Deason, Smith united in marriage in Clearwater, Fla.

Published 12:00 am Thursday, September 28, 2006

Special to the Advocate

Mary Catherine Deason of Clearwater, Fla. and Colby Brice Smith of Merritt Island, Fla. were united in marriage on June 10, 2006 at the Feather Sound Church in Clearwater. Pastor Thomas Hamilton officiated the ceremony.

Elizabeth Jehle McFerrin Foster, Virginia Herndon Inge and Krista Ruth Drummond, all cousins of the bride, greeted guests as they arrived for the ceremony and presented them with wedding programs tied with satin ribbons.

Mrs. Robert Foster served as the wedding coordinator.

Organist Brenda Dannewitz played nuptial preludes, with the wedding marches of Wagner and Mendelssohn serving as the processional and recessional.

Camille Elise Drummond and Melissa Beatrice Drummond, cousins of the bride, performed two duets accompanied by Dede Natale, pianist.

Jane Inge and Mrs. Mark Drummond, maternal aunts of the bride, read scriptures. Mark Drummond, uncle of the bride, sang the Lord’s Prayer at the end of the ceremony.

Placed at the rear of the chancel dais was an arched candelabrum with eighteen burning tapers flanked on either side by tiered standard candelabrum decorated with garlands of greenery and satin bows with trailing streamers.

On either side of the steps to the dais were massive arrangements of yellow roses, freesia, snapdragons, white daisies and white hydrangeas gracing marble pedestals.

The bride is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Marshall Collins Deason of Clearwater. She wore a formal wedding gown of ivory silk and Alencon lace designed by Christos of New York. The empire bodice featured a square neckline and soft cap sleeves with beaded trim. A band of ivory silk with beaded trim defined the high-rise waistline. Appliqu\u00E9s of beaded French Alencon lace accented the bodice and flowed down the length of the A-line skirt which terminated in a court train bordered with braided trim.

The bride’s single, elbow-length illusion veil was held by a pearl and crystal tiara. She wore diamond earrings, a gift from the groom, and a pearl and crystal necklace. The bride carried a lace handkerchief, a gift from her grandmother, and her flowers featured roses, stock, freesia and stephanotis in a round design.

Matron of honor was Derrica Lee Sonnon, sister of the groom. Bridesmaids were Genger Marie Charles of Washington, D.C.; Meredith Lee Pieper of Pittsburgh, Pa.; Jennifer Singleton Soboleski of Holly Springs, N.C. and Eleanor Jane Inge and Elizabeth Carter Inge, cousins of the bride, both of Mobile.

The bridal attendants wore identical dresses of celery green satin. Their gowns were sashed with ivory satin bows at the Empire waistlines flowing into formal-length skirts.

They carried bouquets of yellow roses, yellow freesia and white daisies.

For her daughter’s wedding, Mrs. Deason chose a sea foam-blue gown with a bodice of soft beaded lace and three quarter-length sleeves. The formal-length skirt featured an asymmetrical design of layered chiffon.

The groom’s mother, Mrs. Smith, wore a formal-length pink satin gown with a matching long-sleeved jacket. Both mothers wore white orchid corsages.

Serving as best man was McWilliams Carter Deason of Clearwater, brother of the bride. Groomsmen were Scott Edward Knick, Michail Walter Mensch, both of Melbourne, Fla.; Brian Gregory Legros, of Lauderhill, Fla., Stephen Mark Lagasse, Carl Bradford Nettere, both of Orlando, and Joseph Thomas Razzano of East Northport, NY.

The reception was held at the Feather Sound Country Club in Clearwater. Mrs. Ray Jeffries welcomed guests to the reception, while Kristen Jeffries presided over the bride’s book.

The book was placed on a table covered in a white linen cloth. Beside the book was a crystal hurricane globe holding a white memory candle, its base accented with white and yellow daisies.

Guests’ place cards were displayed on a grand piano along with silver-framed family wedding photographs of the bride and groom’s parents, grandparents and the bride’s aunts and uncles.

