Love |

Married

Sept. 1 at Church of the Holy Trinity on Rittenhouse Square, with Pastors Terrence Griffith and Samuel Leigh presiding. A reception for 225 guests followed at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts' Hamilton Building.

They met

In April 1997, during Sheinelle's freshman year at Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill. Uche, a Nigerian native and high school senior, was driving through campus with his father in search of the student host with whom he'd be staying the night. They got lost and flagged down Sheinelle for directions. She offered to help Uche (pronounced ew-chay) find his companion, and stored his bags in her dorm room in the meantime. "I thought, 'He's so cute.' I told him 'You should totally come to Northwestern.' " After Uche's visit, he left a thank-you note on her memo board.

The next fall, at the start of Sheinelle's sophomore year, they spotted each other at a frat party. "I was like 'Ah! He came!' " Soon after, a mutual friend noticed that they talked about each other all the time - and suggested the twosome get together. Sheinelle and Uche officially started dating that November; their first real date was at nearby Yesterday's restaurant.

After graduation, Sheinelle landed a job in Springfield, Ill., two hours away. Her next job was in Tulsa, Okla. "I racked up plenty of long-distance and airline miles," she said. By July 2005, both had jobs in Philly.

He asked

September 2006 along Northwestern's Lake Michigan shoreline. They had just returned from a trip to Cancun, and flew home via Chicago to visit friends. Alone that afternoon, they walked around campus until the rain started, then drove to "our spot," she says, on the rocks. Uche insisted they get out of the car and climb the rocks. "I'm like: 'No! My hair!' " She eventually relented, and they took in the view together until Uche got down on one knee. "I didn't think he was serious. I had no clue." The ring, she says, is "very diamond-y" - a round stone set in platinum with stones on the sides and along the band.

9 to 5

Sheinelle, 29, was born in Philadelphia and raised in Wichita, Kan. She's the morning anchor on Fox29's Good Day Philadelphia. (Her name is an amalgam of her parents' first names: Sheila Kinnard and C. Darnell Jones.) Uche, 28, who came to the United States at age 14, is a business consultant for Accenture.

Making a home

The newlyweds live in Center City.

First steps

To the Nigerian song "Ololufe Mi," or, roughly translated, "My Love."

Doing it their way

"I was so nervous on Friday," Sheinelle says. It was "a mad scramble," she explains, taking the train down from New York after her bachelorette party in time for the rehearsal. Close friends and relatives gathered for the rehearsal dinner in her father's backyard, where the bride-to-be wore native Nigerian dress.

On the big day, Sheinelle donned a strapless gown with sweetheart bodice and pick-up skirt by Private Label By G from Baranette's Bridal Shoppe in Willow Grove, with a cathedral-length veil and jewelry from Suky. Her eight bridesmaids wore cranberry dresses with taupe sashes and a short train from Marlton's Bridal Garden. Sheinelle surprised them with pink monogrammed robes and jewelry. The groomsmen wore custom-made black bow ties.

Throughout the day, she says, "we tried to blend both cultures." They served a Nigerian dish of baked chicken with fried plantains, alongside a Moroccan barbecued salmon. The Renaissance Orchestra kept everyone on the dance floor until 12:30 a.m. - including the bride's Fox29 coworkers Sue Serio, Dorothy Krysiuk and Clayton Morris. In a nod to her Kansas childhood, she changed into sparkling ruby slippers at PAFA.

Guests, who were greeted with welcome baskets stuffed with Philly-style goodies, also took home gold metallic take-out-style boxes of toffee and chocolate chip cookies by friend Samirah Williams.

Not a dry eye

"Dorothy told me to walk down the aisle and soak it all up," the bride says. Seeing all of the couple's loved ones gathered together - including a contingent from Nigeria - was truly special. "Everyone was crying," she says. "But when I stood at the altar and squeezed Uche's hand, then turned and looked at my dad, my bridesmaids, I got overwhelmed."

Bloopers

The sashes for the flower girls' dresses, hand-made by Sheila's neighbor in Kansas, were accidentally left behind at the hotel and never made it down the aisle.

Sheinelle says

"Start planning as early as possible. Set personal deadlines for yourself so you can enjoy the week before the wedding. I was cutting place cards a few days before. Leave the weeks of your wedding free so you can be a bride, not a wedding planner."

The honeymoon

The newlyweds spent their wedding night in the Park Hyatt at the Bellevue's VIP suite. They plan a 10-day October honeymoon to Mauritius and to South Africa for a safari. "It will be part relaxation, part adventure," she says.