Traditional Alabama Wedding at Athens State University

I love when family heritage or traditions are integrated into a wedding day. My husband and I did do a Gaelic tradition of ‘sharing of the wine’ during our ceremony.  In some cases scotch is used, if there is Scottish ancestry, but we stuck with the wine. We used a Quaich – a shallow two-handled drinking cup or bowl from Scotland.  It was a great addition to our ceremony. We both took 3 sips of the wine from a Quaich and the marriage commissioner said some lovely words.  Even though we practiced the order of the sips the day before at the rehearsal, the practice went right out the window during the actual ceremony. Lets just say it added some comic relief and made everyone chuckle. Today’s traditional Alabama Wedding is one of those weddings where the bride and groom chose to incorporate tradition.  Not only did it save them the headache of having to choose wedding colors (it was already chosen from the groom’s Scottish Clan Tartan), but the extra touches made their day more personal and meaningful.

Couple

Stephanie & Damon

Their Story

Photographer’s Comments: “Everything about this wedding day was filled with tradition, history, and culture. From the groomsmen’s boutonnieres to the bride’s attire, there were so many traditional details that incorporated Stephanie’s Polish lineage and Damon’s Scottish lineage. “This wedding between Stephanie and Damon took place at the picturesque Founders Hall in Athens State University. Founders was built in 1842 by the Tennessee Conference of the Methodist Church on five acres of land donated by the Maclin/Hobbs family. In addition to the various offices, Founders also houses a parlor and chapel, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. “As Stephanie was having her makeup and hair done alongside her bridesmaids upstairs in The Chapel, Damon and his groomsmen were downstairs getting ready in one of the classrooms. Damon’s tie and the groomsmens’ boutonnieres were wrapped in Damon’s Scottish clan tartan. Damon and the groomsmen kicked off the Alabama wedding day by toasting a glass of their traditional scotch. “Stephanie and Damon decided to have a first look before they actually tied the knot. Stephanie was escorted by her dad down the aisle after they entered the ceremony in a 1934 Cadillac. The ceremony was filled with bluegrass and Celtic hymns. “After the ceremony was over everyone made their way to the courtyard which is just behind Founders Hall. During the reception there was a traditional polish apron ceremony which is where Stephanie’s mom took off her veil, and Damon’s mom put on her headband and tie on the apron. Everyone had a fabulous time during the reception dancing to all of the fun bluegrass tunes. Stephanie and Damon made their grand farewell as everyone formed a line to the getaway car while shaking their metal noise makers.”

About This Wedding

Groom’s Attire

“My now-husband had his outfit picked out before I found my dress.  He ordered a wool vest from Scotland, and he wore his clan Kennedy tartan tie.  The men’s boutonnieres were of thistle and rosemary bound in clan Kennedy ribbon.  We pulled our wedding colors from the colors of the clan Kennedy tartan: navy, purple, forest green, red, and yellow.”  

Tell us about your Wedding Budget?

“We were pretty close to our original budget, but went a little over.  We were able to save money on the following items:

• Venue:  My now-husband works at the University, so we were able to reserve the campus as a venue at no cost.  We were also able to use tables and chairs from the university.
• Drinks:  We are both beer snobs, so we introduced our out-of-town guests to some local beers that we love, but we opted to serve beer and wine only.
• Food: Our wedding caterer, though well-known in the area for her restaurant and catering business, just recently expanded her business and took on campus catering at the university. Being able to prepare the food on-location meant that her overhead costs were extremely low, resulting in a low price per head.
• Cake:  Neither of us like “regular” cake, so Cakes by Scelle Rey made us a small tiered angel food cake topped with fresh summer fruit.
• Car:  We found the owner of the 1934 Cadillac through a connection, and not through a event car rental service. Car rental services are expensive!”

 

Any wedding planning challenges?

“We knew we wanted an outdoor wedding in Alabama – summer was out of the question- and we didn’t want to wait until fall. So, we had four months to plan this shindig.”  

Ceremony Highlights

• WE’RE MARRIED!
• Publicly professing our vows before so many family and friends.
• Our old pastor came from Mississippi to marry us; our new pastor officiated with him, which meant a lot to us since they’ve walked us through our relationship.
• A train passed by right before I said my vows. It whistled … AND KEPT WHISTLING. This made for a good laugh, and after that everyone was less nervous and all smiles.

 

Reception Highlights

• Mingling of family and friends: We had unassigned seating and the wedding was casual enough that family and friends really did get to meet each other at the wedding.
• Band: We hired a bluegrass band to play at the ceremony and reception since 1) we’re in Alabama 2) I love bluegrass, and 3) the University is known for hosting an annual Old Time Fiddler’s Convention.  The band, Milltowne, played a mix of covers (everything from Motown to the Beatles to our request of Led Zeppelin’s Over the Hills and Far Away), as well as bluegrass and newgrass, so there was something for everyone.
• Photo Wall: Damon and his brother-in-law built the photo wall.
• Apron Ceremony:  I married an American family with Scottish roots, and our wedding itself was very “Americanized”, so it was great that we were able to do something polish, though with a twist.  My mom removed my veil, and my mother-in-law put on my apron.  It’s a tradition very common in Polish areas like Chicago, but to many of our southern friends, this was a first for them.
• Dancing and being picked up by and twirling with my husband.

 

What types of flowers did you have?

“Wildflowers, with nods to Damon’s Scottish heritage (white heather and thistle) and nods to my Polish background (rosemary).  And a bonus to the budget, our florist picked the thistle from the side of the road.”  

Wedding Stationery

“Due to the short engagement, we customized our invitation design via Minted.com and chose the Vintage Blush Wedding Invitations  (they have a quick turn-around time)! Also, our friend is a graphic designer by trade and designed our Order of Service/Programs to capture a similar feel as our invites.  She also designed all the signage we had around the reception.”  

Final Guest Count

“275 guest were invited and 175 attended.”  

Was it difficult to narrow down your guest list?

“It was a little difficult to balance our guest list with finding a venue that could accommodate 150 plus guest that still wasn’t booked a few months away.”  

Best advice while planning your traditional Alabama wedding?

“Have a short engagement! We had been dating for a year-and-a-half already.”  

What wedding favor did you give your guests?

“Local honey in little honey bears.  A friend coordinated this for us, so she designed and made the favor tags.”  

Where did you go on your Honeymoon?

“We went on an Alaskan Inner-Passage cruise followed by a few days in Seattle.”

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