June 6, 2009
First United Methodist Church
Magnolia
The wedding of Tammy Koehler and Dr. Christian Hester was one of Southern tradition and style. The San Francisco couple — who met while working at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences — decided to return to the groom’s hometown for a wedding at First United Methodist Church of Magnolia and a reception in the groom’s parents’ garden, renovated specifically for the nuptials.
“This is the church and home where my husband grew up,” Tammy said. “It was very meaningful to him.”
With family, flowers and cherished family tokens interwoven into the day’s events, their wedding was full of meaning.
Timeless Treasures
The bride’s sister and the groom’s brother served as maid of honor and best man respectively, but that’s not where their families’ influence ends. Tammy wore a pair of pearl earrings that were passed down to her by her mother-in-law, who had first received them from the groom’s father. The wedding band Tammy placed on Christian’s finger was the same etched white gold ring his great-grandfather, Joe Dodd Hester, wore during his 54 years of marriage.
Another family treasure, an heirloom ribbon, was tied onto Tammy’s bouquet of hydrangeas, peonies and roses, which was also accented by a cross Christian purchased on a tour of the Holy Land and later gave her.
After exchanging vows, Tammy and Christian took Holy Communion, using the baptism bowl from Christian’s youth. And even the food at the reception — including shrimp cocktail, sliced pork loin, spinach squares and good old-fashioned peach tea, all from Magnolia restaurant Kat’s in the Kitchen — was served on family silver and crystal.
Arkansas Oasis
The groom’s parents’ updated garden made a picturesque backdrop for the reception. Koi pools and romantic fountains peppered the landscape, covered with 15,000 sparkling lights. A canopied table covered in white fabric, tulle and flowers was filled with enough cake and food to feed 300 guests.
Centerpieces boasted three-foot-tall vases filled with peonies, hydrangeas and lisanthus in shades of lavender, pink and white, while flagstone paths were lighted with ambient lanterns. A floating monogram in the Hester’s pool made for a unique floral feature.
Playing up their Arkansas roots, the couple chose a Little Rock jazz group, Bob Boyd Sounds Band, to entertain under yet another garden canopy that covered the dance floor.
Kimberly Prescott accompanied the band and sang, “We Will Dance,” by Steven Curtis Chapman, for the couple’s first dance — the same song Christian played the night he proposed to Tammy.
The Details
Photographs: Crystal Goss Photography
Musicians: Bob Boyd Sounds Band, Little Rock; Kimberly Prescott, Little Rock
Florist /décor/wedding coordination: Gene Marie Crisp and Kelli Taylor, Magnolia
Garter: Low’s Bridal, Brinkley