This weekend, Hallmark is debuting, Christmas Everlasting, which stars Fresh Prince of Bel-Air alum Tatyana Ali as a high-flying New York lawyer whose life is forever changed following the death of her sister. Forced to return to her hometown to settle the estate, Tatyana's Lucy reunites with her high school sweetheart as she deals with grief, her own past mistakes, and her sister’s eccentric will.
Tatyana found her real-life happy ending two years ago with husband Dr. Vaughn Rasberry. Here’s everything you need to know about their romance.
Tatyana and Vaughn met online.
So relatable! The couple met on eHarmony back in 2015—Tatyana's first time dating online—and according to The New York Post they exchanged letters for months before they even Skyped for the first time. After they finally met in person, their connection was clear, and in 2016 the couple announced their engagement. Tatyana told ET that Vaughn popped the question during a hike in California’s Yosemite National Park. In the forest, she said, he got down on one knee, “in a picturesque clearing” and asked her to marry him. “Just the two of us. It was so thoughtful and perfect. We’re best friends," she said.
Tatyana announced her engagement and pregnancy at the same time.
This was quite the double whammy: In March of 2016, Tatyana confirmed that she was engaged to marry Vaughn, and that they were expecting their first child, too! “Planning our wedding has been so exciting, but when we found out we were expecting, our perspective shifted completely,” she told ET. “We want our ceremony to really celebrate our newest blessing! Plus, I have the best wedding planner, Michael Russo. He’s making everything so fun and stress free!”
The couple had a picture-perfect wedding.
In July of 2016, Tatyana and Vaughn were married in an intimate ceremony in Beverly Hills. Tatyana described the wedding to People as having “an upscale Caribbean vibe." It was attended by a little over a hundred people, including the couple’s closest friends and family, and several of Tatyana's co-stars from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Tatyana and Vaughn exchanged written vows during the ceremony, and the wedding featured a tiered two-flavor cake that was inspired by the couple’s one point of disagreement. “I love chocolate and Vaughn loves vanilla, so we’re having a tiered cake,” she told People. “I’m not into his cake and he’s not into mine! So, we get to share!”
Another lovely touch: a wishing tree. “We saw it up in northern California,” Tatyana said. “It’ll have ribbons on it and people can put wishes on it. We did that because it’s a tree that we can bring with us.”
On their second anniversary this year, Tatyana posted a touching tribute to Instagram in which she called her husband her “soulmate” and “my sun.”
They welcomed their first son two years ago.
Edward Aszard Rasberry was born on September 16, 2016 in Los Angeles, named after his grandfather and great grandfather. “Becoming a mother has opened my heart to a bottomless depth of feeling,” Tatyana told People at the time. “Through our son, I see the world with new eyes. We’ve completely fallen in love.”
Emma Dibdin is a freelance writer based in Los Angeles who writes about culture, mental health, and true crime. She loves owls, hates cilantro, and can find the queer subtext in literally anything.
