Marcy and James

     Their eyes first met when they walked toward each other on the campus of the University of Mary Hardin-Boylor in Belton, Texas. Five years later, on June 8, 1996, Marcy Mitchell, 23, and James Cashion, 24, married. 
     "We wanted to show our love for each other," says Marcy, a primary-school special-education teacher.
     "And to bring our famihes together to further support our commitment," adds James, an engineer.
     Together, with their parents and bridal consultant Karen Brown, owner of Memories in Bloom in Houston, Texas, the bride and groom created what they believe was, "the most beautiful wedding we've ever attended."
     While love dominated, the business side of wedding planning also had its place. "The first thing we did together was talk about the budget," says Karen. "We identified the services that were most important, such as videogrophy and photography, and built from there. I put the budget on the computer and as time went by, I gave Marcy and James updates on deposits and balances. We were able to get discounts from certain vendors. And, because I'm a Texas Master Florist and we do the floral arrange-ments in-house, we always save couples money on flowers."
     Adds Marcy, "Working with Karen saved us money and reduced our stress. She had many great ideas and brought an objective opinion to the table. Our wedding exceeded our expectations; it was like a fairy tale come true!"
     The magical day began with Marcy hosting a luncheon for her bridesmaids at Two Friends Tea Room, while James, his groomsmen and his family, met for lunch at PapaDeaux's seafood restaurant.
     "We knew things would get pretty hectic," says Marcy. "The lunches would be the only uninterrupted time during our wedding day that we'd really get to spend with our wedding party."
     At 7 P.M., the 400 guests were seated inside the First United Methodist Church of Missouri City, which Marcy has attended since age 7. The couple's grandmothers were escorted to their seats to Time for Joy, played by the organist, and their mothers entered and lit unity tapers to Pachelbel's Canon, played by the Brio Trio, flute, violin and harp.
     The minister, groom and groomsmen took their places beside a railing that surrounded the circular altar area of the front of the modem church. James wore a black pinstriped tuxedo with tails, a black vest and bow tie, and an off-white tuxedo shirt.
     The trio played "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring" as the bridesmaids, flower girls and ring bearer entered. The seven women wore wine-colored, short-sleeved, tea-length dresses with fitted waistlines, scalloped necklines and V-shaped backs. They held cascading bouquets of hot-pink roses, misty pink dendrobriurn orchids and pink heather.
     A pause signaled the bride's entrance to Wagner's Bridal Chorus. Marcy looked stunning in her douppioni silk dress with a fitted bodice and long sleeves of bead and sequined Alençon lace. Her long veil attached to the headpiece set on the back of her head with a pouf of tulle to add an eloquent touch. The bride held a large flowing bouquet of cymbidium orchids, large hot-pink roses and cascading dendrobrium orchids.
     After exchanging vows, the bride and groom were chauffeured in a white limousine to their country club reception.
     The guests dined on a scrumptious dinner buffet featuring pecan breast of chicken with a choice of honey mustard or Marsala sauce, roasted red potatoes, green beans almondine, rolls and salad. Two grand ice-sculpture vases overflowing with fresh flowers served as an impressive buffet centerpiece.
     After dinner, the disc jockey played George Strait's I Cross My Heart as the bride and groom danced their first dance as husband and wife. Marcy and her dad took center stage to Celene Dion's Because You Loved Me. The newlyweds dedicated the next song, Have I Told You Lately That I Love You, by Rod Stewart, to their friends and relatives.
     The bride's five-layer white cake with pineapple filling was embellished with fresh flowers. The groom's cake was a ganache cake topped with strawberries dipped in white chocolate and accented with a solid white-chocolate baseball.
     "We had the baseball specially designed as a surprise for the groom," says bridal consultant Karen.
     "James pitched for our college baseball team, and I attended all his games," says Marcy. "Now, we are both big fans of the sport."
     The night of enchantment ended with a fluttering of rose petals on the bride and groom as they departed for their five-day, all-inclusive honeymoon at the Royal Solaris in Cancün.

-Modern Bride, February/March, 1998