McCabe ~ Johnson Wedding
Photography by Van’s Photography
Virginia Kathryn Johnson and James Henry McCabe IV were married September 19, 2009, at Dunleith Plantation in Natchez, Mississippi, with the Honorable Ronnie L. Harper and the Honorable Forrest Allen Johnson, Jr., officiating.
Parents of the couple are Judge and Mrs. Forrest Allen Johnson, Jr., of Natchez and Mr. and Mrs. James Henry McCabe III of Greenwood, Mississippi.
With the musical setting of “Tara’s Theme,” from Gone With the Wind, the bride and her father arrived by carriage. The wedding was truly a family affair with the father of the bride not only giving the bride away but also performing the ceremony. The bride wore a white strapless gown with ruched bust and beaded empire waist with a delicate lace overlay, embellished with scattered seed pearls and a sweep train. The veil was edged with seed pearls and secured with a headpiece of Australian crystals and pearls.
Candace Torrey of Oxford, Mississippi, served as the maid of honor. Bridesmaids were Christine Goletz of New Orleans, Louisiana; Melissa Lovelle of Saint Simmons Island, Georgia; Anne Davis of Jackson, Mississippi; Amy Johnson of Natchez; Jasmine Sullivan of Brandon, Mississippi; Kathryn Line of Nashville, Tennessee; and Autumn Waska of Houston, Texas. The bridesmaids wore tea-length dresses of sage-on-sage bella chiffon with a sheer bodice, contrasting straps, and softly gathered skirts falling from a cummerbund waistline. The honorary bridesmaids were Melissa McCabe of Greenwood, Mississippi; Julie Johnson of Natchez; and Jodie McKlemurry of Long Beach, Mississippi. Ava Pleasants Gee of Madison, Mississippi, god-daughter of the groom, served as flower girl.
James Henry McCabe III, father of the groom, served as best man. Groomsmen were Will Freeman of Oxford, Mississippi; Jonbob Wise of Canton, Mississippi; Charles Odom of Memphis, Tennessee; Burrell Gee of Madison, Mississippi; Jerry Dale Blackburn III of Oxford, Mississippi; and Bill Saunders of Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Honorary groomsmen were Forrest Johnson III, Chad Johnson, Jay Johnson, and Alex Johnson, all of Natchez, and Andrew Johnson of Long Beach, Mississippi.
Serving as ushers were Joseph Downing of Houston, Texas; Daniel Fears of Oxford, Mississippi; and Harrison Smith of Greenwood, Mississippi. Music for the ceremony was provided by Sylvia Johns Ritchie and David Preston Hale, cousin of the bride.
At the reception at Dunleith Plantation, following the ceremony, decorations were designed by Brenda Zerby of Morton’s Flowerland and featured the courtyard’s center fountain with roses floating on magnolia leaves. The groom’s cake was a perfect replica of his guitar, and the five-tier bride’s cake was elaborately decorated by Edna Welch of Edna’s Cake Creations of Natchez. A unique addition to the reception was a fully stocked cigar bar, which proved very popular throughout the evening. The highlight of the reception, though, was the impromptu performance of a number of songs by the groom’s band, Gunboat, accompanied by the horn section of Phat Hat, during an intermission.
Monogrammed cake boxes and match boxes were given to the reception guests as favors, prior to the newlyweds’ departure by carriage to conclude a weekend of celebration that began with a fiesta party Thursday evening at the home of Forrest and Julie Johnson and a rehearsal dinner Friday night at the Carriage House with Chef Bingo Star.
After a wedding trip to Negril, Jamaica, the couple is at home in Atlanta, Georgia.
Anders ~ Milliken Wedding
Photography by Ocken Photography
Bridget Anne Anders and Tom Terry Milliken III were married Saturday July 18, 2009, at Saint Mary Basilica in Natchez, Mississippi, with the Reverends David O’Connor, Anthony Dhamaraj, and Louis Sklar officiating. Parents of the couple are Mr. and Mrs. John Felix Anders, Jr., and Mr. and Mrs. Tom Terry Milliken II, all of Ferriday, Louisiana.
