Wesley Goodson & Jacob Redfearn
January 18, 2020
Perot Theatre & Texarkana Country Club
What happens while planning a trip to Vegas sometimes sparks a love story. Wesley Goodson and Jacob Redfearn met through their best friends five years ago. Wesley, her best friend Chelsey and Chelsey’s now-husband Ryan planned a trip to Las Vegas (Wesley’s favorite city). Ryan decided to bring along a friend so Wesley wouldn’t feel like a third wheel. Wesley and Jacob started talking a few months before the trip so that things wouldn’t be awkward when they got to Vegas and the two just clicked.
The couple had been dating for four years when Jacob decided to pop the question. They fell in love with a small town in Oklahoma called Hochatown. The weekend before her birthday, Jacob told her that some friends were wanting to go to Hochatown to celebrate. He gave her a list of things to do before she left for the cabin and he would go early to get checked in. When Wesley arrived, Jacob was down on one knee. “I really wanted a low-key, intimate proposal so it was everything I could have wanted,” she says.
Wedding planning was a welcome and happy distraction from her job at the time, which was working as a foster care mental health therapist. “Sometimes my job got pretty dark but planning my wedding was definitely a fun escape,” she says. “Amanda [Reed] kept me on track to hit my deadlines, negotiate contracts and pull resources I could not have found in my wildest dreams. It’s funny because she and I would joke about Jacob being a groomzilla because he was so involved in the planning process as well.”
THE INSPIRATION
• • •
Wesley found her wedding inspiration from magazines, Instagram and weddings she had attended. She wanted to get away from traditional white flowers since her wedding was taking place in the winter. Instead, she went with bright and bold colors and luscious florals, including her bouquet filled with sprigs of eucalyptus, red darcys, raspberry peonies, red hydrangeas, purple lisianthus, and magenta orchids.
Having her wedding at the Perot Theatre in Texarkana has been a long-time dream of Wesley’s. Jacob and Wesley’s wedding actually turned out to be the second wedding held there in the theater’s history — the first wedding took place a century ago in the early 1920s. Wesley worked with Tanarah Luxe Floral to create a suspended floral altarpiece to the show-stopping design element for the ceremony. The theater’s ornate ceiling and luxurious velvet chairs set the stage for a stunning ceremony that transitioned into a glamorous reception held at Texarkana Country Club with 375 of the couple’s favorite people.
Local musicians sang “Make You Feel My Love” by Adele as Wesley walked down the aisle. “I loved the moment when I was walking down the aisle, to the song I have always wanted to walk down to, and I have the guy I have always wanted. It was at that moment I felt like it was just him and I,” she says.
HOW THEY CUSTOMIZED
Wesley’s mother passed away when she was 18. To honor her memory, Jacob took Wesley’s mother’s fabulous but dated engagement ring to be remade. “Jacob was so nervous to recreate something that was so sentimental to me,” she says. “He took it to his friend Lauren at Crocker’s Jewelers and together they created the ring I have today. I wanted something secure but dainty. He took the diamonds from the side of the original ring and made my band. I love the idea of having a piece of my mom with me every day, so I could not be any happier with how it turned out.”
Making the reception feel intimate with a large guest list was important to the couple. Luscious floral arrangements brimming with bright flowers and greenery banked the space and soft and romantic lighting set the mood. The couple had been to many weddings where there were long buffet lines, so instead of one station, they did multiple that helped cut down on waiting time.
Their first dance was to “This Too Shall Last” by Anderson East, sung by Jacob’s groomsmen. Afterward, guests were invited to dance the night away on the gold glitter dance floor to a mash-up of pop songs by the Lost Wax Band. Before guests headed home for the night, they were treated to a to-go box of cake for breakfast the next morning.
VIDEO
THE DETAILS
| WEDDING VENDORS WE LOVE | |
|---|---|
| Planning | Amanda Reed Weddings, Springdale |
| Florist | Tanarah Luxe Floral, Little Rock |
| MORE VENDORS | |
|---|---|
| Photography | Katie Childs Photography |
| Videography | Jonathon Childs |
| Caterer | Texarkana Country Club |
| Cake | Munchables Bakery, Texarkana |
| Groom's cheesecake | Julie's Deli, Texarkana |
| Band | Lost Wax of Kansas City, Missouri |
| Furniture rentals | Dot's Rental & Sales, Texarkana |
| Lighting | It's Your Night Entertainment of Fort Worth, Texas |
| Invitations | Shindig Paperie, Fayetteville |
| Wedding dress | Bridal Boutique of Lewisville, Texas |
| Bridesmaid dresses | Bella Bridesmaids, Little Rock |
| Groom & groomsmen attire | Black Tux |
| Jeweler | Crocker's Jewelers, Texarkana |
| Hair | Kendra Child with Crown Beauty Bar, Fayetteville |
| Hair color | Elizabeth Hulse with The Parlor Salon, Fayetteville |
| Makeup | Ashley Gregory |
| Rehearsal dinner venue | Zapata's, Texarkana |
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