The name “Arlenis Sosa” conjures up a giant “???” thought-bubble over my head, but since people love wedding photos, here we go. Arlenis Sosa is apparently a Victoriaâs Secret model. Sheâs very pretty. Sheâs from the Dominican Republic. Sheâs 26 years old and she married her basketball player lover Donnie McGrath a few days ago. Donnie is 31. So, at least for their ages, everything is cool. They married in Arlenisâs native Dominican Republic in what looks like a beautiful and somewhat low-key beach setting in Punta Cana.
The bride wore a long-sleeved Reem Acra gown. While I love a good sleeve and I think the general design from Reem Acra is pretty enough, it feels like this gown is too uptight for a tropical beach wedding. I donât know? Like, if youâre going to do a beach wedding, you should be in a simple sleeveless gown and have a few flowers in your hair or something. She looks really beautiful though, and she seems to have laughed all the way to the altar, which is great!
The groom wore a lilac Tom Ford suit which⌠I mean, thatâs a really bold choice for a groom. I kind of like that this guy is so comfortable in his masculinity that heâs all, âYeah, the pale lilac suit for me!â
Arlenisâs bridesmaids were models too â they included Jourdan Dunn, Eniko Mihalik and Toni Garrn. Donnieâs groomsmen included several current and past NBA stars, including Joakim Noah and Chandler Parsons.
Photos courtesy of WENN, Arlenisâs and Reem Acraâs Instagrams.
Beautiful dress.
i love it, i love his suit
and i dislike most wedding dresses, everyone seems to be in that sweetheart neckline bustier sleeveless look. you go arlenis, start a trend!
I think it’s beautiful, she’s gorgeous and they look really happy.
Agreed. She looks gorgeous, the gown is super beautiful and elegant, and they both seem very happy. Congrats!
Yeah her happiness in these pictures trumps everything else for me so it doesn’t even matter but she looks stunning.
Everything looks beautiful.
i think shes the 1st WOC to get a Lancome contract. Someone please correct if i’m mistaken.
either way love her gown.
Please define person of colour…..
Not being facetious because I never know if this is a reference to black people only or includes Asians, Latin and South American.
I ask for definition because Lancome had a Brazilian model earlier than Arlene. She’s not Giselle version of Brazilian, more latina type of Brazilian.
when i say WOC/POC i’m speaking to include all ethnicities.
i should have said “brown skinned WOC”.
Some of the pictures are blocked for me, but the expression of pure joy trumps everything else, in the one that I can see. And that alone is gorgeous.
Yeah, the dress seems wrong for the occasion but she’s totally working it. She looks gorgeous but I can’t imagine wearing a tight, long-sleeved gown in such a hot and humid place.
She’s a happening model. Lovely pics.
OH my.. I think her dress and whole look is amazingly beautiful. I love LOVE this dress. You have to have a certain body to wear it.. and her face as she is walking down aisle is pure happiness.
With both of their bodies, they can pull off anything. They look so happy
She looks fantastic, but I actually can’t take my eyes off that suit. It looks SO good! I love an unconventional suit colour that is pulled off with ease.
Kinda looks like every other Reem Acra dress but it’s still beautiful.
I wanna see Joakim Noah!!
I want to see Joakim Noah’s hair
I love the dress. It looks like a formal outside wedding overlooking the ocean. It wasn’t actually on the beach. And even so, it’s her wedding day and whatever she wants to wear is perfect. They are a beautiful couple. She is stunning.
They both look so happy and exuberant, like they just won the gold in the Olympics. I love that.
Wow, beautiful! The bride looks so happy, naturally gorgeous, simple elegance.
It’s not nice to judge someone’s wedding dress -she looks beautiful!
the grooms hair is kind of confusing me though..
I feel like she makes the gown if that makes sense. Like the gown might be kind of boring and fussy on another woman.
