blonde hair and other-worldly cheekbones - one of the members of the world's biggest-selling pop singing boy band, The Backstreet Boys, that he married Marietta native and actress Leighanne Reena Wallace during a 6 p.m. candlelit ceremony at Peachtree Christian Church in the bride's hometown of Atlanta, Georgia in Midtown this past Labor Day weekend, which follows the marriage earlier this year of his cousin Kevin Richardson to his long-time girlfriend.
The couple, who recently bought a house together earlier this year in an Atlanta suburb in suburban Atlanta in North Fulton, somehow managed to get married away from the usual screaming mobs of young fans who usually accompany Backstreet Boys' public appearances. But, unfortunately, Brian and Leighanne's relationship faced one of its most harrowing trials in July when their two Chihuahuas, Lil' Tyk Thomas and Litty Leigh, were dog-napped (see "Backstreet Boy Littrell Falls Victim To Dognapping"). Despite VH1.com's best efforts to convince Brian to get a manlier hound like a Doberman, Littrell coordinated the search effort, and the dogs were returned scared and malnourished but okay.
Littrell, 25, met Wallace, 31, on the group's music video set in Los Angeles in 1997 when the Backstreet Boys were shooting a video for the song "As Long As You Love Me," in which Wallace appeared as an extra. She has also had minor roles and appeared in the film "Wild America," which stars Jonathan Taylor Thomas as "the girl who turns heads," on TV's "Silk Stalkings," in the music video "Here's A Quarter" by fellow Georgian Travis Tritt, and done a Mercedes Benz commercial with Jerry Seinfeld. She's also appeared in another Backstreet Boys music video, "I'll Never Break Your Heart," And she recently finished filming the new film "Olive Juice," an independent romantic comedy, which includes a cameo by Littrell (not to mention their Chihuahua) as a cab driver in the flick. A trailer is available for viewing on the movie's official Web site. Unusually for rock star pairings, Wallace is 30 - meaning she's five years Littrell's senior. "She knocked me off my feet the first time I saw her," Leighanne got the part and, two years later, won a far more critical role--that of Brian's wife. ET has the details on the home video of the couple before the wedding, from the wedding rings to the wedding dress: the marriage license, wedding ring, and rehearsal. On August 21, Leighanne went to New York for the final fitting of her dress design by Vera Wang. The couple visited Atlanta's Cobb County's superior courthouse two days later to get their marriage license. Two weeks before the preparations, Leighanne was prepping her look for the wedding rehearsal and finding a tremendous black number for the rehearsal dinner on August 8.
"She has given him balance in his life," Littrell's friend Jordan Keller says of the couple.
And the romance didn't stop there - the love-sick Brian made the most of his songwriting talents by penning a memorable tune for his new wife and performing it at their wedding reception at Atlanta's prestigious Four Seasons Hotel.
'It doesn't have a title, and I have no plans ever to perform it again or to make it a Backstreet Boys ballad,' Brian beams. 'It's just for Leighanne - I hope she liked it.'
Originally from Lexington, KY, Kentucky-born Littrell, who has recently relocated and has set up a home in North Fulton, Atlanta, with Leighanne, spent the morning of his wedding playing basketball with friends and relatives a short drive from the Peachtree Christian Church in Midtown. The groom fell in love with the sprawling church shortly after proposing to Leighanne.
The couple chose to marry in Atlanta, and Brian hunted for the perfect church. But it wasn't so much the building that impressed the Backstreet Boy. Instead, Pastor Collins, the clergyman overseeing his wedding ceremony, was a great source of comfort for the couple. Friends claim that Brian enjoyed the Pastor's services and boast that he would marry anyone of any denomination in his church - if they agreed to sit down with him and discuss their thoughts and feelings about matrimony.
As Christians, the couple was concerned that some ministers wouldn't marry them as they were already living together.
Leighanne explains: 'I believe it is unfortunate that we were living together because it is not the Christian way, and it is disapproved of. But, then again, we have so little time alone.
