BR.com's update on Wilcox's wedding at M&T Bank Stadium:
M&T Bank Stadium hosted its very first wedding on Saturday, as Daniel Wilcox married Shauna Chin in a ceremony on the 50-yard line. Adding to the day's excitement, the entire event was filmed for an episode of the Style Network's Whose Wedding is it Anyway.
It was a warm, clear, beautiful night, with the nearly 350 guests arriving at 6pm. Among them were Wilcox's teammates Ed Reed, Bart Scott, Quinn Sypniewski, and Justin Green, as well as his Tight End Coach Wade Harman and Ravens President Dick Cass.
As the sun was beginning to set, the bride arrived in a horse-drawn carriage, matching the ceremony's fairy tale theme of "Strickly [purposely spelled that way to reflect Wilcox's family name of Strickland] Destiny." Her dress evoked the style of many fairy tale princesses, complete with a 15-foot train. Wilcox looked peaceful in his ivory suit as he read his heart-felt vows.
Upon completion of the ceremony, the handsome couple rode around the sidelines of the field in the carriage. Friends and family viewed Daniel and Shauna's first kiss as husband and wife replaying on the Smart Vision Board.
Guests were then invited up to the North Club level for cocktail hour and a sit-down southern style dinner. Their photos were taken for a scrapbook to be given to the newly-weds. In keeping with tradition, there was the cutting of the cake, and the groomsmen spoke on behalf of their friend. The bride, now in a shimmering silver dress, serenaded her husband on the dance floor before opening it up to everyone else.
This time, the fairy tale didn't end at midnight.
Congratulations to Daniel Wilcox and his new bride!
POSTED June 27, 2008 - 2:29PM
What's up, Ravens fans? Well, the big day is finally here. My wedding is this weekend, and I'm excited about it. I'm happy that my soon-to-be bride is going to get what she wants with the entire ceremony. I feel I'm marrying the perfect woman to motivate me and push me in the right direction. I'm looking at doing some great things with my new partner in life.
The biggest issue when thinking about a big wedding was that I wanted it to be exactly how she wanted it. Honestly, it would have been fine for me to go to the courthouse, or to fly off somewhere with mom and pops and grandma, but we are going to have one of the most memorable weddings in my opinion.
I'm glad that we're about to get all the hustle and bustle over with and can get away for some down time. We're going to Hawaii for the honeymoon. Maui. I think it's going to be a beautiful resort, with some breathtaking water views. I'm looking forward to relaxing, for a change. We're going to training camp soon, so I have to work out. But, that's all I want to do - work out for a few hours with her beside me, and then we can go back to the room. That is relaxing.
I think I told you that the wedding is going to be featured on Style's Whose Wedding is it Anyway? *show, which is crazy. *Whose Wedding is it Anyway? has been a great opportunity for us to get our faces out there, first of all. Second, it's going to be a great way to have a keepsake of our entire day. We're going to have fun with it. To have a nationally-televised show like this on the Style Network come in and follow us around for a few days is an excellent opportunity to watch us grow as a couple. It's funny; I've always thought I'd have my own show, not be on someone else's.
Actually, this is kind of like our own show. They typically have three couples featured on each episode, but I think they're trying to give us the whole show.
We'll have RaveTV in the house, too. You know they've won about a thousand Emmys [Ed. note: RaveTV has won 15 Emmys], so they're going to put together a great production for one of their shows. They're going to show us a lot of love.
With all this media coverage and the cameras following me around, it's almost practice for what I want to do later. Television is something that I'm very interested in, and I had the chance to work on that last week at the NFL's Broadcasting Boot Camp. Wow, what a big event. If there are any football players out there that are interested in media, I would definitely recommend it.
Going in, I took the word "boot camp" for granted. I wasn't expecting to work as hard as we did. Every morning, we got in around 7:00 and didn't stop until pretty much 9:00 that night. It was four days long, too.
We were doing everything, from radio to interviewing other guys to reporting the news. We had to write our own news story, and the NFL these days has so much news coming out.
The Javon Walker story is big right now. A lot of guys are getting robbed or injured lately in the league. I'm one of them. My house in Atlanta was broken into back in April, so these stories are personal for me because I can relate. You have the horrible Sean Taylor incident last year, and then Darrent Williams was killed too.
It's getting ridiculous, but maybe it's the way NFL players are portrayed, with all the jewelry and watches and bottles of champagne in the clubs. Now, every one of us is a target, regardless if you're making the big bucks or not. I mean, Javon was robbed of $3,000 in cash - after partying all night. Then another $100,000 in jewelry. Come on.
It's almost a loss of respect for athletes, and things need to change. With a story like that, it was interesting to be on the other side of the reporting, talking about your fellow football players on camera. That's not easy, but they taught us how to be responsible in our reporting.
I have a newfound respect for what guys in the media do. I've never been critiqued before, so anytime you see me doing interviews on TV or hear me on the radio, it's just me being myself. I didn't know what I should or should not say, or how I'm supposed to sit, or how fast I need to turn my head to look at the camera, things like that. There were a lot of little things that I learned that I think will help my game in the broadcast world. I felt like I was put into a really nerve-wracking situation and came out of it alright.
I really took it seriously, because this is something I'd like to do after my career is over, and I feel like it was an absolute blessing to be brought into that place.
I know Derrick Mason said he really liked the radio aspect of things, but I'm liking both radio and TV. I know I could do the TV stuff hands down, but I'm a guy that speaks off the top of the head. When I had to read off the teleprompter, I struggled. I don't think I'm myself when I have to read off something. So, there are pros and cons to both.
I have to go now. The family is already starting to get in town. My phone is absolutely blowing up with calls every hour. It's ringing right now.
So, thank you again for reading. Today is June 26, 2008, and on June 28, 2008, Daniel Wilcox will be a new man. It will be a new beginning with a constant and strong woman. I'm never going to forget this weekend, and I will hold this very close to my heart. I'm pleased to share my story with you guys out there, and I thank you for tuning in and being a part of the Daniel Wilcox 83 Degreez experience.
And…. I promise I'm going to do everything I can to get back in that football field!
Talk to you in training camp.
- D. Wilcox #83
