There’s a Place for Us: Six Extraordinary Bluff City Wedding Venues

In 30 some years of writing up weddings, it takes a lot to make me pull out my handkerchief. For years, I kept a scrapbook of badly worded headlines. My favorite came from the newspaper in Laurel, Mississippi, now the subject of HGTV’s hit show Home Town. Neighboring towns included Hot Coffee, Errata, Soso, and Tuckers Crossing. The headline read, “Boy from Hot Coffee Marries Soso Girl.”

So it was wildly out of character for me to tear up when church friends had their wedding reception at the Carousel Pavilion, the new attraction at the Children’s Museum of Memphis, in November. Our staff affectionately called it “My Big Fat Gay Wedding” in the days leading up to it. Our choir’s gift to them was an arrangement of “There’s a Place For Us” from West Side Story. Well, I took to blubberin’ and didn’t stop until somebody stuffed a piece of cake in my face.

“Location is the most important decision one makes,” says Warner Moore, wedding designer and interior decorator. “Everything else radiates from that decision. People know their venue when they see it. Once it feels right to them, everything can proceed from there.”

The more the couple can hone in on their preferences, the more accurate a map he can draw for them, Moore says. “Even the cleverest wedding planner cannot turn a casual space into a formal one, or vice versa. You also have to match the space to the number of guests. There’s nothing worse than having a small wedding in a big place because it looks like no one came.”

Myriad elements go into creating a sense of place: lighting, color, season, formality, and the personalities of the couple. The variables are endless. The paper “save the date” card is the first hint at the wedding’s personality.

Kat Gordon, owner of Muddy’s Bake Shop, sees a consistent effort to match food choices to the mood of the venue. At a barn or vineyard wedding, for example, the couple may want a pie bar for dessert. “That feels very Southern and authentic,” she says.

The multi-tiered formal confection with the obligatory cake-cutting moment is rarely the centerpiece of the reception anymore. “People are thinking about the experience they want their guests to have more than a photo opportunity,” Gordon says. “They want food that’s not just edible but really tasty and represents who we are in our city.”

With a seated dinner, a cake per table has become a Muddy’s signature. An 8-inch layer cake at each table in chocolate, lemon, or strawberry adds color and variety.

What’s trending in flowers in 2020 is a little tweak on the traditional, says Eric Lee Milner of E.L.M. Designs. “Couples are wanting traditional flowers, but in unique colors. Calla lilies are a basic, but I had an October bride who chose them in dark purple and deep maroon and added a pheasant feather.”

Milner predicts more saturated color in bouquets, centerpieces, and altar flowers. “You’re going to see more strong orange, lime-green, and fuschia, and less white, pink, and peach,” he says.

Short of having Oprah’s money, Milner recommends brides concentrate their budget on one statement piece in a high visibility spot. “You can get more impact with one singular ‘wow’ arrangement at the entry or in the middle of your reception area than you can with an abundance of flowers all over the place,” he says. “Whether it’s a big raised arrangement on a table right when you arrive or one big arrangement in the middle of the buffet, that gives you more impact and it’s more affordable than trying to address the whole room.”

In the world of wedding gifts, the charcuterie board (methinks) may be to the 2020s what the fondue set was to the 1970s. “Charcuterie boards are big, both in terms of size and in popularity,” says Brooks Terry, owner of Babcock Gifts.

Since couples are marrying later in their 20s and most have lived together, many already have the household basics. With their registries, they’re trying to equip themselves for entertaining, also a regional phenomenon.

“Our vendors love the South because we still register brides,” Terry says. “In California and on the East Coast, wedding gifts are usually cash or Venmo.”

Sorry … I fainted there for a second from shock and dismay. Okay, I’m back.

Another change is in the split between formal and informal dinnerware. The completion of a set of fine china was once the primary goal of every bride’s registry. Now the everyday set is the priority. “Couples have gotten a little more casual, but they still like nice stuff,” Terry says.