'Pastor Collins was very understanding and even suggested we won't have any big surprises Because we had been living together. So that put a lot of our fears at ease.'
'We met with him several times before the wedding, and he was convinced we were right to marry. Both of us have solid faith in God. Without God, we would never have gone through all the craziness surrounding Brian. God and the Church keep me sane.'
The couple says they plan to be regulars at Pastor Collins' services now they've set up a home in Atlanta. Leighanne says: 'We want to make a life and a home there. The people are great.'
Not everything was strictly "traditional." The festivities began August 30 with a coed "panty shower" that endowed Littrell and Wallace with piles of his-and-hers underwear. They asked for "couples showers" rather than bachelor and bachelorette parties so they could be together for the festivities. Instead of a bachelor party, Brian will go golfing with the guys in his bridal party. "My bachelor party was a golf outing with all the guys who were in the wedding." Two nights later, the couple hosted Friday's wedding rehearsal dinner at their sprawling 46-acre spread home in North Fulton, a suburb outside Atlanta, GA, before checking into separate suites at the Four Seasons Hotel. "We separated before midnight after the rehearsal dinner," recalls Leighanne." Here was the most relaxed person you could imagine," Berg says of Wallace. "I had to have a Valium, but she knew everything would be fine."
"There's no place like Atlanta. I'm glad to be back," Wallace said recently. "Brian and I want to make a life and a home here. "People here are great, although when we go out sometimes, I'll tell him, 'Baby, put on some sunglasses.' He's got great eyes; they always give him away when we're out."
Wallace grew up in Marietta. Her mother and stepfather, Shirley and Jack Tolbert, live in a modest Marietta neighborhood full of Georgia pines and ferns. The family lives in a corner two-story house on a circle of 1960s and 1970s vintage dwellings. Neighbors say the home has recently seen its share of activity, with visitors arriving in Mercedes and BMW automobiles.
Jack Tolbert was somewhat philosophical on Friday night: "These young kids get so much attention. I guess too much of anything is a bad thing."
The happy couple also had to use aliases throughout the wedding to thwart the tabloids, settling on an indoor reception for fear of buzzing helicopters. It was forced to evaluate the reception hall, not for charm or size but for security and escape routes.
"You think you'd look at how pretty the ceilings are, but we were looking at how many doors there were and which ones we could get out of."
This is not to say that Wallace regrets tying the knot with Littrell.
"He's honest, he's good and funny, he's everything I've ever wanted," she cooed. "And, of course, he's beautiful."
While Brian was enjoying a last game of basketball as a single man, Leighanne - who has just finished work on her new movie, Olive Juice - was putting the finishing touches to the plans for the day at her family home in Marietta - making sure that obsessive Backstreet Boys fans, who have caused her occasional upset in the past, were still guessing as to the whereabouts of B-Rok's wedding.
But the bride needn't have worried. The fans seemed to respect Brian and his bride-to-be and stayed away. That, and the fact that people from Atlanta can be relied upon for their silence, made sure that Brian and Leighanne's big day was the city's best-kept secret. Leighanne admits it was one of the things that made her wedding day so special after spending months of replying to vicious hate mail from Backstreet Boys fans.
'Most of them are scary,' she reveals. 'I received many emails saying: "You don't deserve to live." It was horrible.'
'I get scared, but I handle it. I send them (the fans) emails saying: "God bless you, and I will pray for You." Some of them write back and apologize, but if they continue to do it, I try to forgive and delete them, but it scares me.'
'I have no way of relating to them,' she adds, 'because I was never a fan of anyone in that way.'
Their big day's anxiety prompted Brian and Leighanne to arrive early at the church. Brian arrived two hours before the ceremony for 'special prayers' with his older brother and best man, Harold Jr. 'I just wanted to make sure everything was okay,' he explains.