The bride, who was given in marriage by her parents and escorted by her father, wore a gown of ivory Mikado silk, accented with ivory French Alencon lace and featuring a strapless neckline, extended drop waistline, flared circle skirt, and chapel-length train. Her veil of ivory silk, made by a close family friend, also was accented with Alencon lace, which like that of the gown was taken from a family heirloom veil worn by the bride’s mother and three aunts. The lace was hand appliquéd in a scalloped pattern along the bottom edge of the cathedral-length veil.
The bride’s sisters, Rachel Ratcliff Anders and Emily Cooper Anders of New Orleans, Louisiana, served as maids of honor. Bridesmaids were Mary Elizabeth Brice of Atlanta, Georgia; Sarah Fortenberry Holt of Lake Providence, Louisiana; Mary Elizabeth James and Holly Lynn Nowlin, both of Baton Rouge, Louisiana; and Elizabeth Summerskill Milliken of Ferriday. These attendants wore strapless, A-line, full-length gowns in lime green shantung with ivory shantung sashes tied at the waists.
Tom Terry Milliken II, father of the groom, served as best man. Groomsmen were William Andrew Colvin of Naples, Florida; Hardy Booth Fowler of Richmond, Virginia; Jean Maurice Gremillion of Ingleside, Texas; Benjamin Myles Hopkins and Noah Cross Wilson, both of Ferriday; and Erik Alden Mayo of Jackson, Mississippi.
Elizabeth Hyde Murphy served as flower girl, and Patrick Reily Murphy III and Grant Ratcliff Murphy served as ring bearers.
Serving as ushers for the ceremony were Daniel Benjamine James of Lafayette, Louisiana; Christopher Daniel Landry of Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Michael Levins Thompson of Monroe, Louisiana; and Micah Mason Woodard of Houston, Texas.
Program attendants for the ceremony were Abigail Ann Jackson, Lynne Sanders Stevens, and Pamela Lynn Shepard; readers during the nuptial mass were Emily Cole Dawkins, Mary Frances Ellis, and Dawn Taulbee Fowler; and Eucharistic ministers were the celebrants and Anne Ratcliff Evans. Dr. and Mrs. Maurice Gremillion served as gift bearers while organist Dr. Patrick Doherty, vocalist Becky Stevens, and cantor Gabriel Richardson provided the music. After the ceremony, a reception was held at the Vidalia Conference and Convention Center to honor the newlyweds and serve as a send-off for their wedding trip to Saint Lucia. The couple now resides on Lake St. John near Ferriday, Louisiana.
Biglane ~ McNeel Nuptials
Photography by Anne McDaniel Photography
Golden weather graced the wedding weekend in Natchez, Mississippi, that witnessed the November 7, 2009, nuptials of Joanna Katherine Biglane and Jason Connor McNeel, both of Jackson, Mississippi. The bride is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Patrick Robert Biglane of Vidalia, Louisiana, and the granddaughter of Mrs. J. Delane Thornhill and the late Mr. Thornhill of Vidalia, and of Mr. Noland Edward Biglane and the late Mrs. Biglane of Natchez. The groom is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Jason Niles McNeel of Louisville, Mississippi, and the grandson of Mr. and Mrs. William Terrence Clark of Jackson and the late Mr. and Mrs. Harry Brantley McNeel, Sr., of Louisville.
Events of the weekend began with a Bridesmaids Luncheon on Friday at the country estate of family friend Hedy Boelte, who hosted the gathering along with Paula Edwards and Caroline Edwards, aunt and cousin of the bride, respectively. For an hour or so, the bride, her attendants, the ladies of the families and the hostesses socialized throughout the home and its rear veranda where eventually they adjourned to formally set tables and dined in spring-like November breezes while overlooking the rolling lowlands that spread to the Mississippi River. The finale of this festive affair was an in-the-round sharing of each friend or family member’s favorite memory of the bride.
The weekend’s next two occasions feted both bride and groom—a Friday evening rehearsal dinner for family and friends hosted by the groom’s parents in Natchez’ Eola Hotel Ballroom and a Wedding-Day Brunch at antebellum Edgewood, home of Richard and Lynn Leet. Joining them as hosts were Patsy Collins, Randy and Margaret Cooley, Gary and Jeanne Edwards, Sissy Eidt, Jean Farrar, Dennis and Mary Flach, Tom and Pam Middleton, Marci McGraw, Robbie and Kay Savant, and Freddie and Pat Voss. Here, in-town and out-of-town guests enjoyed a light buffet and refreshing beverages as they visited throughout the home and its spacious grounds, enjoying the idyllic setting and unseasonably mellow weather. A unique and quite unscheduled event transpired between these two occasions as Lauren Biglane Middleton, the bride’s first cousin and Matron of Honor, departed with her husband early from the rehearsal dinner to check into the hospital and await the arrival of their first baby, born on Joanna and Jason’s wedding day.
