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Interview

Y&R's Mishael Morgan & Susan Walters real-life weddings

Mishael Morgan (Amanda)

Married To: Navid Ali

Since: May 26, 2012

Location: Liberty Grand in Toronto, Canada

How did you choose your dress? “That was a journey [sighs]. I’m the most indecisive person and when you’re going wedding dress shopping, everybody loves everything you’re trying on because they’re your family and friends and they want to be nice. I pretty much went to every bridal store in Toronto twice and finally I chose a dress that I totally wouldn’t think about going with in the beginning. I just wanted something sexy and then this one woman said, ‘You’re an actress and can wear sexy all of the time on the red carpet. For your wedding, you should be like a princess in a ballroom gown.’ So I went with something totally different, and I was really happy with it.”

Did you have a wedding planner? “Oh, no. I was very hands-on. I was 26 and still a starving artist, so I was really conservative with my money. I planned and did a lot of things by myself. My girlfriends and I made up all of the 250 menus and we wrapped every single gift favor. I figured out how to make a monogram online and did that myself instead of spending $300 for someone else to do it. Seeing it all come together was even more special for me.”

What was your favorite moment of the big day? “Dancing with my father and then dancing with my husband. My dad and I danced to ‘Butterfly Kisses’, which was his choice. My husband and I danced to Babyface’s ‘Every Time I Close My Eyes’.”

What kind of food did you have at the reception? “That’s where we spent most of our money. We had chicken and Beef Wellington that was perfectly cooked, and there were four courses. We had synchronized service, where the servers put the plates down at the same time. It was perfect.”

Did you write your own vows? “No, we went with the classic vows. My wedding was such a production that writing personal vows was just one more thing that I couldn’t put on my plate. My husband’s not a public speaker, so he was happy with just repeating vows.”

Is there anything that you would have done differently? “Yes! I never had a videographer, which everybody was like, ‘Are you crazy? You’re an actress! How can you not have a videographer?’ I had already hired these amazing photographers and I thought pictures would have been enough. So, not getting a videographer was one of my biggest regrets.”

Did anything go wrong? “I don’t understand this concept, but some people think it’s okay to bring just whoever they want. I’m from Trinidad, and it’s kind of a Caribbean thing. There were people who came with guests that they never RSVP’d for.”

Susan Walters (Diane, Y&R; ex-Lorna, LOVING)

Married To: Linden Ashby (ex-Cameron; ex-Curtis, LOVING)

Since: April 19, 1986

Location: New York City

Where did you get married? “The Children’s Chapel of St. Bartholomew’s. We were both on LOVING and we didn’t have any time off for our wedding. We worked that previous Friday and that following Monday. It was kind of crazy.”

Did you have a long engagement? “We didn’t have a long anything. We were engaged in January and got married in mid-April. So it was very quick. In fact, we started dating in October  and we were married within six months of our first date. Years later, I said to my mom, ‘You never said anything about the fact that I was marrying this person after knowing him for less than six months and I was only 22. What were you thinking?’ ”

Who was more nervous that day, you or Linden? “I wasn’t very nervous because I kept busy. My dad and I ran eight miles in Central Park that morning. My mother-in-law wanted a bridal tea and I was like, ‘No. Sorry. I’m going running with my dad.’ I did my makeup and my mom’s makeup and helped my sister with hers, so I stayed busy right up to the ceremony. I was more emotional at my daughter’s wedding than at my own.”

Any hiccups that day? “Not really. Everything went beautifully. We all did sing that old Irish song, ‘May the Road Rise to Meet You’ and oh, my God, everybody did it so horribly. It was so bad that we all started laughing and I remember Linden’s dad saying, ‘Can we just whistle?’ We were all giggling.”

What’s your favorite memory of the wedding? “We had limousines to take our parents and grandparents to where the reception was and we just thought we’d walk because it wasn’t that far. We were walking with the other guests when this horse-drawn carriage came around the corner and someone flagged it down for us. So we took the carriage to the reception.”

What was the reception like? “It was great. It was 4:30 in the afternoon, so we didn’t have dinner. It was cocktails and hors d’oeuvre. The band was wonderful and I do remember there was a dance contest, where [LOVING castmates] Bryan Cranston [ex-Douglas] and John O’Hurley [ex-Keith/Jonathan] were hysterical. That’s what happens when you have a lot of actors in the crowd, and it was really entertaining for the rest of the guests.”

Is there anything you would have done differently? “It sounds so trite, but for my wedding, I didn’t want to look like an actress so I didn’t overdo anything. As soon as I got to the reception, I took off my veil and my hair was down. When I look at my pictures from the reception, I look like a young girl wearing somebody’s wedding dress, so I went too far in the other direction. I should’ve hired professional makeup and hair people.”

Did anyone offer you advice on your big day? “Linden’s grandmother was a Southern lady through and through, and she said about marriage, ‘Murder, maybe. Divorce, never.’ ”

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