Many fans outside the church craned for a glimpse of arriving bandmates, A.J. McLean, Nick Carter, Howie Dorough, and Kevin Richardson, as Littrell became the second Backstreeter of the quintet to forgo single man this summer and graduate from Backstreet Boy to a married man. (Following Littrell's cousin, Kevin Richardson, 28, also a group member, got hitched in June to long-time steady Willits, a dancer). "They look so happy and so in love," bridesmaid Kim Berg says of the couple. "Seeing them makes you never want to settle for anything less."
Although none of the Boys' fans seemed to have caught wind of the nuptials, White and black stretch limousines deposited about 300 formally attired guests, including Brian's bandmates, outside in front of the church just before the wedding ceremony, which was kept quiet enough to avoid the usual mob of young fans that follow the chart-topping band, six Atlanta police officers were on hand to provide security and monitor the area for any disruption.
On the wedding morning, New York hairstylist Allan White began working to give Leighanne the look of a princess.
Leighanne: It took four hours, and I guess six hairpieces, and we got the fairy-tale hair. I mean, I gave him a picture, and he bettered the picture.
And to go with the fairy-tale hair came a Vera Wang dress in the grand style of an 18th-century ball gown.
The Dress: Meanwhile, Inside one of the church's anterooms, in keeping with the storybook motif, the bride walked down the aisle in an elegant 18th-century Victorian champagne-colored Vera Wang-designed (who also designed her seven attendants' gowns), white ivory silk faille satin tight-bodiced beaded dress with a cape and a corset with intricate cross-stitching and detachable sleeves and huge full skirt which flowed outward from the waist fit for a modern-day Cinderella with white satin platform pumps with crystal buckles - fearing that a trip from home to the church in a limousine would ruin the design of the white satin outfit. "I wanted a dress with the feel of Dangerous Liaisons, and she made my dream come true," Leighanne says. "The dress takes 30 minutes to get into. It stands up by itself in the corner, you step into the dress, zip, and then tie the corset." The glow of a multitude of candles at the evening service enhanced the gown. Wallace hid the dress in "a secret closet [of their home], so Brian would be surprised," says Berg. It worked. "He was breathless when he saw her come down the aisle." Though it's been 20 years since Brian saw his bride walk down the aisle — — the pop star still has vivid memories of the emotional moment. When his bride walks down the aisle, Brian says, "The church doors in the back are monstrous, and when the doors opened, Leigh was so far away. I was speechless. When I heard the first musical note, and the organ started playing, and I was like "gulp," you know, this is really happening." There were seven bridesmaids and a flower girl wearing champagne gold dresses.
In contrast, the groom and his six groomsmen and one ring bearer wore classic traditional charcoal grey tuxedos by the Italian designer Brioni, complete with dashing (drumroll) top hats (seriously) for the event during the conventional 35-minute media- and fan-free service candlelit ceremony. Littrell removed his top hat during his vows. "We had worked to get there just to that point to start our lives together, and it's gotten better ever since."
The Ceremony: In the majestic setting of the Peachtree Christian Church in Atlanta, in front of 300 of their friends and family, Brian and Leighanne proclaimed their love for each other in a poignant religious ceremony. Like so many brides, Leighanne Wallace dreamed of a fairy-tale wedding, and to add to the magic of the moment, the bride and groom's wedding bands arrived at the altar enclosed in a miniature carriage made of pure gold. Brian's wedding band featured white and yellow diamonds, while the bride wore a simple diamond band to compliment her 4-karat canary diamond engagement ring. Brian also apparently designed his wedding band to match Leighanne's. The creative hunk said he wanted a big wedding ring so that everyone could see it when he grabbed the mic -- everyone could see it! The results? It is a gorgeous thick band with caviar beading and canary and white diamonds. Littrell and Wallace vowed to make good on that promise. In addition, the ceremony featured a fairy-tale-themed poem written and read by Tracy Hext, the bride's sister, especially for the occasion. All four of Littrell's bandmates, fellow Backstreet Boys Nick Carter, Howie Dorough, A.J. McLean, and Littrell's cousin newlywed Kevin Richardson, appearing alongside his new wife, Kristin Willits, were all among the 300 guests who attended the traditional 35-minute candlelit ceremony at Peachtree Christian Church, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Brian: Church has always been a big part of my life, and when I met Leighanne, um, we started to go to church together because I feel, and I know she does is, that that's the strength that can help you get through a lot of life's ups and downs. I personally couldn't wait till we got to the end, and Pastor Collins said, "Ladies and gentlemen, may I present to you, Mr. and Mrs. Brian Thomas Littrell," and I was like, "Hu hu hu."
