Elegant Mississippi Manor Wedding at the Dunleith Historic Inn

Abby Capalbo
October 24, 2014
Categories: Real Weddings, The Blog, Traditional Elegance

Charming yet beautifully elegant, this Mississippi wedding as seen through the lens of Kelly Ginn couldn’t be more lovely if it tried. It’s a little bit preppy, a little bit classic and a whole lot gorgeous – so if you need to find me today, I’ll be poring through all the pretty right here.

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From Kelly Ginn Photography…I’ve only been mildly obsessed with SMP since I was engaged back in 2010. I saw an add on the side of your website of a girl wearing a blush colored dress with a diamond studded bodice. It was ABSOLUTELY perfect. I ran and showed my mom, after doing TONS of research, I found that my perfect dress was a Vera Wang. NO WONDER it was flipping perfect. I begged, I cried, and prayed, and guess what? We were able to afford my DREAM dress (Vera Wang Dorothy) I owe that to you, so CHEERS to you SMP folks. OK, OK, OK enough about me and my perfect dress (there I go again) I have the EPITOME of a Style Me Pretty wedding to share with you guys today. We’re talking seersucker suits paired with Patina striped ties from the Tie Bar (with custom engraved tie clips), an Antebellum Historic Inn (Dunleith Historic Inn) that dates back to the 1790’s in one of the most charming cities I’ve ever laid these blue eyes on (Natchez, Mississippi), and stunning spanish moss that draped over 100+ year old trees. Dunleith Historic Inn has a Greek revival design and includes 26 Tuscan columns built of brick and stucco. (Which literally just translates to perfection.) Meet Sadie and Clayton. Yes, even their names are perfect. HAVE I MENTIONED THERE WAS AN ADORABLE GREENHOUSE? Get ready for 10+ images of JUST the greenhouse. It was literally the most charismatic venue I have ever seen. Giant magnolia trees lined the driveway, and provided the most prefect back drop for bride and groom portraits. Sadie and Clayton spent hours dancing and snuggling under these monumental giants. The bridal party wore the preppiest attire so well. It all so perfectly fit with the venue. The bridesmaids wore a lush Kelly Green Love Lane dress that popped against their bouquets filled with cotton, succulents, and garden roses. The flower girls wore white smocks with green embroidered monograms and white flower crowns. White fruitwood folding chairs gleamed in the sun as the aisle chairs were lined with cotton and magnolia leafs. It was a charming souther affair. In fact, I don’t think it gets anymore southern than this. I could go on and on about all of the reasons this wedding is an impeccable SMP match, but I really should let you guys hear the brides voice, and all of the things SHE has to say about her special day! From The Bride…Since I was 12 years old my dream was to get married in Natchez, Mississippi. My parents first discovered this quaint town on their 25th wedding anniversary, and they fell in love with its culture and beauty. Natchez has a unique mix of Creole influences while maintaining the traditional Southern delta spirit. Nearly ten years ago, Dunleith Historic Inn was my first taste of Natchez culture, and I am so blessed that it is also where I married my love on May 31, 2014. When my husband, Clayton, and I got engaged, we knew we wanted to keep our wedding day as small and as stress free as possible. The best way to go about this, we believed, was to have a destination wedding. (spoiler: we were right!) I instantly knew Natchez was the place. So we packed up my parents and his parents and hit the road for a scouting trip to book a venue. Right away, Natchez stole the hearts of everyone, and we decided that Dunleith Historic Inn was the perfect choice for our May wedding. I loved the fact that Natchez is such a small town and that all the vendors have such close relationships with each other. We chose Morton’s Flowerland for the flowers and Edna’s Cake Creations for the three-tiered almond cake with raspberry filling. Madeline England, the wedding coordinator at Dunleith, took care of the catering, the rentals, and the accommodations. The toughest part of planning my wedding was picking out my invitations! There’s just so many to choose from! By the time the week of the wedding arrived, Clayton and I had already taken exams, graduated, had two showers, celebrated three birthdays, and moved into a home all in the in the month of May. So, one could say that we were ready to relax. The weather had other ideas, the entire week before the wedding, the weather predicted massive rainstorms, which is odd for the end of May in the South. I did my best to keep calm and not stress, but what is a bride to do? My entire wedding was to take place outside, and I did not book a tent. As the week went by, the weather prediction only got worse. By the time we left for Natchez on Thursday afternoon, I was completely freaking out. But as we got closer and closer to the destination the sun began to shine, and I literally forgot about my stress as soon as I stepped onto the grounds at Dunleith. It was even more beautiful than I had remembered. That night, family flew in from Seattle and Canada, and we were so thankful we decided to rent out the property at Dunleith. Because we chose a destination wedding, I feel like we were able to experience and remember more of our special weekend. It warmed my heart to see both sides of our family gossiping in the rockers on the porch and enjoying daily breakfast all together. It was a time that I will never forget. We also love sharing our love of Natchez with our guests. The morning of our wedding was beautiful, and it seemed as though the weather was going to be wonderful. I was less stressed about rain because when we arrived at Dunleith, I saw a tent sitting in our reception area that was supposed to be taken down days before we arrived. But the rain had delayed the disassembly, and we were able to keep the tent for half price! It felt like a little miracle to get that tent on such short notice. At 10:00 a.m. on the wedding day, the rain set in. It poured on and off, and the radar showed that the storm would last all day. By 1:45 the radar was clear, and there was not a cloud in the sky. I knew that the Lord was providing for Clayton and I, and it was amazing to see another miracle surrounding our wedding day. At 6:00 in the evening on Saturday, May 31, 2014, my dad walked me down the isle with the most beautiful sunlight I have ever seen. I cried like a baby at the altar as I finally married my best friend. The night was perfect thanks to all of our vendors, and we ate, danced and tried to make sure we remembered every second of it. It was the most perfect day.