The Participants

There are several folks who helped to make the ceremony a success. First off, we'd like to thank Pastor Shepard, who presided over the ceremony, and brought a deft but light touch to the ceremonies. We'd also like to thank the folks at Pristine Chapel, who did a nice--and highly efficient--job. In particular, Melanie and Paul were great.

The hostesses were Tracee Benzo and Jessica Howe. The groom's younger brothers Jay and Quintin joined the bride's younger brother Lemont Dallas as ushers. The ring bearer was Jeremey Mack (you can see him above).

The ceremony, being a traditional Protestant wedding, had two readings. The readers were Dana Brown and Sonya Saunders. Lanell Holston also performed a song. Now, there's a brother who can sing.

The Bridal Party consisted of maid of honor Tamia Collins and bridesmaids Sarina Kay, Portia Bell and Robyn Dallas. You can see them on the left (left to right: Robyn, Sarina, the bride, Tamia, and Portia) along with our lovely flower girls (left to right: Jaia "Cutie Pie" Isbell and Chelsey Mack).

The night before the wedding the sillier more adventurous of the wedding party corralled the future Mrs. Isbell and took her out on a night of debauchery. They were joined by Jessica "Not quite legal to dance like this in Georgia" Howe. They were gone all night. We will speak no more of this.

Meanwhile, the groom's party was much more adult, working very hard to stay out of jail. Rather than go out dancing on top of speakers and being hit on by random drunk partygoers who wanted only to give the bride "one last night of happiness" as some others did, they bought an X-Box and stayed up all night playing video games written for sexually repressed Japanese businessmen. Don't ask, but the groom really appreciated the gesture.

The groom's party consisted of best man Charlton Coles and groomsmen Parry Husbands, Michael Bowen and Sean Howell. You can see them all smiling on the left (left to right: Charlton Coles, Sean Howell, the groom, Parry Husbands, and Michael Bowen).

Also worth mentioning here is Glenn Antonacopoulos (you can see him below), a friend of the groom's since college. Glenn acted as an honorary groomsman, and hung out with the groomal party (groom's party? party of five?) playing stupid games, and generally helping to distract the groom from the reality of the situation.

Most of the bride's rather extended family had to come all the way down from Cincinnati OH to be at the ceremony, but many made the trip. One of her sisters, of course, was in the wedding, but Renay, the eldest of the clan, also came down, bringing children Chelsey and Jeremey to help out with the ceremony. They were joined by aunts, uncles, and an endless supply of cousins (the bride stopped counting sometime after "a whole bunch") from all over.

Because the ceremony took place in Atlanta, the groom's immediate family didn't really have very far to travel to make it. More importantly, just about all of them were in the wedding in some way or another, so in reality they had very little choice in the matter. The bride and groom appreciate the effort nonetheless.

On the other hand, at least one if the groom's aunt and uncle had to travel down from somewhere deep in the middle of the country to make it, and in fact did so, bringing along with them the youngest cousin in this generation. Phillip claims to have had a good time. There is actual footage of him popping and locking, so we believe him.

Other guests came from all over the country to attend the event. The groom's guests were mainly old friends from grad school, but also included his favorite elementary school teacher, some Atlanta friends who go way, way back, and a few new friends and students from Georgia Tech. The bride's friends were mainly old high school and college friends who scattered themselves all over the country.

From wherever they came, Sheila and Charles were happy to see them. They would like to leave this message: "Thanks for coming, and don't forget that you can still send us gifts."