Leighanne: All I could think of was, let's get down that aisle and enjoy all the time, all the preparation and experience, all the love, and let people see the love between us.
Brian: It was like all the pressure was gone, and let the good times begin.
After exchanging the vows, Littrell and Wallace stepped into a vintage black-and-white Rolls Royce with "Just Married" scripted on the back after the stunning church ceremony. The couple then left the church discreetly in a vintage Rolls-Royce, which ferried them to the lavish reception at the Four Seasons Hotel, where they had rented out the entire fourth floor for the occasion.
"Leighanne wanted a gorgeous, fairy-tale wedding, and she got one," said Christy Clark, a friend of Wallace from Atlanta, after the service. "She was stunning."
Although the couple decided against video cameras, the photographs from the reception at Atlanta's Four Seasons Hotel captured the joy that was shared by everyone there.
The Reception: Music has been a binding thread in this couple's love story. The Backstreet Boy met his future spouse at the video shoot for the single "As Long As You Love Me." After the ceremony, in a move that branded it a celebrity wedding, The celebrity-filled wedding party (Brian's friends and family) got escorted by a police motorcade escort to the reception (in true rock 'n' roll backstage fashion, wristbands were required for admittance - another ploy to keep the unwelcome guests away) followed at the local Four Seasons Hotel, with the wedding party taking up the entire fourth floor. A swing band provided the evening's soundtrack music for the reception. Security was reportedly tight, and the party included all four of Littrell's bandmates: Nick Carter, Howie Dorough, A.J. McLean, and the groom's cousin Kevin Richardson, who was accompanied by his new wife, Kristin Willits. It included a buffet dinner, dancing, and Brian's surprise performance of a song he wrote to express his love for his new blushing bride called "Everything."
The couple rented the entire fourth floor of the hotel on 14th Street for the occasion. Upon arriving, Guests wore beige Velcro wristbands and showed identification to gain entrance to the gathering—eager fans dressed as guests and tried to crash the reception. When attendees riding up the elevator to the 4th floor stepped off the hotel elevator onto the 4th floor, they were greeted with a large sign on an easel that read: "No Photographs. No autographs." Leighanne says: 'We didn't want to seem mean, but we just wanted the evening to be as private as possible - just for our families and us.'
The duo shared their first dance as man and wife to a new country ballad called "I'd Do That," which Brian chose because of its lyrics: 'A knight in armor would draw his sword, to defend the woman he adored. Lay down his life in nothing flat; I'd do that.' "When we finally got to dance, the good times began," recalls Brian. "It was a monumental moment, joining families."
Leighanne said she was a little concerned that the night could turn into karaoke central -- with all THE BACKSTREET BOYS in attendance -- so she and Brian planned and instructed the "big band" to start playing a different tune if things got out of hand! A swing band, The J Michael Davis Sound Flights, and the Soundbytes big band played the rhythm of swing music as guests, which included all the members of The Backstreet Boys, danced and were treated to a sumptuous meal of bourbon-roasted ham and sweet-potato biscuits, and paused to admire a white gazebo adorned with starlight bulbs, The showcase for the couple's magnificent five-tiered ($5856.02) wedding cake was on display, embellished with touches of 24-karat gold tassels and a gold chalice wedding topper, which was different because it represents the love, the church, and not just the bride and groom on top, that took three months to finish with over the 10,000 sugar pieces. Adding a masculine touch to the festivities, the groom's cake was formed in the shape of a humidor, a cigar case marked with chocolate cigars on top—both made by Classic Cheesecakes. Delicate white flowers decorated the chairs and tables set up for the 300 guests.
