Oprah to the rescue!
Numerous couples have been forced to shelve their wedding plans amid the COVID-19 pandemic, and Gayle King's family was no different. The CBS This Morning co-host had been organizing a wedding for her daughter Kirby Bumpus and her partner Virgil Miller when lockdown began.
Nearly a year later, Gayle was able to give Kirby the wedding of her dreams thanks to a little help from her bestie, Oprah Winfrey.
The proud mom revealed on Feb. 1 that Kirby and Virgil tied the knot at her godmother Oprah's $6.85 million house in Santa Barbara in December 2020. Hey, what are fairy godmothers for?
Their six guests included Oprah's longtime partner, Stedman Graham, and Kirby's brother, Will Bumpus Jr., who officiated the ceremony.
As Gayle wrote on Instagram, "I couldn't even hug her on her wedding day that was haaaaard! Not the wedding we planned in 2020... [But] the day was gorgeous and so was kirby! I call that perfection."
Her family and friends had a "socially distant hors d'oeuvres and cake and socially distant dancing" after the vows, Gayle told Oprah Magazine, of which she is the editor at large. She said, "It wasn't the wedding we planned, but it was absolutely perfect." The journalist is "over the moon" at having her new son-in-law join the family.
"Nobody knows Kirby the way her brother does, so for him to do the ceremony felt meant to be," Gayle went on. "My son, Will, says, 'We call ourselves a tripod, and that day with Virgil, we became a perfect square'... Kirby really is so happy, and nothing beats when your children are happy."
Kirby describes herself as a food lover, health educator, world traveler, tequila enthusiast and fitness fan per her Instagram. The 32 year old got engaged to Virgil in February 2019.
Her dad, William Bumpus, was married to Gayle from 1982 to 1993.
The newlyweds coincidentally had photographer Joe Pugliese on site to document the big day. As Gayle explained, "Joe doesn't normally do weddings, but Oprah just so happened to be shooting something on her property that got canceled at the last minute, so we lucked out and had a professional photographer who followed all pandemic protocol. I'm so glad we have those memories, because the photos are stunning."
The only thing left for Gayle to do now? Figure out how to be the best MIL, as she wrote, "Ps anybody have tips on being a good mother-in-law ?? Im all ears and taking notes!"
Oprah purchased her Santa Barbara property from Jeff Bridges in 2019. The 1919 Spanish estate is located near where Meghan Markle and Prince Harry settled with baby Archie last year.