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Home • Weddings

Inside Shirley Strawberry's Wedding Day

Radio host Shirley Strawberry shares how she added love and marriage to her busy to-do list. Plus, get an exclusive look at her romantic wedding celebration.
By Charreah K. Jackson · Updated October 27, 2020
01
Shirley Got Her Man

Radio host and author Shirley Strawberry celebrated her wedding to entrepreneur Ernesto Williams with a black and white Atlanta affair planned by Tony Conway.

Inside Shirley Strawberry's Wedding Day
Ross Oscar Knight
02
X Marks The Spot

The duo wed at The Estate, an Atlanta mansion. “It was the perfect day,” she says.

Inside Shirley Strawberry's Wedding Day
Ross Oscar Knight
03
Keep Me Close

The bride bundles up with her bridesmaid for the January nuptials.

Inside Shirley Strawberry's Wedding Day
Ross Oscar Knight
04
Savvy Shopper

Three weeks before the wedding, Shirley began looking for her dress and picked this beauty at the second Atlanta boutique she visited.

Inside Shirley Strawberry's Wedding Day
Ross Oscar Knight
05
Something Blue

The bride’s something blue was a garter belt gifted by a friend.

Inside Shirley Strawberry's Wedding Day
Ross Oscar Knight
06
A Match Made In Heaven

Shirley met her match after deciding to put more energy into her personal live and happiness. “I wanted a relationship, but made no room in my life for a man,” she recalls. “I had faith that God was going to send me a man, but what was I doing? You can’t go home every weekend and just sit there. You have to put yourself in the game.”

Inside Shirley Strawberry's Wedding Day
Ross Oscar Knight
07
Step Right This Way

Shirley purchased her never-used white satin shoes more than ten years ago when her first marriage was ending. “I thought, I’m just going to buy these shoes for my next wedding,” she recalls. Her bridesmaid Tracci Johnson added bling to her wedding shoes that had been sitting in a box for over a decade.

Inside Shirley Strawberry's Wedding Day
Ross Oscar Knight
08
Make Room For Love

“When you make room for love, you discover you have more than enough space,” she says.

Inside Shirley Strawberry's Wedding Day
Ross Oscar Knight
09
Cute Overload!

What’s black, white and cute all over? The flower girls of course!

Inside Shirley Strawberry's Wedding Day
Ross Oscar Knight
10
Keep This Always

On their wedding Ernesto gave his bride a new necklace she wore that day.

Inside Shirley Strawberry's Wedding Day
Ross Oscar Knight
11
Friend Of A Friend

The couple met when a mutual friend introduced them at Ernesto’s concierge business. The friend made a hasty departure leaving the duo to quickly connect. He asked her on a formal date the same day.

Inside Shirley Strawberry's Wedding Day
Ross Oscar Knight
12
Special Announcement

Ernesto proposed live on the air of the Steve Harvey Morning Show with help from Shirley’s daughter. “I was so surprised and happy!” she says.

Inside Shirley Strawberry's Wedding Day
Ross Oscar Knight
13
Keep It Positive

“What attracted me to Shirley was her positive energy,” he says. “I had to humble myself as a man to allow God to speak to me through this incredible woman.”

Inside Shirley Strawberry's Wedding Day
Ross Oscar Knight
14
Southern Gentleman

Ernesto and his groomsmen show off their southern style.

Inside Shirley Strawberry's Wedding Day
Ross Oscar Knight
15
Say What You Mean

Strawberry was up front to Ernesto that she wasn’t in the market just to be a girlfriend. “There was a time I would never have said that and been afraid to say how I feel,” she says. “Men say what they want all the time, so as women, we have to step up and say what we want. You just might get it.”

Inside Shirley Strawberry's Wedding Day
Ross Oscar Knight
16
Make An Entrance

The flower girls are all smiles as the bride makes her entrance.

Inside Shirley Strawberry's Wedding Day
Ross Oscar Knight
17
No Pressure

“All this pressure single women have on ourselves we don’t even have to have. We can put some energy, time and effort into being happy with ourselves and in a great relationship with a great guy.”

Inside Shirley Strawberry's Wedding Day
Ross Oscar Knight
18
Instant Connection

Strawberry introduced Ernesto to her daughter and maid of honor Sheridyn, a few months into their relationship. “She loved him instantly,” the mother recalls.

