THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, December 16, 1994 TAG: 9412160113
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: LARRY BONKO
LENGTH: Medium: 75 lines
I GUESS MY invitation to Martin Lawrence's wedding and reception Jan. 7 got lost in the mail.
Unless it arrives soon, I'll be among the zillions who won't see the star of the Fox sictom ``Martin'' marry Pat Southall of Chesapeake at a church in Portsmouth. Looks like I'll also miss the reception at the Marriott in downtown Norfolk.
That's a change in plans - the site of the reception.
The couple originally booked the Pavilion in Virginia Beach for the reception when the wedding was scheduled for New Year's Day. From what I hear, the wedding party couldn't line up the 25 or so limousines they needed - New Year's Eve revelers cornered the market - so the reception was moved to Norfolk's newest hotel.
Fine Host Catering in Virginia Beach was already working on the menu for the reception when the day and place changed. There's a toy and doll show booked into the Pavilion on Jan. 7. Hence, the move to Norfolk.
``We'd love to have the reception, but that's not possible now,'' said a Pavilion spokesman. He estimates that the bill for the reception, wherever it is held, will be close to $30,000. You expect great hors d'oeuvres for those prices.
I have a number of questions about the wedding and reception but can't persuade the people involved to answer them.
For instance, I'd like some idea of how many celebrities to expect.
And I'd like to hear some big names dropped.
Is Lawrence's friend Eddie Murphy planning to attend?
How involved in the wedding plans are Lawrence's sisters, Rae and Ursula, who have a lot to do with seeing that his business affairs run smoothly?
Where will the honeymoon take place? Maybe the Outer Banks? It's nice this time of the year.
Southall is at home in Chesapeake with her family this week while Lawrence is elsewhere. She was polite when I rang her up, and she sounded like she was brimming over with happiness, but she wouldn't do an interview.
Not yet.
I couldn't even pry the time of the wedding out of her.
``I have all these questions,'' I said. ``Please answer them. Pretty please.''
Fax your request for an interview to Martin's publicist, she said.
That would be Kim Jones of Sutton, Saltzman and Schwartz in Los Angeles.
Jones said it hasn't been decided who in the media will have the privilege of covering the wedding. ``We don't want a media circus,'' she said.
Jones also said it's likely that a magazine would pay for the exclusive rights to photograph the wedding and reception of one of America's brightest young comics and the woman who was crowned Miss Virginia in a Miss USA preliminary.
Southall is savvy about the press because she earned a degree in mass communications at James Madison University. She's since worked on the governor's staff.
No reporter is going to hustle her.
I think I'm first in line for an interview before the wedding.
Right, Pat?
It must have been a whirlwind romance between these two Beautiful People.
Less than a year ago, I was reading stories in the Los Angeles trades about how Lawrence was mad about actress Lark Voorhies, who plays Lisa in the syndicated sitcom ``Saved by the Bell.''
Lawrence appeared recently on David Letterman's late-night talk show to say he has at last found the woman of his dreams.
He meant Southall, of course, but never dropped her name on CBS.
``I love the family life,'' Lawrence has said in interviews. ``There's nothing better.'' Soon he will be a family man after marrying a local girl in a wedding that may be the biggest thing in Portsmouth since the second tunnel to Norfolk opened.
Mr. Postman, is there an invitation in your bag for me? by CNB