Whitley Elizabeth Tassin and John Richard Wright II exchanged wedding vows during a sunset service on the Alabama coastline. The couple were united in a service of worship at 5:30 p.m. March 18. Dr. Joshua Hollis Braddy of Madison and The Rev. Kenneth Alan Lynch of Yazoo City officiated the double-ring ceremony.
The bride is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Donald Wayne Tassin of Flowood, formerly of Petal. She is the granddaughter of Sergeant and Mrs. Ernest Criss Petty of Grenada and the late Mr. and Mrs. Lee Allen Tassin of Grenada.
Wright is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Ellis Waugh Wright II of Yazoo City, formerly of Jackson. He is the grandson of the late Mr. and Mrs. John Richard Wright of Jackson and the late Mr. and Mrs. James Vernel Roberts of Yazoo City.
Prior to the ceremony, Charlotte Kate Simpson served as program attendant. As guests arrived, pianist Timothy Douglas Moak and steel drummist Stephen Allen Graham performed a prelude of sacred worship songs and hymns. Prenuptial music was presented by vocalists Merritt Bridges Blackwell, Madison Roberts Downs, and Mallory Roberts Norman who sang Spafford’s “It Is Well with My Soul” in memory of the couples’ loved ones.
Escorted by her father and given in marriage by her parents, the bride wore a designer gown of white with blush undertones. The gown was adorned with delicate beaded floral lace that flowed into a mermaid style train filled with tulle. Her cathedral-length sheer veil with beaded floral details complemented the gown. She wore her late paternal grandmother’s diamond cuff and wedding ring. The bride carried a bouquet of white phalaenopsis orchids, roses, calla lilies, hydrangeas, and snapdragons wrapped in an embroidered handkerchief given in memory of her great dane, Doppler, and pinned with her late maternal great grandmother’s wedding ring.
Matrons of honor were her sister, Abbye Tassin Blackwell, and sister of the bridegroom, Lori Wright Stringer. Sarah Elizabeth Ann Williamson, cousin of the bride, and Kennedy Layne Graves, goddaughter of the bride, were bridesmaids along with Sadie Nielson Beckner, Megan Barlow Fleming, Betsy Ann Gillenwater, Anna Carroll Harris, Regan Shows Hutchison, and Lauren Gabrielle Mitchell. They wore gowns of toasted sugar satin and carried bouquets of white calla lilies.
Dressed in identical heirloom dresses designed and sewn by the bride’s maternal grandmother were flower girls Ann Chancellor Norman and Margaret Graeber Norman, cousins of the bridegroom; Avie Jane Williamson, cousin of the bride; and Susannah Ellis Wright, niece of the couple; and Karlee Batson Dukes.
Emma Steward Roberts, cousin of the bridegroom, was the bride’s proxy. Elizabeth Ann Wright, niece of the couple, was the bride’s train attendant. Vera Grace Craft, cousin of the bridegroom, was an honorary flower girl.
The bridegroom’s father and his brother, Michael Ellis Wright, were the best men. Groomsmen included his brother-in-law, Eric Stephen Stringer, as well as Shane Michael Brewer, Anthony Joseph Ciulla, Nicholas Spencer Kuse, Daniel Paul Massey, Ryan Allen Medeiros, David Stewart Mills, and Tanner David Watson. Ringbearers were brothers James Wright Stringer and Seth Stephen Stringer, nephews of the couple. Sign bearers were Benjamin Reed Norman and Coleman Sawyer Simpson, cousins of the bridegroom.
At the conclusion of the ceremony, the couple took communion while Mr. and Mrs. Michael Lee Haight sang “Jesus” by Influence Music, followed by a moment of corporate worship in which the couple and the congregation sang Boberg’s “How Great Thou Art.”
Following the ceremony, the bride’s family hosted a beachfront reception at The Viking House. ISING Live Band presented a jazz cocktail hour followed by an evening of classic favorites.
The day before the wedding, the bride and bridegroom’s families hosted a bridesmaid’s luncheon at The Viking House while the groomsmen enjoyed lunch at Luna’s Eat and Drink. That evening, the bridegroom’s parents hosted a rehearsal dinner at The Coastal Arts Center of Orange Beach.
Following a wedding trip to Serenity in St. Lucia, the couple is at home in Madison. The bridegroom has joined the family business as a funeral director and family service counselor at Sharkey Funeral Home and Wright and Ferguson, while the bride is a neonatal intensive care unit pharmacist at Children’s of Mississippi.
