Couple plans big local wedding in less than five months

There is an old saying: By the age of 16, 80 percent of people have already met the person they are going to marry.

Of course that was before the Internet, Facebook and Snapchat completely changed social networks from homegrown to world known. But, for one local couple, they actually did know each other before they were 16. Christy Canady and Taunton Melville first met as young schoolmates. Then as young adults their paths crossed again.

Christy recalls how it happened. “We ran in to each other at a [Christmas party] two years ago. We were both at the party with other friends. I recognized Taunton from high school about 13 years prior. Even though he was a year ahead of me in school, of course I recognized him from being Student Council president at the same middle school and high school that I attended. He has an interesting name, but I knew it, pronounced it correctly and introduced myself to him. The rest is history!” So, what did the couple find so special in each other? Christy said Taunton is her perfect soulmate. “He’s Christian, smart, pragmatic, very attractive. We share many of the same interests and goals in life, and he balances me. He’s more relaxed, and I’m Type A,” she said.

And, for Taunton, the feelings are mutual.

“Christy is beautiful, smart and ambitious,” Taunton said. “She is a great partner, and it’s exciting to think of all the things we’ll do in life together. We are similar in many respects but different enough to learn from each other. I believe we’ll inspire each other to be the best individuals that we can be, while at the same time doing what we can to constantly strengthen our relationship both from an inwardly perspective and in how we present ourselves to others.”

After dating for two years, on July 19, Taunton told Christy he wanted to see her alma mater, Harding University, in Searcy, Ark.

“He proposed at a white Harding swing on their front lawn, following the school’s ‘three swings and a ring’ tradition. It was 10 years after I graduated, but the gorgeous summer afternoon with Taunton made it perfect!” Christy said there is a legend that if you sit in the swing three times with the same guy or girl, it means you’re going to marry them.

The Plans

“I started out thinking it would be a small wedding,” Christy said.

“Taunton wanted to get married quickly, and I had never really thought too much about weddings before. I wanted something nice and classy but sweet and simple, not too expensive. I started out with the idea to just ‘keep my eye on the ball.’ “The simple objective was to get married, and we set a date exactly four months and three days from engagement: Nov. 22, 2014.

“But the wedding planning was fun, and I really got into it. Despite my intentions, our wedding turned out to be a lot larger with about 300 guests and more complex than I had first imagined. But it was perfect and every detail came together seamlessly. Taunton was a great sidekick and wonderful support! We did the planning ourselves with wonderful help from family and friends. I had previous experience with vendors from my work in development at Feist-Weiller Cancer Center. It was fun to finally work with vendors on a personal level. When planning a wedding with 300-plus guests in less than four months, I had to cut corners, and I found it useful to work directly with the vendors. Our theme was contemporary casual, think Rockefeller Plaza at night!

With a short engagement, I was lucky to find the perfect dress on my first shopping trip. My goal was chic and contemporary, and I found it off the rack at Happily Ever After in Pierremont Mall. For my seven bridesmaids, who all live in different cities, we found a great claret bridesmaid dress at Alfred Angelo. The tuxedoes for the groomsmen, who also lived in different cities, came from Squires.

“For the wedding invitations, I went straight to the printer to save money and reduce turnaround time. I highly recommend working with Steve Buseick and designer Kristin Stevens at LaPressCo. They took the content I wanted and the ideas I had and made it work. I got the contemporary design for our invitation and wedding program that I wanted, plus delivery of each was a matter of days after my final approval instead of the typical six weeks. Printed, folded and everything! I loved working with LaPressCo for my invitations, wedding programs and napkins.

“My florist was Vickie Young, of Young Blooms. She designed a gorgeous red bouquet for me and colorful bouquets for my seven bridesmaids that perfectly matched our contemporary wedding theme. She designed decorative arrangements to fit my budget, perfectly aligned with our theme. Vickie delivered the bouquets and boutineers to the rooms where we needed them. She was so nice, a pleasure to work with!

“For the reception, we turned the Multimedia Room at First United Methodist Church in Shreveport into a trendy Rockefeller Plaza at night setting. Weston McElwee at Bella Fresca catered the event with a variety of heavy hors d’oeuvres. Since the wedding and reception were both at FUMC and we had lots of kids who were attendants, we toasted sparkling grape juice. His arrangement of the hors d’oeuvres at the action stations fit the mood and was a work of art in itself!

“Julie Anne’s Bakery & Café created perfect cakes and delivered them to the reception area on time. I did not want a traditional wedding cake with all of the decorative frosting. I had a messy cake with red roses and ribbon on it to match my wedding colors. Taunton is an attorney, so his groom’s cake was a law book. It was a chocolate cake, also by Julie Anne’s, frosted as the red Louisiana Civil Code.

“I rented cocktail

tables, linens, glasses and some pipe and drape from Lisa Moore at Encore Event Rentals. Most of the reception décor was and by my matron of honor, Angela Smith of Birmingham, Ala. She already owned gorgeous centerpieces and church décor from her own wedding in December two years prior.

“I could not find any available photographers in town on such short notice, but the company Sweet Lovely was recommended to me. The company sent two photographers from New Orleans to shoot eight hours on our wedding day. It was gorgeous, warm weather so we were able to get the pictures I wanted outside on the downtown streets.”

Post-Wedding

After the wedding, Christy and Taunton went on a honeymoon trip to The Great Smoky Mountains.

“It was perfect fall weather with the trees changing color and mild temperatures,” she said. “We enjoyed the scenery and the chance to break away from the real world!” The couple has made their home in the Shreveport-Bossier City area.