“Real Housewives of Atlanta” star Cynthia Bailey and Fox sportscaster, Mike Hill are about to say “I do” — and their luxury wedding will have COVID-19 safety rules so strict that security will boot anyone not playing ball.
“Instead of focusing on the accessories in my hair or what kind of food we’re going to have, Mike and I have been putting most of our wedding energy into COVID-19 protocols,” Bailey told Page Six Tuesday. “And we ain’t playin’ around.”
Clearly not, as the soon-to-be bride and groom have a firm plan in place to make sure friends and family celebrate their Oct. 10 affair safely, including providing their guests with face masks and shields.
Security awaits anyone who believes they’re above wearing the protective gear.
“If anyone doesn’t adhere to the rules, then they’re just going to be asked to leave,” Bailey asserted. “We’re taking this seriously, we want to protect ourselves and our guests.”
Their chosen venue, the Governors Towne Club in Acworth, Ga., will provide socially-distanced seating that is both indoors and outdoors.
“We have so many rules and regulations in play, I’m surprised anyone is coming,” Bailey said with a chuckle. “We have sanitizing stations, we have an actual basin to wash your hands in before you enter the venue, we have temperature checks and the way the venue is set up, you can be indoors or outdoors the entire time if you want to.”
She continued, “We set up the food stations taking all of this into consideration, and you don’t have to sit at a table with people you don’t know, you can kind of move around. It’s a huge space, so you can be as far away from people as you want while still feeling connected to the ceremony.”
It would have to be massive to spaciously accommodate her confirmed 250 guests, a headcount Bailey estimated pre-coronavirus. While she assumed travel complications would result in a fewer confirmations, it seems even a pandemic can’t stop the show.
Expect to see Bailey’s “RHOA” co-stars at the ceremony, including Kandi Burruss, Kenya Moore and former “RHOA” cast mate Eva Marcille, who will all serve as bridesmaids.
After slowly falling out over the last two seasons, former bestie and co-star NeNe Leakes was still sent an invitation, Bailey confirms.
While Leakes — who announced her own departure from “RHOA” last month — has yet to RSVP, the bride-to-be is still willing to welcome her to witness her big day.
“Honestly, with everything going on as far as her leaving the show, I wasn’t sure how comfortable she’d be attending the wedding knowing she has issues [with Bravo]. You just never know what someone is going through, but she’s still more than welcome to come.
“Regardless of where NeNe and I are in our relationship, she was good for the show,” Bailey went on to admit. “I’m always going to give her her props for that, you can’t take away all she’s done for the Atlanta franchise.”
As for fiancé Hill, Bailey says she definitely feels differently than she did in the days leading up to her first marriage to restauranteur Peter Thomas back in 2010.
“I feel just as excited and optimistic as I did leading up to my first marriage. What’s different is that I’m different. I’m older, I’m 53 years old. I’m wiser,” she said. “The only way to learn how to be a wife is to be one, and that was my first experience. I now know what I want and what I don’t want in a relationship, in a marriage.
“For years, I said very publicly that I’d never get married again, but God had other plans. I met Mike Hill!”