10 wed their Baby

Daddies Seal the deal in mass nups

By REBECCA LOUIE
DAILY NEWS FEATURES WRITER

First came love, then the baby carriage.
Then came 10 couples who decided on marriage.

Yesterday, a wedding ceremony at Brooklyn's House of the Lord Church joined a group of New York parents who longed to be wed.

Christened Marry Your Baby Daddy Day, the months-in-the-making celebration - made possible by donated goods and services - was organized by Brooklyn author Maryann Reid to promote marriage in black families.

"Now mommy and daddy are going to be together forever," said Melanie Baeza, 8, eyes sparkling like her jeweled headpiece. The daughter of Raquel Baeza and Patrick Ilunga joyfully grabbed her billowing white skirt as she added, "I'm so happy!"

While brides primped at the Saddle Down Bed and Breakfast in Fort Greene, a roomful of anxious grooms dressed at the church. Trading Altoids, jokes and encouraging slaps on the back, nerves were only trumped by happiness.

"We're changing things for our community," said Derek Mobley, 41, a divorced father of three who wed Shakeisha Council, 29 and the mother of his son Kalile, 1. "Marriage isn't that popular right now, and we want to show families and fathers that we have to create unity at home."

Council's mother, Marion, who arrived via stretch limousine with members of her family, echoed his thoughts. "I was a teenage mom, and I am so proud of my daughter and what she has achieved."

The brides arrived nearly an hour late in a white, stretch SUV. Best men and women, along with tiny tuxedoed and begowned children, were corralled to walk the aisle - but not before the grooms danced, strutted and grooved their way in a procession towards the altar.

Then, in waves of silk, satin, and lace, came the brides.

"I was so stunned by how beautiful Tanisha looked that I was worried I would forget what to say," said happy husband Clayton Morgan, 27, of wife Tanisha Forbes, 26. He didn't, though he kissed the bride before the Rev. Dr. Herbert Daughtry's cue. Daughtry was officiant.

Nancy Cayemitte, 27, the new *wife of Orville Blisset, 28, was worried before the ceremony that she would "get too emotional on stage." She shed tears when the first couple recited their vows and exchanged rings, but stayed calm during her turn. "We've sealed the deal," she later said. "We are now a family unit, ready to go beyond what we know and to be an example to others."

The couples lit unity candles and jumped the broom. From the altar, a vocalist sang a melody written just for this day: "We're making a choice, that will live forever, just like our love. I've married my baby daddy."