I agree; she makes the dress. It doesn’t wear her. Except I don’t see fussy here at all. what do you find fussy about it? The lace top? I look at I and see simple and elegant.
I’d also like to say her husband has balls of iron. I’m not sure there”s anything in this world that would get Mr. bluhare in a lavender suit with a purple bow tie. He looks great!
“Iâd also like to say her husband has balls of iron.”
*laughing* That was my first lavender thought, too. Good for them. They both look joyful and present and confident in themselves & in each other.
I once attended a wedding where the groom wore pink! Wasn’t a gay wedding.
Once we’d mentally adjusted, it was fine. The female bestman didn’t register until later…..
It was that sort of wedding.
I’d have loved that wedding, LAK! My coworker got married at Christmas and wore a red dress. Her attendants were in white. The got married in the snow and their photos are absolutely incredible.
I agree – I don’t know that I’d like it on anyone else, but she totally makes it work for her. But I also agree that it’s not what I’d picture for a beach wedding.
Punta Cana has very upscale resorts and residences. So its possible that the ceremony might be outdoors but the reception is formal.
She looks so happy and so beautiful!
Perfection. Love it. Hate lavender, so the groom isn’t doing it for me.
All I can think of when I hear Dominican Republic is that horrific ethnic cleansing they are doing to the Haitians. Can’t even enjoy these gorgeous wedding pictures.
First thing I thought of too. People need to quit promoting it in any positive way, quit traveling there, and quit spending money there.
Whilst I agree it’s horrific, and being the daughter of Dominicans I can also say It’s appalling the way that a LOT of Dominicans wholesale have bought into this Bullshit Idea that they aren’t as black as Their fellow Haitians, There are much larger things at play here that the obvious racism component ( cause Questioning the papers of someone cause “He Looks Dark and less refined in their features” Is Not a f*cking “standard” of anything):
* This is a Political move to disenfranchise a number of voters that would vote for a non government backed minority favored Candidate
* This is something that the International Community and the US has fully fanned and fomented since the beginning of both lands and after Haiti gained independence as a slave revolt: Part of the initial deal for DR to become a democratic republic included Denunciation of Haiti for their slave revolt, this was a condition that US Spain and France deemed necessary.
*The Trujillo Era and The Parsley Massacre – Nuff said (Dominicans have always been encouraged and told in school, society and life that their roots are SPANIARD and TAINO, going out of the way to erase their blackness) Trujillo when as far as to alter his actual appearance and his pics and paintings – very reverse Dolezal and whatnot
* The point many in DR argue which is also NOT without merit is that every world superpower summarily deports immigrants that arrive at their shores or is without papers and that the Island (which as is boasts daily Blackouts) cannot support the undocumented people, and that the Red Cross pocketed aid money to haiti and people have fled and further overworked the system
…All that said I HAVE family members in DR and I KNOW and hear the way many of them talk about haitians so I Know There is a Bunch of Stinking Racist Bullshit playing in here and that is why the citizenry has fallen in line with it , but i assure you Boycotting their Tourism industry Hurts the Very hardworking Haitian origin people that you think the Boycott helps, they are the backbone of that industry, also Trust me not all of us are pleased of proud of what we see our compatriots perpetrating under the guise of “getting people’s papers in order”
Heartbreaking… Thanks for explaining all that, QQ
QQ, thank you for your well versed explanation. It’s heartbreaking to witness the self hate that pervades the AfroLatino and African American communities. Education and compassion for humans would do so many a world of good.
What a thorough and candid explanation, QQ.
Thanks for explaining these complex issues, goodness knows it’s not easy to get the full background of these types of topics, given the typical limited (censored) coverage from mainstream U.S. media.
And best of luck to the happy couple, they are gorgeous together!
First thing I thought of and so glad it was brought up here. Thank you!
I am Haitian and I have family in Haiti so that is what I thought about too concerning the Dominican Republic.
Brides can wear whatever they want on their wedding day. It’s their wedding day. I love that dress – different yet still simple and elegant. She looks radiant.