Leighanne: The cake is absolutely magnificent. The gold pieces were 24 karat gold, and everything on the cake was edible.
As well as their wedding cake, the couple also had a unique groom's cake shaped like a humidor with edible cigars. Most of the guests were fooled.
Leighanne: They thought it was cigars, and they were sneaking the cigars and were like, "Are these Savannahs or something?"
Brian: Then they, uh, you know, realized later when they grabbed them in their pocket that they were mushy.
And among the list of suspects included all four of Brian's partners in the Backstreet Boys.
Brian: The guys showed up and, uh, showed their support, and I was very thankful for that.
But the group didn't stay spectators for long.
Brian: Kevin, of course, comes over to me and says, 'You know, do you mind if we get up on stage?' because, you know, we're all hams. We love attention, and so my brother, who was my best man, and Kevin, my cousin, got up on stage and they were singing.
But fellow Backstreet Boy Kevin had one special surprise up his sleeve. The impromptu performance included a rendition of "Brick House" by the Commodores and "Celebration" by Kool & the Gang. Kevin joined best man Harold Jr. for the song, backed by the J. Michael Davis Sound Flights.
Friends say the cousins performed together at family gatherings when they were younger, but Brian and Kevin always looked like they were becoming the family's pop stars.
Leighanne: We had to yank them off the stage, by the way.
Memorable Moments: Kevin and Harold, joined by Brian for an encore, might have surprised the guests with their planned performance, But for Leighanne, her fairy-tale wedding had one more surprise. As her new husband, the groom stole the show when he stepped up to serenade her with a ballad song ("Everything") he had written specifically for the occasion dedicated to his new wife. (She cried joy as her husband sang the tender, untitled love song). "There were a lot of teary eyes," says wedding planner Michele Arwood. "It was a very moving moment." The surprise song left the bride in tears and was one of many special touches on the big day, making it an unforgettable event for Brian and Leighanne.
Brian: I wrote it, especially for her. And it was especially for that moment. Like I put myself in that situation like everything is said and done. How would I feel at that moment?
"Everything"
Beautiful you are
Compassionate is she
You have made me what I am
She's all I hope to be
The world, it lies in you
For filling all my dreams
She is my dream come true
And in just two words, my destiny
Cause you are everything
Everything my heart could ever imagine
Everything you are
Brian: Don't cry, baby.
Upon leaving the reception, guests received photos of the newlyweds printed with the inscription, "And they lived happily ever after." After the reception, Brian and Leighanne have whisked away in a vintage black and white Rolls Royce with 'Just Married' etched on the back.
What about wedding gifts? Has the couple gotten anything cool from celebrities- has Elton John, like, sent some fab saltshakers?
"He did send us these two Versace vases. They're beautiful," Wallace said.
Fans have also been busy unloading their allowances at Dillard's, Macy's, Pottery Barn, and other stores where the lovebirds have registered.
The wedding ceremony and reception went off without incident or being overrun by fans, which was a complete shock to most. InStyle Celebrity Weddings covered the wedding and Their honeymoon in Fiji.
The couple ended the evening dancing together before jetting off on a short honeymoon the next day. And now, Leighanne plans to get a few things straight as they start married life. 'Brian said he wanted us to start a family on our honeymoon, but I've persuaded him to let me have a couple of years for my career.'
25th December, 1999 -
Engagement
The engagement: Brian popped the question to Leighanne in front of her family On Christmas night of 1999, at Leighanne's family suburban Atlanta home where she and her two sisters grew up in Marietta, Ga. — but kept the news of their engagement secret until now.
