Real Weddings: Marissa Anderton and Montgomery Bennett

A family estate gets a touch of country French for a lovely outdoor wedding.

Marissa Anderton and Montgomery Bennett met on a blind date arranged by her boss. And where so many blind dates go wrong, this one did not. The couple hit it off right away, and 18 months later Monty was on his knee on the bank of the Seine River in Paris, asking Marissa to be his wife.

Marissa, who was named one of the Top 30 Under 30 in commercial real estate in Dallas in D CEO in 2007, quit her job in 2010 to follow her passion: interior design. So when it came to the design for her wedding, she had some specific ideas.

“I felt like I had a vision of what I wanted my wedding to be like,” she says, “though I wasn’t one of those people who spent my whole life thinking about it.” Her dream design for her wedding day was rustic yet elegant—nice but nothing too fancy, casual but not careless, a mix of materials and textures but not a hint of Texas kitsch.

To bring that vision to life, Marissa brought in Todd Events. The order of the day was “understated elegance—a little bit of glitz but nothing over the top,” Sara Fay Egan says. “There was a juxtaposition of fancy and rustic throughout the design that made it a living environment.”

The event took place on April 9, 2011, at the groom’s ranch in Athens, Texas.

For the outdoor ceremony, held lakeside, the designers hung three Venetian-style crystal chan-deliers among the limbs of a giant oak tree, under which the couple exchanged vows. By contrast, shepherd’s staffs supporting burlap cones filled with blue and lavender hydrangea and ivory roses lined the aisle.

After vows were exchanged, the 350 guests moved to dinner in a clear tent situated high on a hill overlooking the ceremony site. To carry the theme, the linens were vintage lace that matched the bride’s dress and true linen in muted colors. Burlap-covered furniture and fresh-from-the-garden flowers kept the look loose and whimsical. A wraparound deck was outfitted with an aged-wood bar, strings of lights, and a fire pit.

The reception took a different turn—with guests dancing into the night wearing fun props such as hats, feather boas, blow-up guitars, and wigs. The bride ended the evening in a pirate’s hat—her first matey at her side.

Resources
Ceremony/Reception Site: Lazy W Ranch
Bridal Gown Designer: Anne Barge
Bridal Gown Retailer: Neiman Marcus
Hair & Makeup: Tiffany Axner
Groom’s Attire: Edward Baumann Clothiers
Flowers: Todd Events
Cakes: Dallas Affaires (bride’s); Kristen Lacy, Tiers by Tista (groom’s)
Caterer: Food Glorious Food
Band: Stage Fright
Lighting: Switch Lighting
Videographer: Andy Irvine, Elixir Entertainment
Wedding Rentals: Ducky-Bob’s; Todd Events
Wedding Planner: Sara Fay Egan, Todd Events
Wedding Designer: Todd Fiscus, Todd Events