For the early Saturday evening ceremony at First Presbyterian Church in Natchez, with Dr. Robert Gnann Schwanebeck, Jr., and the Reverend Dennis Carl Flach officiating, the bride wore a Marisa gown of ivory silk satin that was fashioned with a strapless, sweetheart neckline embellished with re-embroidered Alencon lace closed in the back with covered buttons. A bias band of satin defined the empire bodice from which fell a gored skirt and chapel train, edged with a deep border of alencon lace. She wore an heirloom bridal veil of lace designed and hand-made in Brussels, Belgium, in the late 1800s. This was worn by four generations of the family of Jeanne Edwards, close friend of the bride’s mother. The bride also wore her late grandmother’s pearl and diamond earrings, complemented by a pearl bracelet that was a wedding gift from the groom.
Attending the bride at the ceremony were Suzanne Mills Burke of Shreveport, Louisiana; Caroline Lees Edwards of Brandon, Mississippi; Zelma Murray Frederick and Lee Waycaster Jackson, both of Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Melinda Carol Jett of Starkville, Mississippi; Carol Savant Loy of Vidalia, Louisiana; Anne Caroline McNeel of Starkville, Mississippi, sister of the groom; Sarah Davidson Walker of Fayetteville, Arkansas; and Elizabeth Waters Wooden of Shreveport. The bridesmaids wore black cocktail dresses, each a personal choice.
Groomsmen included the groom’s father and Best Man, Jason Niles McNeel; Patrick Robert Biglane, Jr., brother of the bride, of Starkville, Mississippi; Graham Carr Calvert of Birmingham, Alabama; James Otis Hearnsberger, Jr., of Starkville; William Alvin Massey III of Brandon, Mississippi; Taylor Brantley McNeel, brother of the groom, of Ocean Springs, Mississippi; Dusty Lee Rhoads of Flowood, Mississippi; Thomas Earl Simmonds of Starkville; and Thomas Brent Tyler of Ridgeland, Mississippi.
Readers during the ceremony were Kathryn Marie Marchesini, cousin of the bride, of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and Jessica Banahan McNeel, sister-in-law of the groom, of Ocean Springs, Mississippi. Serving as greeters were Julia Rachel Kuehnle and Pepper Dorothea Taylor, cousins of the bride, of Natchez. Providing music for the occasion were Jeanie Lanneau, organist; Anton Zholondz, violinist; Vera Zholondz, violinist; and Becky Stephens, soloist. Wedding directors were Leigh Anderson and Karen Foley, both close family friends.
Following the wedding, the bride’s parents welcomed wedding guests to a reception at antebellum Dunleith’s main house, surrounding verandas, and upper and lower courtyards. Here, they enjoyed festive wedding fare prepared by the mansion’s chef and his staff, cakes designed by confectioner Linda McClure, and music and dancing provided by The House Rockers—all amidst gentle November breezes.
Having returned from their honeymoon at The Royal Plantation in Ocho Rios, Jamaica, Joanna and Jason McNeel are at home in Ridgeland, Mississippi.
Morrison ~ Ersin Wedding
Jennifer Morrison formerly of Ridgeland, Mississippi, and now of Turkey, daughter of Jan and Dwight Morrison of Ridgeland, Mississippi, and Deniz Ersin of Turkey, son of Nese and Mehmet Ersin of Didim, Turkey, were married September 5, 2009, and are now at home in Istanbul, Turkey. The following reflections are the Bride’s perspective on a celebration that united the couple, united loved ones, and even united nations.