After dating since 1997, Brian finally decided Leighanne was the one for him and took the plunge. “There’s a right time for everything, I guess,” he says. “It’s like the jumpstart on getting on with life, so I’m looking forward to it.”
The Backstreet Boys star loves a little romance in his life. So he proposed to Leighanne on Christmas last year - after persuading her to join him for a winter picnic. He then shocked her by presenting her with a multi-million dollar diamond ring and asking the question. Like his cousin, fellow Backstreet Boy Kevin, Brian Littrell, 25, also sought permission from the mother of his intended, actress Leighanne Wallace, 30.
"One of the things I love most about Brian is his big heart, and that was what attracted me when we first met," says the Southern belle. The couple has been going out together for three years and first met on a Backstreet Boys video Leighanne appeared in. "It was love at first sight," she reveals, continuing, "Brian is a romance king. He proposed at Christmas in my mom's back garden. It was 30 degrees, and he wanted to have a picnic."
How did Brian propose?
Last Christmas, Brian said he wanted to have a picnic in my mom's garden. "He took me outside, wearing his coat, late in the afternoon and proposed to me surrounded by candles and wine." In addition, she says, "He picked Christmas because it was a time that my family was all in town, and he wanted them to be part of it. He's very thoughtful that way." Leighanne beams: 'It was such a surprise. He said he wanted to go and get a picnic hamper and set it up in my mom's back garden. I thought he was mad - but it seemed like a lovely, romantic idea.' "It was freezing, and so he had loads of blankets. He picked me up, took me downstairs, and carried me into the garden with a blindfold. I know it might sound crazy, but I still had no idea. I just thought: "What a sweetie, he wants to give me a surprise picnic." She admits the rest of the romantic picnic proposal remains in a daze because as soon as she looks into Brian's eyes, she knows exactly what is on his mind. Then, wiping a happy tear away from her eyes, the blushing bride says: "Then he took off the blindfold, and I saw Brian's mouth move, and he started talking, but I was in complete shock, and I can't remember what he said to me."
So you didn't hear him ask?
I know he said prayer first, then got down on one knee and asked me to be his wife. He waited to do it in my parents' house so that I could share it with my family. It was a beautiful time.
The bright, romantic Brian Littrell organized a frosty impromptu Christmas picnic in 32-degree weather at Wallace's mother's suburban Atlanta house where she and her two sisters grew up so he could propose to his long-time girlfriend, Leighanne Wallace. "He proposed on Christmas night at home in [Marietta,] Georgia," Wallace insists Brian popped the question like an old festive film. "It was a total surprise. Brian said he wanted to get a picnic hamper and set it up in my mom's back garden," recalls Wallace. "He insisted that we should go out on a picnic. He said he had a surprise, and It was minus 30° outside, so he had loads of blankets. He picked me up, took me downstairs, and carried me into the garden with a blindfold over my eyes." Leighanne had no clue what Brian was up to. "He was taking me outside, and I thought he bought me a car. It was 32 degrees, and he had a picnic laid out... It only lasted about 10 minutes. After that, we had to get back inside." After that, she thought it was another romantic surprise Brian had given her. "I saw Brian's mouth move, and he started talking, but I was completely shocked, and I can't remember a word he said to me." Brian decided to pop the question in Leighanne's mother's house so the couple could share the celebration with Leighanne's family. Brian: I, uh, got down on my knee, and uh, I had the ring box in my hand, and I said that she means the world to me, which she does, and I've waited my whole life to find someone like her because she's my match.
"Suddenly, he went down on one knee and asked me if I wanted to marry him. I don't remember much of what happened right after, but I have to have said Yes...! It was a beautiful time," says Leighanne. "It was really sweet. I have this peace about me now."
Ten minutes was enough for Wallace to say yes through chattering teeth and for Littrell to slip some more ice on her finger. Brian proposed with a stunning four-karat diamond engagement ring with two white diamond trillions sapphires on the side, flanking in exquisite square-cut canary-yellow stone made by Chris Vanoy and Jerry Brickman from Brian's design.
