A Detroit couple’s wedding photos went viral for all the wrong reasons, so the city decided to plan the pair another one.
Janae and LaQuint Rhodes tied the knot on September 22 and planned the entire wedding by themselves.
“Everything we got for that day was between him and me and my dad — and Facebook Marketplace, to be honest,” Janae told Yahoo Lifestyle.
The newlyweds originally planned to marry in June 2019, but they were anxious to jump the broom together and prepared their wedding in two weeks. The couple stayed up all day and night for their special day creating wedding decorations DIY-style and prepping the food.
The couple’s nuptials took place on their front lawn in front of about 50 guests. Things quickly started to take a turn for the worse when the wrong song played as Janae walked down the aisle. The then bride-to-be also was losing her voice and could barely say her vows. Not to mention, a person driving by captured photos of the couple’s wedding layout and posted the images on Instagram with the caption, “What in the Detroit hood wedding is this?”
(photo credit: oh so radio Instagram)
The pictures of the Janae’s and LaQuint’s special day immediately went viral as people in the comments trashed their celebration. However, the couple had bigger concerns to tend to after they received a call that LaQuint’s 6-year-old daughter had been rushed to the hospital after almost drowning in a pool.
“We spent the night in the hospital in our wedding clothes,” said Janae. “It was immediate parent mode.”
What may have seemed like a wedding nightmare turned into a dream after life coach and Detroit radio host of “Oh So Radio” Randi Rossario reached out to the couple after seeing how the Internet ridiculed their wedding.
“The life coach in me was like, ‘Let me let me help these people and let me let me see what I can do, because I know how I would feel in that situation,’” said Rossario. “It wasn’t that they needed another wedding. I thought that they deserved another wedding.”
The radio host created an Instagram post titled the “#DetroitReceptionChallenge.” She called for “all Detroit business owners, entertainers to donate at least $5 or services to put on a reception.”
Several of the city’s vendors provided hair, makeup, dresses, music and much more to give Janae and LaQuint another wedding ceremony. Rossario was also able to raise $1,300 on Go Fund Me.
“Detroit already has such a bad name because of different crimes or situations and all of that, so to have some light shine through the city was phenomenal to us,” Janae said.
The couple were on “cloud infinity” and were also gifted an expenses-paid honeymoon in Jamaica.
The couple said they were appalled and shocked by the rude comments they received from social media on their first wedding, but Janae said she’ll never forget that day.
“It was all worth it,” she said. “It was happy, it was joyous, and it was memorable. It was intimate and personal.”
The pair’s daughter is healing and they’re focused on their future together. They’re also considering about writing a book for their ordeal.
“We both have a passion for just encouraging, inspiring, and uplifting others,” noted Janae.