Margaret Ruth McCrummen and James Cleveland Fowler were united in marriage at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church on June 21, 2014. The Rev. John Harris Riggin officiated and was assisted by the bride’s father, Dr. Norman H. McCrummen III.
The bride is the daughter of Dr. and Mrs. Norman H. McCrummen III. The groom is the son of Dr. and Mrs. Dee Oscar Fowler.
The service began with the congregation singing the glorious hymn, “Praise My Soul the King of Heaven.” The couple asked Dr. Fowler and Dr. Jacqueline Morgan to deliver two especially meaningful readings: Ecclesiastes 4:9 -12 and excerpts from “Saint Patrick’s Breastplate.” Sarah and Scott Wright sang “Be Thou My Vision, ” and the bride’s father gave the homily. After the vows and the blessing, the congregation knelt in silence as the Wrights sang “Christ We Do All Adore Thee, ” just before two trumpets and a timpani burst into “Ode to Joy” as the bride and groom processed out of the church.
The bride chose her cousin, Emily Johnson Baker, as maid of honor. She was attended by Ana Carmen Chambers, Sarah Katherine Clarke, Amelia Brennan Haas, Abbay Elizabeth King, Holly Virginia Rhea, Margaret Anderson Roberts, Sarah Elizabeth Peters, Jacqueline Orleans Pettus, Elise Epling Wettermark and by junior bridesmaids Hannah Louise Broders and Mary Martin True. The groom chose his father, Dee Oscar Fowler, as best man, and was attended by Jacob Coley Andrews, Christopher Gilmer Blanchard, Nicholas James Brakefield, Zachary Joseph Coppens, Peyton Davis Falkenburg, Marshall Raymond Houston, Mark David Kennedy and Ian Charles Sams. Davis Franklin Wiggins and Harris Bushnell Williams served as ushers. Junior attendants included the groom’s godson and ring bearer, William Holland Myers; flower girl Selah Grace Roberts; and John Henry McCrummen Baker. Jacob Ian Mowry and Matthew Gordon Mowry were acolytes.
The bride and groom rode down the Avenue of Oaks to the reception in a 1940 Packard – the same car “Casablanca” star Humphrey Bogart took to the 1941 Academy Awards. The reception was behind Stewartfield, under the open stars, and guests were covered only by Japanese lanterns and brilliant white bulbs strung from tree to tree. Martha Rutledge catered a beautiful table of delicious summer foods and created two special cocktails: frozen missionary downfalls and ice cream-based Southern mothers. LeNae Denson of Cleveland the Florist contributed gorgeous bouquets and dramatic arrangements. The fantastic Escalade Showband put on quite the memorable show.
The bride chose the only dress she tried on: an Alençon lace top with three-quarter-length sleeves and a full tulle skirt, designed by Monique Lhuillier and virtually remade by Christal Hall of Something New into exactly the dress the bride imagined. The wedding dresses worn by the mothers of the bride and groom were displayed behind the cake tables, along with the bride’s veil, which had been worn by four other members of her family.
After spending a honeymoon in the Caribbean, the couple now resides in New Orleans.
Photos by Spindle Photography
