Southern Weddings

When your groom’s aunt and uncle offer their beautiful lakeside estate to you for your wedding, the question of where to tie the knot quickly becomes a no-brainer–at least, it was for Mallory and Alex! They added one more meaningful layer of family history to this special place, and in turn, it gave them a handful of their favorite wedding day moments and memories (be sure to read about Mallory’s favorite detail below). With the details in the capable hands of planner Nicole King and florist Petal and Pine, Mallory and Alex were free to turn their attention to what mattered most to them: preparing for marriage. Y’all know how much we applaud them for that!

Thanks so much to Lynnesy Catron for sharing this gorgeous day with us!

Tell us about finding your wedding dress. I wanted something simple, elegant, timeless, and feminine, but not over the top. My two sisters, my mom, a close friend, and my future mother-in-law went wedding dress shopping with me in Louisville. We started out at Rebecca’s Bridal Boutique and I tried on about 7-10 dresses. There was one dress there that stood out to me–it was unlike anything I had seen before. I felt comfortable in it, and I felt like “me.” I didn’t really say anything because I felt like it was too early to commit. After trying on about six more dresses at another boutique, I kept going back to the other one in my mind. I rushed back to the first store to try the dress on again, and as soon as I had it on, I knew it was the one.

We went back and forth, but eventually decided that we would prefer to see each other before the wedding. As everyone warns you, the day is fleeting, and we knew that after the ceremony, things would go even more quickly and we would have lots of people to visit with. We did a first look not only to help save time with pictures and ease some nerves, but we also wanted to make sure we had a special moment for just the two of us.

How did you plan for your marriage while planning your wedding? Our marriage was always more important to us than our actual wedding–I feel like this mindset allowed both of us to be laid back during the planning process. We just wanted to have a fun night of celebrating with friends and family. Our church is very important to us, so we also met with our pastor to ensure that we were spiritually ready for marriage.

Did you write your own vows? If so, what was your favorite phrase, verse or line? No, we did not write our own vows. Our pastor, Jeremy Linneman, help us select the vows for our special day and also put together a homily that we absolutely loved.

Our venue was very special to us. Greystone Estate is the home of Alex’s aunt and uncle. It is breathtaking from every angle, and was a no-brainer when it was offered to us. Alex’s brother and sister-in-law were married there and Alex’s dad was remarried there.

Our favorite detail of the wedding was: Greystone Estate sits on the Ohio River, and at sunset, the Louisville Belle came by and blew its horn in celebration. Everyone ran out from under the tent to wave as it went by–it was a detail of the night that we had not planned, but loved so much.

We love the city of Louisville, especially Alex, who grew up here, so we had Derby glasses from all different years that served as the water glass during dinner. They were later packaged up and left on the guest’s tables for them to take home as favors. They added such a great pop of color and a great vintage feel to the wedding. During cocktail hour, we served mini hot browns. For dinner, we didn’t want anything fancy–just a good meal that all would enjoy. We served fried chicken, brisket, biscuits, mac and cheese, green beans, and garlic mashed potatoes. We also made sure a variety of bourbons were served at the wedding.

We found a wonderful lady who makes cakes out of her home. Our cake was three tiers–the largest was a white cake and the top two layers were strawberry with buttercream frosting. We also had an assortment of cookies made by Alex’s mom and a dear friend of the family. As a surprise, Alex’s brother and sister-in-law had Tasty Tuxedo Treats come to the wedding–they showed up on a motorcycle in tuxedos with three different types of ice cream sandwiches.

Our first dance was to “That’s My Kind of Woman” by George Strait. Alex loves George Strait, and it is actually one of the first concerts that we ever went to together. I told him we were dancing to something else and then surprised him with this song. He loved it!

How did y’all meet? Tell us your love story. We went to the University of Kentucky together and had many mutual friends, but never met each other while we were in college. I stayed in Lexington to teach after graduation and Alex moved back to his hometown of Louisville to work for Hilliard Lyons. During Labor Day weekend of 2010, I went to visit some friends of mine who lived in Louisville. We went to the Kentucky vs. Louisville game, where I met Alex, and we were pretty much inseparable for the rest of the holiday weekend. Alex traveled to Lexington that same week to take me out on our first official date.
Tell us all about the proposal! During the 2013-2014 school year, I was working on my National Board Certification for Teaching. I was submitting all of my assignments, and to celebrate, Alex had made reservations at our favorite restaurant in Louisville, Jack Fry’s. When Alex came to my house to pick me up for our dinner celebration, he proposed! Not only was I surprised with the proposal, it also turned out that we were not going to Jack Fry’s after all. Instead, Alex had invited my family to town, and both of our families were waiting to celebrate with us over dinner and drinks at The Louisville Boat Club. After dinner, we continued the celebration with a group of our closest friends.
When did y’all get married? June 20, 2015
How many friends, family members, and loved ones attended your wedding? About 230
Describe your wedding flowers. Our wedding flowers were perfect and exactly what I had envisioned. We went with soft sage-y creams, ivory, and touches of blue, and our florist used open garden roses, peonies, hydrangeas, forget me nots, and berries. I wanted the arrangements to be loose, but not too wild, and I loved the idea of having lots of greenery everywhere. We had beautiful garlands on the head table, and the centerpieces were a mix of milk glass bud bases, vintage wooden candle holders with candles, and wooden boxes.
What was the biggest challenge you had to overcome while planning your wedding? The weather definitely threw us for a loop. We knew that having both the ceremony and reception outside was risky, but didn’t truly feel the pressures of that until the weeks leading up to the day. The remnants of a hurricane left us with a wedding day forecast of 100% chance of rain with strong winds. God was truly with us on our day–it was a gloomy morning with rain, but then around 2:00, the clouds began to clear and the rest of the afternoon and evening was absolutely perfect.
What’s next for you as a couple? What memories are you looking forward to making together? We both just truly enjoy being with one another, so we are looking forward to the memories we will make now that we are married. We both love kids and would love to have a family of our own someday, but for now, we have a beagle puppy that consumes a lot of our time and love.

Photographer: Lynnesy Catron / Planner: Nicole King / Venue: Greystone Estate / Florist: Petal and Pine / Cake Baker: Melanie Gunn / Caterer: Masterson’s / Rentals: The Rental Depot / Band: 64 West / Paper Products: Minted / Bride’s Gown: “Farah” by Watters / Hair Stylist: Whitney Kessinger of Hali B. Salon / Makeup Artist: Sloane Winters of Circe / Bride’s Shoes: Nina / Bridesmaids’ Dresses: “D660” in Midnight by Alfred Sung / Bridesmaid Dress Salon: Twirl Boutique / Menswear: Joseph A. Bank / Table Numbers: The Paper Exchange

Written with love by Lisa