The Molina wedding Bling

There were 14 body guards at Derek Molina’s wedding. After all, his parents are jeweler Al Molina and wife Lisa. And in the sea of an opulently decorated affair and a guest list that swelled with multi-millionaires and VIP’s – Lisa’s jewelry alone (diamonds and Columbian emeralds) was worth $6 million. And the bride Myranda, sparkled with $1million of gems.

(She and Lisa, on the right are pictured above)

But one of the rings on Myranda’s fingers was costume jewelry. What? At a Molina wedding? It surprised Lisa and Al. “Costume jewelry? That’s not good for business darling,” he shouted when his 9 -year old daughter Madison made a speech presenting a gift to her new sister in law.

With the 300 guests watching, Madison slipped a ring on Myranda’s finger, (it bore an M for her name) and said softly, “It’s not real.”

It was a precious unexpected moment and even Al Molina admits the ring is priceless.

The vows and congratulations reflected the changing world of social attitudes. Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Bruce Cohen asked the couple to repeat vows such as – “Derek, do you agree that even when Myranda is wrong, she’s right, and when your right, you are still wrong,..”

“I do,” he said and laughed of the vows meant to entertain. (Derek pictured below dancing with guest Rita Thomas.)

Philanthropists Jacquie and Bennett Dorrance, Jerry Bisgrove and Randy and Ken Kendrick were there. And the guest list also included Sherriff Joe Arpaio and wife Eva, and the President of Saint Leo University, Arthur Kirk, who came in from Florida with his wife for the affair.

Derek is a graduate of the university located in Tampa. In fact, Al Molina who is on the university’s board of trustees, delivered the commencement speech at Derek’s graduation earlier this month. (Pictured below Al and President Kirk look through the custom made commencement book of pictures President Kirk made for the Molinas of the Molina family at that ceremony.)

Next Monday: Which local high profile was sprayed by a skunk before boarding first class on a flight to New York? And more….

Kathy Shayna Shocket is a Phoenix based writer. If you have a good item for The AZ Insider, you can email her at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .