Real Little Rock Wedding: Shelby Lovelace & Lane Bradshaw of Conway

Shelby Lovelace & Lane Bradshaw
August 26, 2017 • Little Rock
Pulaski Heights United Methodist Church & the Clinton Presidential Center

A little extra credit led to a whole lot of love for Conway natives Shelby Lovelace and Lane Bradshaw. The two met while attending a lecture at the University of Central Arkansas for bonus points in their American history class. The two attended the lecture with mutual friends and after that, they became fast friends.

It wasn’t until their sophomore year at UCA that they decided to give dating a try. After four years, Lane decided it was time to pop the question. One Saturday night, the two had dinner plans with friends in Conway. Lane and Shelby were en route when Shelby began to get suspicious. Lane took her to a table set up in the middle of Simon Park in downtown Conway and asked her to read a letter he had written. The next thing Shelby knew, Lane had asked her the big question, and of course, she said yes. After the proposal, Lane took her to U.S. Pizza Co. (her favorite restaurant) to celebrate with their friends and families. “It was the only surprise he’s ever pulled over on me and the best one he ever could,” she says.

The Inspiration

During high school, Shelby fell in love with Pulaski Heights United Methodist Church while attending a wedding there—and it was the obvious choice for her own. As for the reception venue, the architecture of the Clinton Presidential Center was the perfect backdrop for the modern wedding of her dreams.

Since Shelby has a tendency to change her mind often, she opted for a neutral color for the bridesmaids’ dresses but thought maroon, red and pink flowers would really pop against the dresses.

To tie it all together: “I knew gold would be the best accent color,” Shelby says. “So we went with gold chiavari chairs and tall flower stands to accentuate the high ceilings in the Grand Hall.”

How They Customized

As all good weddings go, Shelby and Lane made sure the food served at their reception was the best of the best. Since Mexican cuisine is one of the couple’s favorites, they were instantly sold on a unique taco buffet idea created by the Clinton Presidential Center culinary team. For the groom’s cake, Shelby had Natalie Madison design the logo of Lane’s favorite professional basketball team (the Chicago Bulls) into a cake.

Of all the amazing moments from the wedding, Shelby especially loved getting to spend time with her wedding party before the festivities began. The group rented a party bus from Little Rock Limousine that took them all over town to the different venues. “One of my favorite moments was being in the bus with all of our friends after the ceremony and having that time together before everything got crazy at the reception!”

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The Details

See this Real Wedding as it appeared in the print edition of ARKANSAS BRIDE

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