The wedding of Christi Gail Satterwhite and Jim Alan Amos at the Double S Ranch, the personal ranch of the bride’s parents, was a self-made event that reflected the bride and groom’s personal sense of style and incorporated creative vintage and country details into their wedding day. Several family weddings have taken place on the Double S Ranch, some in the exact location as Christi and Alan’s ceremony. The property has been in the Satterwhite family since the late 1800’s and was chosen as the ceremony site to honor the bride’s late paternal grandfather, Nolon Satterwhite. Even the date, May 27, was selected because it was the birthday of Christi’s late maternal grandfather, Troy Nicholas. The wedding offered a sentimental start for the couple, allowing them to connect to the past while planning their future.

The bride, groom, and family were heavily involved in the preparations for the special day. Invitations were sent on antique handkerchiefs acquired at estate sales. The winding drive into the Double S Ranch was marked with a sign, handmade by the couple, which read “C & A’s I Dos.” Propped against the porch of the log cabin, was a large set of wooden cutout initials. Christi drew the initials, and after Alan completed cutting them, she decopaged them with scrapbooking paper to resemble small print quilting fabrics. The signs directing guest to the ceremony, food, and entertainment areas were made and hand lettered by the bride and groom. Country print pennants were strung overhead throughout the site along with strings of lights. The seat of a rope swing was a wooden heart with the initials of the bride and groom, which were carved by the bride’s brother. Ladders leaning against trees, with small lanterns hanging on the rungs, were made by the groom. Vintage antiques combined with quilts, lace, burlap, lights, candles, turquoise mason jars holding candles or flowers, antique bottles, and abundant and impressive flowers by Fantasy and Fairytale Floral Designs, added to the ambiance of the site.

Guests signed a quilting square of fabric, held taut in a 4-inch embroidery hoop, located on a table decorated with an antique Frister and Rossman sewing machine, a sewing basket filled with old wooden spools of thread, antique mason jars filled with buttons, and draped with lace tablecloths. The signed quilting squares will be made into a memory quilt. The programs were printed on the back of hand-held fans and pictured the bride and groom in vintage clothing and the verse from “Song of Solomon” printed at the bottom, “…I have found the one whom my soul loves.” One gift table was decorated with an old suitcase and metal measuring tape. Vintage furniture pieces, used throughout the area to hold pictures of the couple, were largely flea market finds or family pieces. A few of the pieces were made by the groom from antique doors. The furniture finds and creations were painted and distressed by the bride. Framed pictures of the couple and other family members, including wedding pictures of the couples’ parents, were on tables and other antique furniture pieces in the vicinity of the registry, program, and gift tables. The photos reflected the importance of family over the past several generations. One interesting picture was of the bride and groom posed like the painting American Gothic, the classic painting of the farmer and wife with the pitchfork between them, except in this newer version, the bride and groom held a shovel.

With the lake as their backdrop, Christi and Alan exchanged vows in front of a beautiful frame arch made from antique stained glass doors. Christi bought the doors at First Monday Trade Days in Canton, Texas, and Alan built the antique door arch, which were further highlighted by arrangements of Eremurus plumes, delphenium, peonies, roses, larkspur, and other wildflowers. The grandmothers, parents, attendants, and bride descended down the stairs of the house and proceeded through rusted iron gates laced with blupurium, yellow jasmine, English ivy, and asparagus fern. The center aisle was lined with shepherd hooks holding antique mason jars filled with purple stock, gerber daisies, veronica, roses, and Queen Anne’s lace.

All of the attendants were family members. Ushers were Lane, Clay, and Lee Stanley, all cousins of the bride. The best man, Jim Amos, father of the groom, and groomsmen, Dennis Amos, uncle of the groom, and Nicholas Satterwhite, brother of the bride, wore gray suits. Their boutonnieres were made by Christi using vintage skeleton keys, flowers, old handkerchiefs, lace, and highlighted by a pearl in the middle. Major Clinton Alexander, cousin of the groom, was also a groomsman although he was absent from the ceremony due to being deployed to Afghanistan on May 2, 2011. The maid of honor, Lindsey Satterwhite, sister of the bride; bridesmaids Angela Ables, cousin of the bride, Kelley Satterwhite, sister-in-law of the bride; junior bridesmaid, and Julianna Jones, niece of the groom, wore knee-length coral dresses and cowboy boots. They carried bouquets with an antique brooch pinned to the lace-wrapped stems. They sashayed country style down the aisle to “Wishin’ and Hopin” by Dusty Springfield. The barefoot flower girl, Dylan Green, goddaughter of the bride, wore an ivory dress. The ring bearer, Jace Jones, nephew of the groom, and the bride’s announcers, Porter Satterwhite, nephew of the bride, and Judson Ables, cousin of the bride, proceeded next down the aisle. Porter and Judson almost stole the show as they were coaxed forward by their handlers, each holding a flag, with one flag stating, “Here Comes” and the other stating “The Bride.” Christi, wearing an ivory Casablanca dress, cowboy boots, and a turquoise petticoat, was escorted down the aisle by her father, Sam Satterwhite, as Ryan Pierce performed Richard Wagner’s “Bridal Chorus.” Alan, the son of Lenora and Jim Amos, brightened as he saw his bride appear and start down the aisle toward him.