Amazing!
Not exactly sure how a wedding dress can be “wrong for the occasion” of…a wedding? But I think her dress is lovely and elegant. I love the design and she looks stunning.
On the black and white the dress photographs well, but I am not in love with it. In the end, it does not matter, they were having a blast and btw you can wear whatever type of dress you want even if it is at the beach … it’s done all the time.
I Love me Some Arlenis ( and Her man too if I’m Honest) is always adorable and heartwarming to see a Darker skinned Dominicana doing well in the world… I kind of agree that for a DR wedding the dress could have gone without sleeves or some such, she wears it well but it also looks like it’s sewed onto her skin and that any false move will explode the whole thing…
@QQ
Thank you for your previous post, I’m neither Dominican or Haitian but I’m a Latina and live in Miami where the population from both countries is high and unless you do your research no one would know why it has come down to this. It is a low blow for Haitians who don’t seem to catch a break and I see that here all the time when you get boats of immigrants from Cuba and Haiti and only Cubans have the ‘privilege’ to stay
Oh Mama, i’m in Ft Lauderdale so I Be KNOWING exactly what you’re talking about, My heart goes out to Haitians for the same reason, as a people they have been so so VILIFIED and shat upon by everyone to be honest.. I wonder if the opening of Cuba and US relationships is going to halt this gravy train for Cubans and the Utter hold they have over policy in our area
I am the same. I love interracial relationships, especially black women who is loved deeply by white men. I love it. May the happy couple have a blessed and wonderful married lives together.
Absolutely gorgeous! I wish more brides wore something this modest rather than a whole lotta flesh on display.
Oh it’s gorgeous! đ
They look amazing. Why does every beach wedding mean the bride needs to wear a sleeveless gown and flowers in her hair? It’s not like she’s wearing velvet.
They both look absolutely gorgeous. I don’t get why you would make an issue over this – it’s kinda ridiculous.
Beautiful
Arlenis has always been one of my favorite models. She’s so pretty and can model the hell out of the clothes they put her on.
As for her gown – it’s her wedding and she looks happy. That’s all that matters.
Never heard of her, but damn, she looks so happy that anything would look good on her. His hair is the only thing off in here, but screw it, he looks happy too!
Everything about this is perfect. They are such a happy, beautiful, GORGEOUS couple.
I think they both look amazing
So tired of the ‘hippie flowers-in-your-hair’ cliche attached to every wedding that takes place anywhere near a beach. It’s her wedding, and she wore a wedding dress – how is that inappropriate?
I think that huge smile is what really makes this look, though. Overjoyed brides and grooms are guaranteed to melt even my stone heart.
I love that lilac suit, wish I could’ve gotten my husband into something like that for our wedding.
gorgeousness!
This is one of my FAVORITE wedding dresses ever!! Love love it.
She looked beautiful and happy, that’s a beautiful wedding dress she is wearing.
I love everything about it, updated and traditional. Love when people do this. Best of all they really look so happy. Blessings.
Wedding photo p0rn!
Congrats to the happy couple.
She seems to have married Peewee Herman. Although his junk doesn’t seem to fit that description haha.
LOL……..after seeing your comment, I feel like such a filthy perv for looking at his ‘junk’
His pants (specifically that area) fit almost the same as Fassbender’s. đ
Anyway, I LOVE Arlenis and she’s a fantastic model.
They make a beautiful couple and I can’t wait for them to make some gorgeous children.
They look super super happy, good on them!
That really is one of the most beautiful bridal gowns I have seen. Punta cana is amazing and beautiful.
Arlenis is one of the FEW models today that happen to fit into my favourite category today and I hope she continues to have a VERY successful modelling career………..her hubby is such a cutie btw. đ
I wish them the best. đ
They make such a gorgeous couple and I hope their marriage and love for each other lasts.
Stunning. So beautiful.