Security tight for Backstreet Wedding,Backstreet Boy takes a Marietta bride.

Richard L. Eldredge - Staff
Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Sunday, September 3, 2000 Backstreet Boy Brian Thomas Littrell used a side street door as he made his debut as a married man Saturday night. The member of the world's biggest selling boy band married Marietta native and actress Leighanne Reena Wallace during a 6 p.m. candlelit ceremony at Peachtree Christian Church Church in Midtown.

And the couple, who already have a house together in North Fulton, somehow managed to marry away from the screaming mobs of young fans who usually accompany Backstreet Boys' public appearances.

White and black stretch limousines deposited about 300 formally attired guests in front of the church just prior to the wedding while six Atlanta Police officers monitored the area.

Inside, the bride walked down the aisle in a Vera Wang-designed, white satin tight-bodiced gown which flowed outward from the waist. The groom and his groomsmen wore charcoal gray tuxedoes and top hats during the traditional 35-minute ceremony. Littrell removed his hat during his vows.

The ceremony featured a fairytale-themed poem written by Tracy Hext, the bride's sister. All four of Littrell's bandmates, Nick Carter, Howie Dorough, A.J. McLean and Littrell's cousin Kevin Richardson along with his new wife Kristin Willits attended the service.

After the ceremony, Littrell and Wallace stepped into a vintage black-and-white Rolls Royce with "Just Married" scripted on the back.

Littrell, 25, met Wallace, 30, in Los Angeles in 1997 when the Backstreet Boys were shooting a video for the song "As Long As You Love Me, " in which Wallace appeared.

"Leighanne wanted a gorgeous, fairytale wedding and she got one," said Christy Clark, a friend of Wallace from Atlanta, after the service. "She was absolutely stunning."

The celebrity-filled wedding party was escoreted by a police motorcade escort to the reception at the Four Seasons Hotel.

The couple rented the entire fourth floor of the hotel on 14th Street for the occasion. Guests wore beige Velcro wristbands and showed identification to gain entrance to the gathering. When attendees stepped off the hotel elevator onto the floor, they were greeted with a large sign resting on an easel that read: "No Photographs. No autographs."

The J Michael Davis Sound Flights big band played swing music as guests paused to admire a white gazebo adorned with starlight bulbs, the showcase for the couple's cake. Delicate white flowers decorated the chairs and tables set up for the 350 guests.

Backstreet Boys fans have been in overdrive in chat rooms on the band's various Internet website since the couple got engaged Christmas night 1999 at her family's home in Marietta.

Originally from Lexington, Ky., Littrell has recently relocated to Atlanta. The couple held Friday's rehearsal dinner was held at their 46-acre spread in North Fulton.

"There's no place like Atlanta. I'm glad to be back," Wallace said recently. "Brian and I want to make a life and a home here. "People here are really great, although when we go out sometimes I'll tell him 'Baby, put on some sunglasses.' He's got really great eyes and they always give him away when we're out somewhere."

Wallace's mom and stepdad, Shirley and Jack Tolbert, live in a modest neighborhood in Marietta, full of Georgia pines and ferns. The family lives in a corner two-story house on a circle of 1960s and 1970s vintage dwellings. Neighbors say the home has seen its share of activity in recent months, with visitors arriving in Mercedes and BMW automobiles.

Friday night, Jack Tolbert was somewhat philosophical: "You know these young kids get so much attention. I guess too much of anything is a bad thing."

The Backstreet Boys' latest album, "Millennium" has sold more than 12 million copies in the U.S. and their 1999-2000 tour sold-out arenas across the country. The newlyweds won't have much downtime. Littrell's band recently finished work on their third as-yet-untitled album due out Nov. 21. The act will also be busy shooting a video and organizing its next tour.

Wallace has had small roles in the film "Wild America," the TV series "Silk Stalkings" and "One Life to Live" and the music video "Here's a Quarter" by fellow Georgian Travis Tritt. She recently finished filming "Olive Juice," an independent romantic comedy in which Littrell has a cameo

While the wedding was perhaps the city's best kept secret this weekend, the looming Littrell-Wallace union was a main topic of conversation backstage Saturday afternoon at the "YM Fashion & Music Explosion" event at the Mallof Georgia in Buford. Backstreet Boys creator Lou Pearlman's latest budding boy band and the stars of the ABC reality series "Making the Band, " O-Town were the star attraction at the outdoor concert.

"We're staying at the same hotel as the wedding party!" said O-Town member Ashley Parker Angel.

O-Town publicist Stephanie Jones used to work for the Backstreet Boys when the act was signed with the Pearlman-owned TransContinental Companies.

"I've known them for years and I was thrilled when I found out about it this morning," Jones said. "The O-Town guys wanted to know if they could crash the reception and we told them they couldn't. I think that would have attracted just a little attention."

Translation: about 1,200 shrieking girls were trailing O-Town around the mall's outdoor pavilion Saturday afternoon.

Staff writers Shane Harrison, Patricia Guthrie and Gracie Bonds Staples contributed to this article.