Hi.” That’s what renowned rapper Lana “MC Lyte” Moorer wrote to the cutie with the bright smile she had spotted on match.com in August 2016. It was eight months after she had decided to open herself up to receive a “yummy hubby” while at the W.E.A.L.T.H. Experience in Miami, her Hip Hop Sisters foundation’s empowerment weekend she cofounded with her business partner, Lynn Richardson.
It was also a week after said cutie, Marine Corps veteran and food service and tech entrepreneur John Wyche, had had a great time at a friend’s house party. But while most of his crew went home with a partner, loud quietness was all that welcomed him to his abode. “At that moment I asked the Lord for my wife for the first time,” he recalls. “The following week I met Lana.”
The two God-centered singles in their forties quickly connected and spent hours on the phone learning they were fellow New York natives now making California their home. When Wyche thought Moorer looked familiar, she blew it off. After seeing a picture of “Lana,” a friend told him to Google his romantic interest. Wyche realized his new crush was also iconic entertainer MC Lyte.
A week later she asked if he knew. “I laughed and said, “I’m not trying to get to know MC Lyte. I want to know Lana,”” he replied. The two soon met in person. “He walked in smiling and I saw all 32 of his teeth,” Moorer recalls. As their bond grew, the avid bowlers even realized they both had balls named Striker. “We were talking one day and I looked in his eyes. There was so much honesty and truth,” Moorer says. “My biggest thing with dating was being vulnerable. With him I could let go and be myself.”
The business of being MC Lyte—performing, running an enterprise and mentoring the next generation of entertainers—takes her around the world. She was really happy when Wyche showed up while she was on a business trip in Chicago two months after they had first connected. Last January she was back in Miami at the W.E.A.L.T.H. Experience, but this time she was with her guy and sharing her story in Your Man and Your Money: How to Get’em & How to Keep’em, cowritten with Richardson. The following April, Wyche asked her to be his wife.
As the sun set on the beaches of the island of Jamaica this past August, the duo exchanged vows in an intimate and soulful wedding at the Sandals Royal Caribbean in Montego Bay. It was a party from beginning to end as this Boss Bride, looking exquisite in a For the Stars Fashion House gown, walked down the aisle barefoot to a reggae conga band. Moorer’s good friend Kelly Price serenaded the couple during the ceremony, which was officiated by Elder Robert Pierce. The newlyweds and their 102 guests danced the night away to the sounds of DJ Jermaine.
“It was a fairy tale,” the bride says. “I got my king. I would advise women that have their paper straight and not the man to start to pay attention to that.” The gorgeous wedding was planned by Bobette Gillette and André Wells of Events by André Wells and flawlessly executed with support from the Sandals Resorts’ wedding entourage team. When the crowd rapped to Slick Rick’s “Children’s Story,” so did Moorer. Guests included Yo-Yo, Niatia “Lil Mama” Kirkland and SWV’s Coko. Price caught the bouquet, and her boyfriend slid the garter up her leg. “I got ready for what I wanted and he was worth the wait,” Moorer reflects. Lyte has a rock—and so much more.
This feature originally appeared in the November 2017 Issue of ESSENCE Magazine.
The newlyweds had their first dance to “Here and Now” by Luther Vandross.
Shawn Pullum/Pullcorp Media Group
The beach at Sandals Royal Caribbean in Montego Bay, Jamaica, was the venue for the sunset nuptials of Lana “MC Lyte” Moorer and John Wyche on August 12, 2017.
Sandals Resort Epix Photography
The couple jump into their new life together.
SANDALS RESORT EPIX PHOTOGRAPHYPOLAROIDS, PETEKARICI/GETTY IMAGES
Things are all set for the reception on Sandals Royal Caribbean’s private island.
SHAWN PULLUM/PULLCORP MEDIA GROUPPOLAROIDS, PETEKARICI/GETTY IMAGES
Guests enjoyed the signature drink We Are One, which was also the theme of the wedding.
Shawn Pullum/Pullcorp Media Group
Two families join as one.
SHAWN PULLUM/PULLCORP MEDIA GROUPPOLAROIDS, PETEKARICI/GETTY IMAGES