Going into 2020, Terry sees brides choosing a fine china as the dinner plate, but for the salad plate, they’ll mix it up with some hand-thrown, artistic pottery. Three of the most popular lines are made nearby: Miller’s Mud comes from Dumas, Arkansas; McCarty Pottery is Merigold, Mississippi’s most famous export; and Potsalot is made on Magazine Street in New Orleans.

Judaica pieces like Seder plates, Shabbat candles, and menorahs sell well year-round, regardless of the couple’s wedding date, Terry says.

If you want to go rogue and choose a gift not on the registry, you can never go wrong with crystal, Terry says. “No one’s sending back a Baccarat vase or a Waterford salad bowl.”

All Aboard for the Central Station Hotel

What do you get when you mix newlyweds, a popular fantasy series, and Downtown’s newest ballroom?

Why, the Game of Thrones wedding reception at Central Station Hotel, of course. The first couple to marry at the new hotel wed there December 29th. They chose the venue in July when it was still under construction. “Everyone was still in hard hats, but this couple saw the vision,” says Helen Nelson, director of sales and marketing for Central Station Hotel.

The same could be said for McLean Wilson, the principal in the redevelopment of Central Station. He’s the grandson of Kemmons Wilson, founder of Holiday Inns, known to generations of travelers as “the nation’s innkeeper.” According to Nelson, Henry Turley first saw the potential of bringing a hotel to the South Main Arts District, and invited McLean to develop the concept.

Built in 1914, Central Station still serves rail passengers boarding Amtrak’s City of New Orleans, the historic 19-hour route from New Orleans to Chicago. Wilson reimagined the former offices of the Illinois Central Railroad, Amtrak’s predecessor, as hotel rooms.

But it’s the lobby and bar that bear the stamp of South Main. A tower of record albums overlooks the double turntable built into an antique organ housing. One wall holds speakers of all different shapes. Memphis music plays in the lobby and bar, and guests hear Isaac Hayes or Sam and Dave in the guest rooms.

At 6,600 square feet, the Grand Hall is 33 feet high. It was the original passenger waiting room for trains for 80 years (Some of the station’s original benches can still be seen on a lower level). In the Grand Hall, Central Station’s original arrival and departure board is outlined in neon lights. Hidden uplighting can be adjusted to customize the bride’s chosen colors.

Entering the hotel grounds requires driving a little south of the station on South Main and doubling back up the platform to the hotel entrance. Brides may have a challenge keeping people in the Grand Hall, because the lobby and bar have so many things to explore. “We’ve had inquiries about using the hotel lobby for receptions,” Nelson says, but so far the answer’s been a hard no. “We want that area to be for the neighborhood, not cordoned off for private events. We want it to feel like South Main’s living room.”

Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church

Marrying at Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church puts you squarely in the 25 percent of couples who marry in church, down from 40 percent just ten years ago, according to weddingwire.com.

“The foremost reason to marry at a church would be to honor your faith tradition,” says the Rev. J. Lawrence Turner, senior pastor at The Blvd., as the church is known. “My view of the Christian wedding ceremony is that it is more than a celebration of two people joining their lives together. It’s of the God who joins them together. So a Christian wedding is ultimately a worship experience.”

Turner officiates at 12 or 15 weddings a year, but there are other pastors on staff who solemnize vows. The Blvd. also has a full-time event planner on staff.

Marrying in the church matters less than the church being in the marriage. “It is not so much where the wedding takes place or whether the church recognizes it,” says Turner. “Rather, I have found success in marriage depends on whether that couple honors Christian principles in their marriage such as unconditional love, mutual respect, honesty, fidelity, and grace.”

When Bellevue Baptist vacated the sprawling campus at Jefferson and N. Bellevue in 1992, Mississippi Boulevard brought its ministries to the heart of Midtown. The Blvd. is home to dozens of ministries including meal distribution, wellness initiatives, Room In the Inn overnight housing for the unsheltered, pastoral care to shut-ins, and a college tour for high school seniors. Facility rental generates 11.5 percent of The Blvd.’s $6.5 million annual budget.

“We are certainly open to the public to be rented out for weddings,” says Turner. “Our space is memorable for not only being the place for many weddings for our congregation for the past 26 years we’ve owned this space, but also for the previous congregation that owned the building, Bellevue Baptist.”