First, as I recall our wedding preparations, the location was an easy choice. The family of my dad’s mother, Hilda Morrison Scarbrough, has been a part of the Presbyterian Church in Union Church, Mississippi, for generations. In fact, the area there was settled my many members of the family. My grandmother Hilda and several other dear family members are buried across from the church. During Christmas 2007 when Deniz came to Mississippi for the first time to meet my family, we drove through there and I showed him the church. He mentioned how it would be special to get married in a place with “roots”; and so, when got engaged a bit more than a year later, there was no question where we would get married.
Because the ceremony was to be in Union Church, Natchez, a half hour down the highway, seemed the logical place to have the wedding weekend parties. The rehearsal dinner was at Providence Plantation, the home of Sherry and Lee Jones, my aunt and uncle. I have always been very, very close to Sherry and Lee, used to visit them quite a bit, and still usually go stay with them at least one night when I’m in the States. Sherry had volunteered to host either the rehearsal or the reception, so we set the rehearsal dinner party there, and all my aunts and uncles hosted the event.
The goal for our wedding events was to mix traditions of Turkey and Mississippi but in subtle ways. Therefore, the color scheme we chose reflects Turkey: The light blue and dark blue of the bridesmaids’ dresses are those found in the Turkish “evil eye” charm. In theory, this charm protects against bad luck (though it does not bring good luck). In lieu of programs, we designed church fans with our logo that was created with the help of Allen Boudreaux, a groomsman and one of my best friends. It is an Iznik, Turkish Tile, with a magnolia superimposed on it. This was also on our invitations which were letter pressed and fantastic.
For the ceremony, I wanted a vintage, small-town atmosphere because I’ve always had in me a bent for the vintage. I spent so much of my growing-up time with my grandmother Hilda in Meadville and Natchez, and I suppose I get this sensibility from her. Into this ambience, we blended the Turkish with the English. We chose a Bible passage in English, read by my cousin Eliza Cook Kelso, the same scripture used at my parents’ wedding, and a Turkish poem that was collectively chosen by Deniz’s family and several of our friends and read in Turkish by a dear friend of mine.
Officiating at the ceremony was Dr. Earl Kelly of Jackson, Mississippi, a close friend of my grandfather and the minister who had married my parents 38 years ago. My uncle Lee provided a blessing during the ceremony as well.
For my processional music, I selected Pachelbel’s “Canon” as a surprise for Deniz because Pachabel is one of his favorite composers. My mom was escorted down the aisle to “Clare de Lune” because it was a favorite of my grandmother, my dad’s mother, Hilda McMillan Morrison Scarbrough, and she would have been seated to the same tune. We recessed to “Ode to Joy,” one of my favorites.
My wedding gown was a Lea-Ann Belter design of duchess silk, featuring a sleeveless, V-neck French Alencon lace bodice which was accented with a beaded silk band at the waistline. The slim trumpet skirt extended into a chapel-length train with tiny, duchess-satin buttons extending the length of the train. Accessories for my wedding gown were treasured, sentimental ones. Deniz, like me, spent most of his childhood with his grandmother. She passed away last year; and when I went to meet his extended family not long after we were engaged, one of his uncles gave me a piece of lace that she had sewn decades ago. Brenda Zerby, who designed our flowers, attached this to my bouquet. I wore a pin in my hair that was my grandmother Hilda’s and bears her initials. I also wore on my right hand a ring that was hers and is made from the diamonds of her engagement ring from my grandfather, Major Dwight Morrison. My grandfather passed away two months before my dad was born; and even though she re-married, she always wore the diamonds on her right hand. When she died, she left the ring to me.
In the ceremony, we incorporated two Turkish traditions. First, we wrote the names of all the single girls on my shoes. Legend has it that if your name wears off you will soon be married. Second, and very unexpected for Deniz, as soon as we were pronounced man and wife, I put my foot on top of his. According to tradition, the first one to do this controls the house, but I did it mostly to get his dad to laugh. (It worked; he had been crying the whole time.)
The wedding party included our siblings and our oldest friends. Deniz’s oldest friend came in from Germany; and my friends came in from Washington, D. C., California, New York, and New Orleans. Oddly, I had one attendant from high school, one from college, one from law school, one from my first job after law school, and one that I’ve just known forever, so they really did represent all phases of my life. The matron of honor, Laura Elizabeth Guynes, has been my best friend since I was eight years old; and her daughter, Audrey Grace Guynes, who is also my goddaughter, was the flower girl. Audrey Grace is named after my maternal grandmother, Grace. Also serving as my attendants were Carolyn Dawes, Kathryn Arnold, and Ashley Sternberg.