The officiant, Mark Gregston, the founder of Heartlight Ministries, a residential therapeutic boarding school for troubled teens, also has a history with the Satterwhite family and the land. This wedding was the second wedding he has performed for the family. He told the couple that their legacy had brought them to where they were at that moment. After the ceremony, the bride and groom kissed not just once, not just twice, but also a third time half way through their recessional walk up the aisle. And, the third kiss came with a vintage dip.

After the ceremony, guests moved to the outdoor reception area complete with large tents from A-1 Party and Tent Rental, which housed the dining area, buffet area, the band, the couple’s cake table, the sweet potato bar, the vegetable bar, and the appetizer table. As the sky darkened, chandeliers in the tents glittered festively. Guests could also entertain themselves at a photo booth, set with a vintage “living room” built by Alan. After donning vintage hats, brooches, earrings, bow ties, mustaches, and stoles, they could have a picture made in the “living room,” choosing to sit on either the 1890’s velvet settee from Pursuing Eden, or to stand behind the wall and become a picture on the wall. Even the lamp on the table was lit to give a more vintage feel.

Guests indulged in appetizers of jalapeno poppers, potato skins, and spinach dip prepared by Perfect Catering. Cold bottled water, personalized with Christi’s and Alan’s names, was chilled in a clawfoot bathtub filled with ice. For beverages, guests helped themselves to a mason jar, ice from antique washtubs, and strawberry lemonade, regular lemonade, sweetened or unsweetened iced tea.

The dining tent was a romantic white canopy decorated with string lights. Flowers and candles created a wonderland amongst the round tables and white garden chairs. Each table was covered with ivory vintage lace over a turquoise tablecloth. Napkin rings made by Christi’s mom, Travonda Satterwhite, were fashioned from raffia which she tied in bows and placed a vintage button in the middle. Gracing each table, were centerpieces of mirrored trays with 5 to 7 antique bottles and vintage flowers such as ranunculus, scabiosa pods, veronica, anemones, gerbera daisies, eremurus plumes, peonies, delphinium, larkspur, and roses. As the sky darkened, the bottles reflected the light from the cream-colored candles.

Antique pieces of furniture held the china dinner and dessert plates, provided by Pursuing Eden, until guests retrieved them as they headed to the buffet. Guests were served ribs, chicken, and sausage grilled by the bride’s father. Side dishes of sweet potatoes and all the fixings, Grandma’s macaroni and cheese, country green beans, perfect cream corn, fried okra, classic tossed salad, creamy country cole slaw, and sweet yeast rolls were prepared by Perfect Catering. It was a feast for the senses, combining gourmet food, the scent of flowers, and a breathtaking vista of the ranch and lake. Canny accents on the sweet potato bar table were old bushel baskets and antique wooden crates filled with burlap, English ivy and real sweet potatoes tumbled throughout the entire table.

The dessert table held the tiered wedding cake. The cake matched the ivory color of the bride’s dress and was accented with an occasional antique brooch at the base of the layers. The cake was accompanied by a homemade dessert bar of banana pudding, buttermilk-apple pies, old fashioned peach cobbler, chocolate chip cookies, and red velvet cupcakes located at the groom’s end of the dessert table. The wildflower theme centerpiece on the dessert table used an antique milk can and a watering can holding arrangements of yellow eremurus, blue thistle, antique hydrangeas, peonies, cobalt blue delphenium, orange Ranunculus, Queen Anne’s Lace, and gerbera daisies.

In addition to the sweets on the cake table, Pursuing Eden created a “Sweet Shoppe” featuring various vintage candies displayed on an antique vanity. Old baby scales were weighted down with containers of candy, and tall wooden sewing spools supported Twinkle Pops. An old wooden drink case, set up on vintage suitcases, served as an overflow for Airheads, candy necklaces, and rock candy sticks. There were unicorn pops, a gumball machine, Mary Janes, Slo Pokes, Neccos, Bit-O-Honey, edible wax bottles, and pinwheels. The pinwheels, made by the bride, were of country print paper secured with a button in the middle.

The dance floor was a large concrete area with lights and paper lanterns which hung overhead along with mandevilla plants. An old window leaned onto the edge of the concrete dance floor with the phrase “…and they danced by the light of the moon” written on the glass by Christi as a tribute to her dad’s favorite movie, “It’s a Wonderful Life.” To set the mood for the traditional father-daughter dance, guests heard a one-year-old Christi on tape singing nursery rhymes. It ended with Christi saying, “Goodnight Daddy. I love you.” Immediately, “You Are My Sunshine” started playing for the father-daughter dance. This song was chosen because Christi’s dad used to sing that song to her. The happy guests topped off the night dancing under the Texas sky.

At the end of the evening, friends and family lit the way with giant sparklers as the bride and groom made their way to the awaiting turquoise 1951 GMC truck owned by Dan Groce of Groce Body Shop. They left the ranch site swinging their feet while riding on the tailgate. As a surprise to the bride and groom, a fireworks display, created by the bride’s brother, also announced their departure.

As the guests left, they were welcome to take a remembrance of the wonderful event. Small, wide-mouth jars topped with print country fabric and filled with peanut brittle, made by Christi’s Mamaw, were decoratively arranged on a large flower cart.

Every time the couple looks at the pictures by Jennifer Mitchell of JLM Photography and her assistant Kasi East, it will be like reliving that beautiful day all over again. The Double S Ranch was the perfect setting for a lovingly planned wedding, and in addition to the extra romance that the beautiful lakeside setting brought to an already romantic day, the wedding was a meaningful and entertaining experience for the entire wedding party and unexpected fun for the guests.