Soaring limestone columns support the broad portico leading to Mississippi Blvd.’s two-story vestibule. Accommodating up to 3,000 guests, the sanctuary has seating on two levels. Contemporary stained-glass windows, including one depicting the Pyramid and the Hernando DeSoto Bridge, cast rose and blue highlights over the balcony.

“Our chapel, which is where our smaller weddings take place, has beautiful natural light too,” Turner says.

Taking a Ride on the Carousel

With 30 receptions already booked for the Carousel Pavilion in 2020, the bride who wants a merry-go-round wedding had best break out ahead of the pack. Like a jewel-under-glass on permanent exhibit, the historic carousel at the Children’s Museum of Memphis, located at Central and Hollywood, is the same one that thousands of us rode as children at the Mid-South Fairgrounds, later Libertyland.

“Couples that are attracted to this degree of spectacle bring a lot of vision,” says Melissa Latil, carousel events and operations manager. “There’s not a lot of middle ground for this venue. People either say, ‘I’m in’ or rule it out quickly.”

Brides may choose to make their entrance around the Carousel or through the sliding double doors. At a Disney-themed reception last month, a “Tinkerbell” pulled open the doors for the first look at the couple. The staff created a Mickey Mouse dance area with a round floor and two round tables to shape the ears. Guests watched a projection of the “Happily Ever After” fireworks spectacular from the Magic Kingdom.

While the Pavilion can accommodate up to 500 guests, Latil says the Carousel is ideal for weddings of about 150, which is slightly above average. According to weddingwire.com, the average guest list in 2019 included 126. Adjacent to the Carousel are a ballroom, lobby, catering kitchen, and separate dressing suites for brides and grooms. The Carousel Pavilion connects to the Children’s Museum of Memphis, formerly the National Guard Armory from 1943 until 1983.

With a four-hour wedding rental, the Carousel runs for 2 hours. Restoration of the 100-year-old merry-go-round carved by Gustav Dentzel began in 2015, and a team of woodworkers, painters, and machinists returned it to the museum in pristine condition for its debut in December 2017.

Of its 48 ponies, those on the two inner rings go up and down. The “chariots” were the first wheelchair accessible carousel seats installed in the U.S. In a three-minute ride, the guest makes 12 revolutions past scenes that evoke a Memphis of yesteryear: a paddlewheeler on the river, frontiersmen in canoes, mules plowing a farm, and deer pausing to drink from a stream. Cherubs keep watch over each rider while hundreds of Edison bulbs create a festive and photogenic vibe.

Maritime Matrimony

It doesn’t get much more Memphis than marrying on the Mississippi. Two vessels, the Memphis Queen III and the Island Queen, have launched hundreds of couples into matrimony.

“I have not had a single bridezilla,” says Jodie Taube, director of marketing and events for Memphis Riverboats, Inc. Couples who book the riverboat for their rehearsal dinners or wedding receptions generally have a high sense of adventure and fun.

And just like in the movies, the captain of the boat can perform the ceremony. Captain James Gilmer is an ordained minister in the Church of God in Christ. He has officiated at 16 shipboard weddings. To his knowledge, he’s the only African-American riverboat captain on the Mississippi.

With friends from all over the country in town for their October 12th wedding, Ginger and Josh Huckaby wanted their guests to have a quintessential Memphis experience. Josh owns the Green Beetle, the oldest tavern in Memphis, and Ginger moved here from Nashville to work as a nurse practitioner at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Ginger says, “The weather was perfect, the moon was full, it was Memphis to the T.”

Of the two boats, the Memphis Queen III is the classic Victorian riverboat with gingerbread trim and twinkling lights. The Island Queen has a more nautical look, with an open section in the center for dancing. Both boats are 100 feet long, accommodate up to 300 guests, and are heated and air-conditioned as the season dictates.

The most popular wedding package allows a half-hour for guests to board; a half-hour for the ceremony; and then two hours for cruising. The vessel departs from Beale Street Landing and heads south under the light show on the Harahan Bridge. Turning back upriver, guests can then enjoy the Memphis skyline. Then Capt. Gilmer takes the party under the light shows on the I-40 bridge, cruises past Harbortown, and returns to the landing.