Pinar Ersin, Deniz’s sister, served as Maid of Honor and also as a Best Man. Utiku Eruslu from Germany was a Best Man as well and served with the other groomsmen, Allen Boudreaux III of New Orleans, and Dwight Lane Morrison III, brother of the bride. Rodney Abele served as an usher.
Our reception site—the Warren Erwin House at Sheriff’s Retreat in Natchez—also had sentimental ties. I grew up spending quite a bit of time at Annette and Larry Holder’s home in Natchez since their boys are about the same ages as my brother and I, and Larry and my dad are first cousins but are close like brothers. I also vividly remember going to visit when my uncle, Jan Scarbrough, was rebuilding the Holders’ home, board by board. The Warren Erwin House was originally built in Union Church shortly before the Civil War and was moved to its current location and restored in 1979. This also was the perfect reception site because it is “in the family,” having been built by my great, great, great, great-grandfather, Daniel Warren, on my dad’s mother’s side. As if all that isn’t enough, it is a gorgeous setting, and Larry and Annette were gracious enough to host the event. And, as a special treat for us, my uncle Larry hung Turkish and American flags from the porch.
Many of the tablecloths for the event belonged to my aunts or my grandmothers. Each napkin was tied with a Turkish evil eye for guests to keep—to ward off any bad luck for them. For the reception food, we served selections that were purposely very, very southern because all of my Yankee friends expected it and it is much more fun that salmon or steak. Our menu included fried chicken, southern caviar, biscuits, and shrimp and grits.
The signature cocktail for adults was a mint julep, and snowballs in blue and light blue (the wedding colors) were a treat for the children. I used the wedding as an excuse to buy real, silver mint julep cups for Deniz and me, and we made our wedding toasts with these. Members of the wedding party were given pewter julep cups at their tables. At the bride’s and parents tables, we used custom-made linen napkins bearing our new monogram which is an E in light blue on top of the same Iznik tile from the invitations in dark blue. At the bride’s table, the centerpiece was a handmade wooden candelabrum made for the wedding of my great, great, great grandmother and grandfather, T. J. and Nancy Erwin, who were married at this same home.
The bride’s cake was just something I saw in a magazine, but I loved it for its simple elegance. The groom’s cake, however, was anything but simple. I asked Edna Welch of Edna’s Cake Creations in Natchez if she could find an Eiffel tower in chocolate to put on top of a regular chocolate groom’s cake, and she outdid herself. His cake was absolutely gorgeous—and a real surprise for Deniz. It combined his favorite confection, dark chocolate, with Paris. He proposed to me in Paris at a glass-walled restaurant overlooking the Eiffel tower.
As favors we did a candy bar with my favorite—jelly beans—in the wedding colors and Deniz’s favorite, Turkish Delight. The stickers on the bags had the same logos as those on the embroidered napkins at the bride’s and parents’ tables. Earlier, upon their arrival, out-of-town guests were given a gift bag and booklet with all the information they needed to enjoy every moment of their visit to the Deep South. Each gift bag also included pralines and a tiny jar of peanut butter made by my grandmother—signature treats for which she is well known. We also included Mississippi-shaped chocolates from Nandy’s in Jackson.
Our guests came from anywhere and everywhere, mostly because I have moved around so much: Turkey (My close friend Huseyin, “the rug man,” came in from Istanbul just for the wedding and also brought carpets for Annette and Sherry.), Germany, Washington, D. C., California, New York, Georgia (the brother of my grandfather, Major Dwight Morrison, whom I never met—his coming meant so much to us.), England (I lived in Scotland for a year, and my flat-mate and her husband who is also a good friend came from Manchester, England. He is Scottish and she is English.), Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, New Orleans, and Texas. Our wedding photographers, recommended by a friend of a friend, came in from Toronto, Canada. They take amazing pictures, and both of them have Turkish parents and speak Turkish—quite a bonus.
As far as nationalities and ethnicities we had Turks, Greeks, Scots, English, Germans, and, of course, Americans. The idea was to introduce all our nation-wide and world-wide friends to the real South. They loved it!