Inside Shirley Strawberry's Wedding Day
Ross Oscar Knight
19
Learn and Grow

Steve Harvey flew in from taping his daytime talk show in Chicago to escort Shirley down the aisle. “He’s like my big brother and my uncle,” she says. “I’ve learned so much from him.”

Inside Shirley Strawberry's Wedding Day
Ross Oscar Knight
20
Here Comes The Bride

The bride is coming!

Inside Shirley Strawberry's Wedding Day
Ross Oscar Knight
21
Love and Faith

Steve Harvey Radio Show and ESSENCE Festival host Thomas “Nephew Tommy” Miles read 1 Corinthians 13: 4 – 8 during the ceremony.

Inside Shirley Strawberry's Wedding Day
Ross Oscar Knight
22
Bridal Beauty

“When I saw my beautiful bride coming through the doors I was so honored to be the man of her life,” Ernesto says.

Inside Shirley Strawberry's Wedding Day
Ross Oscar Knight
23
A Walk To Remember

“I was walking so fast,” Shirley remembers of her walk down the aisle. “Steve was talking to me all the way down. ‘Don’t walk so fast, Shirley. Take in the moment.’”

Inside Shirley Strawberry's Wedding Day
Ross Oscar Knight
24
Happy, Happy Birthday

For his 50th Birthday Ernesto got a wife!

Inside Shirley Strawberry's Wedding Day
Ross Oscar Knight
25
White Hot

The couple wed under a bed of white roses.

Inside Shirley Strawberry's Wedding Day
Ross Oscar Knight
26
A Friendly Favor

The newlyweds exchanged rings made by Shirley’s friend Atlanta jeweler Tai parker.

Inside Shirley Strawberry's Wedding Day
Ross Oscar Knight
27
Togetherness

The couple bounded through people watching and talking in Atlanta’s Piedmont Park.

Inside Shirley Strawberry's Wedding Day
Ross Oscar Knight
28
First Impressions

Her first impression: “He was so easy to talk to. He was just the perfect southern gentleman.”

Inside Shirley Strawberry's Wedding Day
Ross Oscar Knight
29
Sweet Kiss

You may now kiss the bride.

Inside Shirley Strawberry's Wedding Day
Ross Oscar Knight
30
So Grateful

“I’m grateful that everything went off without a hitch, and it turned out to be a beautiful ceremony. Everyone had fun,” she says.

Inside Shirley Strawberry's Wedding Day
Ross Oscar Knight
31
It’s A Group Thing

Everybody in! The newlyweds pose with their bridal party. Shirley asked her bridesmaids to pick out their own black gowns.

Inside Shirley Strawberry's Wedding Day
Ross Oscar Knight
32
A Godly Love

Her message to single ladies: “God loves us all the same. What’s for you is for you, and it’s coming.”

Inside Shirley Strawberry's Wedding Day
33
A Black and White Affair

The black and white theme flowed throughout the Friday night affair.

Inside Shirley Strawberry's Wedding Day
Ross Oscar Knight
34
A Sweet Serenade

Kem serenaded the newlyweds with “Share My Life” for their first dance.

Inside Shirley Strawberry's Wedding Day
Ross Oscar Knight
35
A Special Request

“I asked Kem to also sing ‘Nobody,.’ That’s our favorite song and Ernesto told me whenever he hears that song, he thinks of me.”

Inside Shirley Strawberry's Wedding Day
Ross Oscar Knight
36
Hard At Work

“I’m working to be an even better wife to my second husband with the lessons that I’ve learned from the mistakes that I made.”

Inside Shirley Strawberry's Wedding Day
Ross Oscar Knight
37
Listen With Your Heart

“Talk to God. Inquire of him what it is that he will have you do. Put him first in your life,” Shirley says.

Inside Shirley Strawberry's Wedding Day
Ross Oscar Knight
38
All The Single Ladies

Shirley passes on her bouquet and blessings to the single ladies.

Inside Shirley Strawberry's Wedding Day
Ross Oscar Knight
39
A Special Celebration

The couple, with Strawberry’s cousin, celebrated Ernesto’s 50th birthday on their wedding day.

Inside Shirley Strawberry's Wedding Day
Ross Oscar Knight
40
Congrats!

Share your well wishes for the newlyweds below!

Inside Shirley Strawberry's Wedding Day
Ross Oscar Knight