Brian: I have always been fascinated by diamonds and stones and the class of jewelry.
Leighanne: Lucky for me.
Leighanne says, "I've found someone who loves me as much as I love him, and we are both fortunate.
15th June, 1997 -
Hookup
Littrell first spotted Wallace in June 1997 when she was an extra on the L.A. set of the Boys' video "As Long as You Love Me." A casting director had sent the budding actress over as just another extra in another pop video. Neither she nor Brian was looking for love, but it hit them right between the eyes. "I had no clue who the Boys were," Wallace recalls.
In the video, the boys act out scenes where they are auditioning girls - and Leighanne, then 27, was one of those girls.
The first day of that video shoot was the 15th of June, 1997. We were out in Los Angeles shooting a video for a single that was coming out; I was heading to the shoot, and I had a stack of the headshots for some of the young ladies that were going to be in the video, so I started thumbing through them, and the last one I came to was Leighanne Wallace, and I was like, "Wow, she's pretty. I have to remember that (her) name," because she was just stunning. We got to the video shoot, and I was already, you know, had makeup and wardrobe and all that stuff, and we had been filming, and she was nowhere to be found. Finally, about five after 9, she shows up running about two hours late. She's prettier than the picture, like The Weekend song, [Sings] "Cause you look even better than the photo." Whenever I hear that line, I'm like, "Man, you're reading my mind. That's what I thought about my wife. I should've written that song!" [Laughs.]
How did you and Brian meet?
It was on the set of As Long As You Love Me video in 1997 as I was one of the models in it. I was always taught in my acting classes to introduce myself to everyone, especially the stars, So I walked straight up to Brian, introduced myself at the video shoot, and said, "Hello." So that was how it started.
She came over to me, and I had a basketball and a cup of coffee, and she bumped rumps into me, and she said, "Hello, my name is Leighanne," and I said, "I know." "You know?" "Well, yeah, I took the liberty of seeing your headshot on the way here." So she said, "Oh, well, since you know my name already, I guess I owe you one."
"We ran into each other at that perfect time," he continues. "Neither one of us was looking for love. We didn't need it then; we were focused on our careers, and that's how life happens. So it is a blessing that we were opened to this joint venture."
AS: How did you know that Brian was the one?
LW: The day we met, I fought it the whole day because I was thinking, "No, I can't fall in love; this is not right." You know when you meet somebody you feel like you've known all your life? Just his humor, smile, eyes, and great heart, and he's a family guy. That's basically what I've always looked for.
Leighanne turns Brian down when he asks her out for a drink on the night they met because she already has plans.
"She shot me down, and then she goes, 'I am free for tomorrow night,' and I said, 'Well, I did not ask you for tomorrow night. I asked you for tonight,'" Brian says. "I was trying to play hard to get."
Leighanne shoots back, "Well, the question was, 'Did you want to go out tomorrow night?' It was mutual, but again, it was surprising."
What happened next?
Brian asked me out there and then. Our first dinner date was at the Melrose Hotel in Los Angeles during a break in his schedule. I was thrilled. It was love at first sight for me. He was and still is adorable.' (where Smash Hits are talking to Leighanne), Leighanne often returns to the hotel when she's shooting movies and always calls her 26-year-old love. (Note: He was only 25 when this was published.) She giggles: 'So I rang Brian last night and told him I was back in our hotel, and he always says was like, "'Oh baby, that is romantic."'
Littrell accepted and took her out for Italian food the next night, in the Melrose Hotel in Los Angeles—"I couldn't eat," she confesses— She doesn't owe me anything -- we hit it off, and we've been together ever since.
At first, the couple kept their romance a secret, but there was no hiding the feelings Brian had for his newfound love.
Brian: If I could make someone to be perfect, it would be Leighanne. She just knocked me off my feet.