Soft votive candles accented the display.

Guests were seated at dinner at round tables with chairs covered in white linen trimmed in summer green organdy sashes. The centerpieces were clear crystal vases filled with sliced lemons, featuring varied arrangements of lily grass and yellow calla lilies, freesia, snapdragons, tulips and gerbera daisies.

Votive candles accented the centerpieces.

Will Deason, best man, and Derrica Sonnon, matron of honor, toasted the bride and groom along with Terryl Smith, father of the groom. Marshall Deason, father of the bride, welcomed the guests and made note of family members and friends who attended his and Mrs. Deason’s wedding in Greenville in 1972.

Dinner and dancing followed the toasts.

After dinner, the guests were served a four-tier raspberry amaretto swirl wedding cake, which sat on a table covered in summer green organza. Each tier was bordered with celery green satin ribbon and decorated with a dotted Swiss icing effect. The two upper tiers were supported by columns and featured green hydrangeas between the layers, topping and surrounding the cake.

A silver cake serving set decorated with flowers, belonging to the bride’s grandmother, Mrs. McWilliams Carter, was used by the bride and groom to cut the cake.

When the couple left for a wedding trip to the Bahamas, the bride wore a beige silk dress with a hand-painted bright orange hibiscus on the flowing skirt.

Her accessories were a silk organza fringed stole in shades of sunset and bronze sandals. Wedding guests threw yellow rose petals as the couple descended the steps of the country club and to an awaiting white horse-drawn carriage.

Mr. and Mrs. Smith are now at home in Chapel Hill, N.C.

A dinner party at the Columbia Restaurant on the St. Petersburg Pier followed the wedding rehearsal on Saturday evening, June 9, with the bridegroom’s parents, Mr. and Mrs. Terryl Smith, as hosts. The guests were seated at tables offering a beautiful view overlooking Tampa Bay. The restaurant, founded in Tampa in 1905, is considered the gem of Spanish restaurants in the region.

For the evening, the bride-to-be wore a halter dress in shades of navy and periwinkle blue with a matching shrug and sandals.

Mrs. McWilliams Carter of Greenville, the bride’s maternal grandmother, and Mrs. Daniel Pride of Niceville, Fla., the maternal great-aunt of the bride, entertained with a noon bridesmaids’ luncheon at the Sea Porch Caf\u00E9 on Saint Pete Beach on Saturday, June 9.

Places were marked by porcelain rose card holders that were a gift to the bride’s mother from Mrs. Ron Reeves, great-aunt of the bride, and Mrs. Bob Fisher, cousin of the bride, who attended the luncheon from Birmingham.

The bride-to-be’s luncheon ensemble was a sun dress with a blue and green tropical bodice and beige A-line skirt with beige accessories.

She presented her attendants with Waterford crystal ring holders and tropical memory photo albums.

Other members of the wedding party and hostesses received monogrammed canvas tote bags and photo albums.

In addition to the bride and her attendants, guests included the mothers of the bridal couple and the groom’s grandmother, Grace Smith of Laverne, Cal.; Mrs. R.E. McFerrin of Greenville, maternal great-aunt of the bride; Mrs. George Inge of Mobile and Mrs. Mark Drummond of Kennesaw, Ga., maternal aunts of the bride; Mrs. Gary Deason of Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, paternal aunt of the bride; Camille Drummond, Melissa Drummond and Krista Drummond of Kennesaw, Ga., Virginia Inge of Mobile, and Mrs. Robert Foster and Jehle Foster of Greenville, all cousins of the bride.

Additional parties held in the bride’s honor included a bridal shower luncheon on March 12 at the Strawberry Mansion in Melbourne, hosted by Mrs. Terryl Smith, mother of the groom, and Mrs. Dusten Sonnon, sister of the groom and matron of honor.

Candice Gullet, of Chapel Hill, N.C., hosted a bridal shower at her home on April 28.

Mr. and Mrs. Marshall Deason, parents of the bride, hosted a buffet dinner for out-of-town guests and family at their home in Clearwater on June 8.