Just Married — Summer Wallace and Grant Herren

Bride full name: Summer Dawn Wallace
Groom full name: Grant Herren
Groom's Parents: Paul & Kim Herren
Bride's Parents: David Wallace and Jeanene & Pat Doran

Summer was in the middle of her second semester of graduate school, getting her M.F.A. in acting. On a much-needed spring break, Summer went out with her classmates for St. Patrick’s Day at Shamrock Pub. Beer, dancing and Jameson commenced, and she caught the attention of Grant Herren. They chatted about tennis for a bit, then Grant left with his friends — but he decided to come back to get the cute blonde’s phone number. Summer did what she never did: She gave out her actual phone number.

With some persistence, Grant finally got Summer to go out on a date with him a month later. 

The proposal
After three proposal attempts on a weekend getaway to Naples, Grant proposed to Summer at the Naples Zoo July 28, 2013. 

The Wedding 
March 20, 2016 | Ceremony at Historic Crocker Church | Reception at Mandeville Beer Garden

It was  important to the couple that the wedding express who they are and their style. With just seven months to plan the wedding, this was the only time in the Urbanite Theatre’s calendar they could pull it off (Summer is co-artistic director of the theater).

Not wanting a cookie-cutter wedding, they started to think creatively. The Historic Crocker Church was small, quaint and like something straight out of the Tennessee Mountains, where Summer is from. Along with event planner SRQTees, the church was decorated in a vintage style to keep its charm, but was elevated to a feel like a wedding. They added additional white pews for seating and flowers on the pews and front porch.

The Reception
After work one night, the couple was having a beer at Mandeville Beer Garden and thought it was a unique potential venue. Mandeville and the team delivered a vegetarian menu and allowed the couple to decorate the venue in their own style.

The Siesta Key Trolley drove the bride and groom in; bluegrass played during cocktail hour and a DJ played a hipster-like dinner set to kick off the party.

Best Detail from the Ceremony — The front porch of the church was set up as a pickin' porch with a 5-piece Blue Grass Band, playing old fashioned Blue Grass while guests arrived. They also played for the bride and groom's party as well as when the bride walked down the aisle.

FUN WEDDING TIDBIT: The bride and groom kicked off the wedding weekend with a meet and greet and champagne toast at the Urbanite Theatre, where guests could meet each other and see the theatre. They made funny name tags for everyone with their names and a fun fact as an ice breaker and everyone watched a video the couple made.