Caitlin hired me about three months before she planned to marry the love of her life. It was a very short period of time to put on such an detail oriented and special event for guests from all over the country, but what a blessing to work for such amazing clients with such a unique vision. Even thought Caitlin and Nick both live in Los Angeles, they wished to have their wedding in Starkville, Mississippi home of Mississippi State University, where the father of the bride is an English professor. Her words to me in our first meeting, "If I could load my guests in a bus and drive them around this entire state, I would!" This sentiment stayed with me throughout the planning of the wedding and it was goal to help the guests experience all of the hospitality, comfort, and beauty that Mississippi has to offer. It is my pleasure to share their inspiration and their wedding with you. Enjoy.
A special thanks to all of the vendors who helped bring this vision to reality...
Ceremony & Reception: private home, Starkville, MS
Catering & Floral: Pretty Presentations, Meridian, MS
Cake: Old Country Bakery, Brooksville, MS
Rentals: Busy Lad, Tupelo, MS
Lighting: Davaine Lighting, Jackson, MS
Photography: J.Malahy Photography, Memphis, TN
Ceremony Bluegrass Musicians: The Larry Wallace Band, Starkville, MS
Reception Entertainment: Bo-Keys, Memphis, TN
Reception House DJ: Fred Wells, Chicago, IL
After Party Entertainment: Sissy Nobby, New Orleans, LA
Welcome Bags, Moon Pies, Pralines with White Chocolate Mississippi State Bulldogs,
and Peanuts & Cokes (with directions on how to properly eat them together)
The bride's bouquet
The bridesmaid's bouquets, made from material picked from the bride's parent's farm.
Boutineers of spotted quail feathers.
Ceremony location by the lake with a Chuppah covered in burlap.
Letterpressed ceremony programs
In each guests seat at the ceremony, they found a cowbell, a Mississippi State tradition.
The ribbon tied on each handle read, "Caitlin + Nick = Love"
Loved these pew markers.
An old wooden picnic table were guests were welcomed to sign the "guest book"
The "guest book" ... guests were asked to type a one line wish or message
Preceremony nibbling on boiled peanuts
Nothing like a soda in a cold glass bottle
Mississippi State's famous cheese
The guest's escort card for dinner
The guest's escort card for dinner
Dinner was served family-style and featured Mississippi favorites such as chicken and dumplings, chicken fried steaks, black eyed peas, fried okra, butter beans, rice and gravy, buttermilk biscuits and cornbread in cast iron skillets
Southern favorites, such as pimento and cheese sandwiches, were passed during the
"meet and greet" cocktail hour
Family-style seated dinner
A "Tree of Life" custom painted by Julie Collier. The sign instructed the guests... "You each have left an impression on their lives, now leave your imprint on their tree." Each guest used their thumb to add a leaf on the tree in various shades of green.
The delectable wedding cake created by Old Country Bakery.
Guests loved this classic yellow cake with hand-iced homemade chocolate frosting.
The grooms table was a good old fashioned pie contest with some of the state's
most famous flavors made by a variety of bakers.
Hand churned vanilla ice cream was the perfect companion for the pie.
The pie contest featured pecan pie, snicker pie, apple pie, honey hush pie, pumpkin pie, coconut pie, and Hershey bar pie... wanna know who won.... the apple of course! ;)
Push pins marked the cities where each of the pies were baked
The guests danced the night away to the music of The Bo-Keys from Memphis
The dancefloor and staging created a magical place in what just days before...
was just an empty field
The afterparty began with music from house DJ, Fred Wells, of Chicago
And in the wee hours, guests were treated to Sissy Nobby,
an artist from New Orleans, with a one of a kind style
Mr. and Mrs. Nick Wootton and me...
a happy bride and groom makes all of the hard work worth every minute!
Christmas is such a special time for me to be able to reflect on the blessings from the year. 2010 has been a very busy and amazing year... celebrating almost eight years in business as a wedding and event planner. I have been honored to work with some incredible vendors... some of favorites and new vendors I am proud to know. I have worked with some amazing clients that I am proud to have met and can now call my friends.
