Sarah Frances Parkes and Bobby Brent Wilkerson were united in marriage at six o’clock in the evening on Saturday, June 12 at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Cathedral. The Reverend Katie Bradshaw officiated the ceremony.
The bride is the daughter of Nancy Morse Parkes of Jackson. She is the granddaughter of Mrs. Daniel Wilkinson Morse and the late Mr. Morse of Jackson and Mrs. Richard Arthur Parkes and the late Mr. Parkes of Bloomfield Hills, Mich.
The bridegroom is the son of Dr. and Mrs. Bobby Sharp Wilkerson of Ridgeland. He is the grandson of Mr. and Mrs. Donald Wayne Pearson of Brandon and Mr. and Mrs. Bobby Wilkerson of Lake.
The bride was given in marriage by her mother, entering the cathedral to Pachelbel’s Canon in D presented by organist Jessica Nelson. The bride carried a cascading bouquet of white orchids, calla lilies, and hydrangeas. She wore a designer ivory silk ball gown featuring hand-sewn intricate soutache lace scalloped along the deep V-neckline on the front and back and covering the bodice. From the waistline fell the A-line skirt, which swept into a chapel-length train. The couple’s wedding date was sewn into the skirt of the gown in blue thread. The bride’s jewelry included a pearl ring belonging to her maternal grandmother and silver and pearl drop earrings with crystal accents. A cathedral-length veil and a crystal and floral hair comb completed her ensemble.
Attending the bride as matron of honor was Catherine Criddle Skelton. Bridesmaids were Kierston Amber Cook, Annie Morse Parkes, Elizabeth Marie Parkes, Heather Lynn Valdin, Lauren Elizabeth Walker, Caroline Michele Wilkerson, Rebecca Grace Wilkerson, and Sara Elizabeth Wingate. They wore full-length champagne fluid satin dresses that each varied in neckline and style, complimented by bouquets of raspberry, light pink, light blue, light green, and ivory-toned flowers.
Serving his son as best man was the bridegroom’s father. Groomsmen were Michael Drew Crenshaw, John Kyle Davis, Richard Zachary Holyfield, Zachary Schley Purvis, Adam Lance Vonder Haar, Hunter Ross Wilkerson, and Parker Ames Wilkerson. A white calla lily boutonniere adorned their classic black tuxedos.
As guests approached St. Andrew’s Cathedral, they were greeted with summer garlands and floral arrangements of raspberry, blue, green and ivory on each handrail, in the windows of the front alcove and on the table inside the alcove. Flowers of similar colors were placed down the center aisle and on either side of the altar table.
Ashley Lindsay Googe, Catherine Michelle Scott, and Emilie Jeannette Street served as scripture readers.
Following the ceremony, the couple left in a 1938 merlot Packard for a stop at The Mayflower Café, where they had their first date, then on to a reception at The South Warehouse. Guests were greeted by a variety of passed hors d’oeuvres and dined on a customized menu. The bride’s favorite artist, Wyatt Waters, painted the couple while they danced.
The bride’s five-tiered cake was infused with Bailey’s Irish cream and framed with garlands and a large colorful floral arrangement to compliment the flowers trailing down the cake. The chocolate-tiered Ole Miss bridegroom’s cake was decorated with iced greenery and chocolate golf balls to represent the bridegroom’s favorite hobby and was placed by a game-worn powder blue Ole Miss football helmet. The bride’s maternal grandmother provided sterling silver cake knives for cutting the cakes and sterling silver goblets for the couple’s champagne toast.
On the eve of the wedding, the bridegroom’s parents hosted a rehearsal dinner at the Old Capitol Inn. The celebration included a cocktail hour with passed hor d’oeuvres and a jazz band in the courtyard followed by a seated dinner. Friends of the bride’s maternal grandmother hosted a bridal luncheon the day before the wedding at the Country Club of Jackson. A post-wedding brunch was hosted by friends of the bride’s mother at River Hills Club the morning following the nuptials.
After departing through a tunnel of sparklers, the couple traveled to La Fortuna, Costa Rica for their wedding trip. They are currently at home in Flowood. The bride is a registered nurse in the pediatric operating room at Children’s of Mississippi and the bridegroom is a registered nurse in the neuroscience intensive care unit at the University of Mississippi Medical Center.
