Yahoo Lifestyle Former Miss America Nia Franklin Marries Shannon Patterson in 'Elegant' North Carolina Wedding: All the Details! (Exclusive)
The couple's celebration at Mount Zion Baptist Church was the "best day of our lives," Franklin tells PEOPLE
Miss America 2019 Nia Franklin tied the knot with her fiancé Shannon Patterson on March 7 at the church where they met in North Carolina
The wedding ceremony included music composed by the bride, and was officiated by the same pastor who married her parents
"In our next chapter we will focus on advancing our careers, deepening our relationship with Christ and pouring into each other even more," Franklin tells PEOPLE
Nia Franklin is married!
After Shannon Patterson saw Franklin win Miss America 2019, he told her sister that he was going to marry her. Now, more than six years later, the couple have officially tied the knot.
Patterson and Franklin married on Friday, March 7, at the place where they first met, Mount Zion Baptist Church in North Carolina. They celebrated after with a reception at Maple Chase Golf & Country Club.
"We wanted our wedding to be elegant, but not over-the-top, because we wanted our day to be about us and our love for one another. Not all the noise," Franklin exclusively tells PEOPLE.
Ahead of the ceremony, the couple took First Communion together. A prayer was said by Patterson's father, who is a pastor.
The bride and groom's parents were also married in church, so they wanted to keep the tradition. They exchanged handwritten vows in front of 177 of their closest friends and family. The ceremony was officiated by Dr. Serenus T. Churn Sr., the same pastor who baptized Franklin and officiated her parents' wedding.
Music at the nuptials was especially important to Franklin, who is a music business adjunct instructor at High Point University and was a 2024 composer-in-residence at The American Library in Paris.
"Shannon wanted live music (specifically a string quartet) playing during the wedding ceremony, so I started working on one," Franklin tells PEOPLE. "Closer to the wedding I was inspired to compose a new piece for solo viola, and that will be performed for the first time during the ceremony along with music by Johann Sebastian Bach."
The former Miss New York began composing in high school, has her bachelor's and master's degrees in music composition, and is currently working on her second opera.
"Music is a huge part of my life, and I wanted to compose something that we could listen to for years to come and think of our wedding day," she continues. "Writing music comes naturally to me, so it was only right to compose a special piece for my husband!"
Franklin walked down the aisle to the hymn "Great Is Thy Faithfulness," played on the church organ. She carried a bouquet of red roses.
"Shannon and I both wanted to add thoughtful touches that spoke to our strong Christian faith (red is symbolic of the blood of Jesus and His love for us)," Franklin says. "Also, gold is one of Shannon’s favorite colors."
The bride wore a Justin Alexander wedding dress from his Sincerity Collection, bought from Fallen In Love Bridal & Formal in High Point, North Carolina. She accessorized the look with her mother's lace veil with dainty pearl lining, as well as a headpiece with pearl, lace and sequin accents.
"I saw the dress while looking through inspiration photos and thought it would be fun to try it on and I immediately loved it. After trying on several others, I came back to the very first one," Franklin says. "I had a similar experience selecting my evening gown for Miss America, which coincidentally was also white."
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
For the reception, Franklin changed into a modified version of her mother's wedding dress.
"It has gone from a gown in 1992 to a minidress in 2025!" she says.
The newlyweds shared their first dance to "Our Love Is Here to Stay" by Natalie Cole.
After a buffet-style dinner of steak and salmon, the pair sliced into a personal three-tier vanilla wedding cake from Maddie Cakes Bakery. Their guests had red velvet, chocolate and vanilla cupcakes for dessert, as well as Krispy Kreme doughnuts and key lime and banana puddings.
The couple describes their wedding as "the best day of our lives" and says they are "most excited" for their European honeymoon and starting a family together.
"Being married means finding my wife who I can build an empire with," says Patterson, who popped the question on Oct. 13, 2024, on an amphitheater stage at Patterson Avenue in their hometown of Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
"In our next chapter, we will focus on advancing our careers, deepening our relationship with Christ and pouring into each other even more," Franklin adds.
Additional Credits:
Publicist: Poise Public Relations
Rings: Helzberg
Reception Florals: Passion Roses
Read the original article on People