Riverboat weddings are available all year, but March, April, June, September, and October are the most sought-after months. Taube steers brides away from the weekends during Memphis in May because the closing of Riverside Drive limits access to parking and raises the level of difficulty in bringing decorations aboard. The temperate months also afford nicer views of each bank.

Capt. Gilmer has been on the river 36 years. One of his favorite pranks is to tell Tennessee couples that it’s not too late to change their minds about matrimony. He says, “I can just carry them across the river to the Arkansas side and it won’t count.”

Chapel in the Woods at Graceland

Just a plain and simple chapel where humble people go to pray” may have been okay in 1960, but couples in 2020 want something a little more photogenic and upscale.

When Elvis recorded “Crying in the Chapel,” most couples married in church. “The etiquette-bound formal wedding performed in a religious setting was the bread and butter of the wedding industry,” explains Vicki Howard in her book Brides, Inc: American Weddings and the Business of Tradition.

In September, British actress Michelle Hardwick married soap producer Kate Brooks at Graceland in Memphis, according to the Daily Mail.

“You’ve got to be progressive in 2020,” says Christian Ross, Graceland’s marketing specialist.

More than 2,000 couples have married or renewed their vows at Graceland. The original chapel was tucked behind the mansion for 18 years, but in 2018, Graceland unveiled the Chapel in the Woods, which seats about 100.

And not all the couples are Elvis fans. Many just want an intimate venue in a woodsy, but still accessible, setting. A bride might choose to have a family ceremony in the Chapel, but she can still invite more guests to a reception in the ballroom.

Most recently, the chapel was featured in the Hallmark Channel’s Wedding at Graceland, released last year. That movie was the follow-up to 2018’s Christmas at Graceland, which was Hallmark’s fourth highest rated and most watched original movie in network history. Priscilla Presley had a cameo role in Wedding.

Elvis and Priscilla Presley married on May 1, 1967, at the Aladdin Hotel in Las Vegas. Ten days later, they came home to Memphis and put on their wedding attire for a belated reception at Graceland.

Shelby Farms Park

Weddings in barns, meadows, and vineyards have been all the rage in the magazines for the last decade, but people don’t realize that rustic simplicity comes at a price.

“Sure, you have a beautiful spot, but every piece of that party must be brought in so you can look out over a meadow,” says Warner Moore, Memphis decorator and wedding designer. “When you have to import virtually everything — lighting, chairs, tables — it gets expensive.”

Unless you want people standing up the whole time, you’re basically building an infrastructure, Moore explains.

A viable “country in the city” alternative is the FedEx Event Center at Shelby Farms Park. More than 60 couples have tied the knot there since it opened three years ago, says Kate Phillips, account executive with the Park.

“You feel you’re immersed in nature, but you’re connected to the city,” she says. “We get the benefit of beautiful views, and we still have air-conditioning.”

The event center faces west with floor-to-ceiling windows affording views of sunsets over the 80-acre lake. Natural cedar planks adorn the ceiling and look as if they might have been milled on-site. Stacked stone walls further connect the event center to the natural surroundings.

A grassy berm hides the view of Walnut Grove Road just a few hundred feet away. At night, the only reminder of the city is the light from Clark Tower to the southwest. A tree-lined field next to the center can be set for an outdoor ceremony in fair weather.

Since 2007, the Shelby Farms Park Conservancy has managed the county-owned land that is five times the size of New York’s Central Park. The group needed a revenue generator like the event center, Phillips says, because the conservancy has 4,500 acres, a dozen lakes, a herd of buffalo, and the Greenline to maintain. Early this month, Starry Nights just completed its tenth year as the park’s primary fund-raiser.

Long-time Memphians remember the property as “the penal farm” from the decades (1930s to early ’60s) when inmates of the Shelby Count Corrections Center worked the acreage to provide food for inmates and staff. Situated at the geographic center of Shelby County, the “Heart of the Park” is just one exit away from the interstate, making it an easy drive for out-of-town wedding guests cooped up in hotels.