Sheryl Lee Ralph Renews Her Wedding Vows on Philly’s Rocky Steps: A Love Letter to Perseverance
Sheryl Lee Ralph marked 20 years of marriage to Pennsylvania State Senator Vincent Hughes with a cinematic vow renewal on one of America’s most storied staircases: the Rocky Steps at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The celebration, held during the couple’s anniversary week, married pageantry with purpose, using a pop-culture landmark synonymous with grit to honor a partnership built on endurance and joy.
Originally imagined as an intimate recommitment, the ceremony swelled into a 250-guest affair. Ralph, styled by her daughter Ivy Coco, wore a custom Monsoori Haute Couture gown and an 80-foot sheer shawl by designer Perry Meek. Twenty-two PHILADANCO! ballerinas carried the sweeping shawl up the staircase as Hughes, in a white dinner jacket, met her midway to Diana Ross’s “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough.” Inside, Ralph surprised guests with a rendition of Nat King Cole’s “L-O-V-E.”
Among the attendees were Al Roker, Pennsylvania Lieutenant Governor Austin Davis, and Ralph’s Delta Sigma Theta sorority sisters—reminders that the couple’s love story is deeply tied to community. “How could I walk up all of those steps without leaving a trail of something for everybody to look at?” Ralph told Vogue with a signature wink.
There are 72 steps to the museum’s east entrance, the climb immortalized by Rocky has come to symbolize the city’s underdog spirit and the resilience it rewards. Ralph explicitly drew that parallel, quoting the film’s line about getting hit and moving forward, and reframing it as a meditation on marriage: people change, families change, life happens, and the work is in getting back up together.
Ralph and Hughes wed on July 30, 2005, and have spent much of their relationship making a two-city marriage work, she in Hollywood, he in Philadelphia. They credit early counseling, clear communication, and a simple habit: seeing each other every two weeks. That pragmatic tenderness radiated through the ceremony, which they openly described as a recommitment, not a redo, an affirmation that love evolves and that a long partnership is built, not assumed.
Local coverage captured the city’s pride in turning a civic stage into a love story, noting the week-of-anniversary timing, the 80-foot flourish, and—in true Philly fashion—the quest for a very specific hometown “record” (the longest veil or shawl on the Rocky Steps). The museum itself amplified the moment on social media, a nod to how public spaces gather private milestones and reflect them back to the community.
It’s easy to make vows renewals about spectacle; this one was about stamina. The 72 steps weren’t just a backdrop; they were the metaphor. For healthcare workers, teachers, public servants, and anyone balancing vocation with love, Ralph and Hughes offered a familiar picture: two grown careers, two full lives, one shared climb. The message wasn’t that marriage avoids difficulty; it was that commitment gives you a way through it, together.
