Allison Hotz of Fort Smith & James Cross of Pekin, Ill., married Sept. 17, 2011 at Christ the King Catholic Church in the newly refinished “Old Church” in Fort Smith. Following the ceremony, they had a reception at Columbus Acres in Fort Smith.
Wedding date (month/day/year): Saturday, Sept. 17, 2011
No. of guests: 125
Perfect Timing
“We wanted an outdoor wedding and needed time to plan. Arkansas has very few ‘comfortably reliable’ months for large outdoor events so September was an easy choice. It was February when he proposed and we knew we couldn’t pull it all together in seven months so we chose September 2011.”
Bridal Inspiration
“We wanted the whole event to be light, fun, and feel like a family event rather than a polished roses-and-tuxes type event. We chose navy for the wedding party because it’s neutral enough for the guys and the girls, since our party was a mix of guys and girls on each side. We really wanted to emphasize a family atmosphere so what better way than to use a collection of Grandma’s tablecloths and garden picked flowers? We added to the heirloom table linens by hitting garage sales for an entire year. We collected the milk glass the same way.”
What one detail truly made the wedding yours?
“We didn’t get caught up in all of the traditional and commercialized aspects of the wedding industry. We planned each part of our wedding ourselves and ruled out a bunch of stuff just because it didn’t mean anything to us. We opted against the heavy hors d’oeuvres and instead served a complete Southern meal.”
Ways They Saved
“We spent money on the important areas that made a big impact and skipped a lot of the cutesy stuff. We knew we had to have amazing wedding party flowers, phenomenal ceremony music, and the very best in photography.
“We didn’t hire a DJ. We used our laptop and downloaded every song we wanted and put them into categories: “lawn games/cocktails,” “dinner,” “pre-sunset socializing,” “after sunset dancing.” We did most of the cooking and all of the baking ourselves. We arranged our own centerpieces. We made a wall of mason jars suspended by twine and filled them with baby’s breath. It was the perfect backdrop to the serving line.
“Also, the church is so beautiful, we didn’t really need to decorate. We put some milk glass vases in the windows with some baby’s breath and had one altar arrangement. Nothing else was necessary. I designed and printed the ceremony programs. And we rented slightly more expensive chairs that looked nice, so that we didn’t need to rent chair covers as well.”
The Details
- Photography: Beaty Photography, Fort Smith
- Bridal Boutique: David’s Bridal, Fayetteville
- Wedding stationery: MyGatsby.com
- Florist: Mary Charlton
- Rentals/Lighting: Unforgettables, Fort Smith
- DJ/Band: Annidale Sound, Fort Smith
- Vocalist: Patrick Charlton
- Organist: Judy Weisenfels
