Red, Green & Gold Tate House Christmas Wedding

From November through the end of December, the Tate House is decorated beautifully for our annual Christmas Open House. It’s simply our favorite time of year and we love being a part of so many families’ (and even past couples’) holidays. To make it even sweeter, we get to host some stunning Christmas weddings, like Mark and Alexandria’s that we’re so excited to share about below. Read on for a real wedding interview with our bride, accompanied by photos from Strawberry Hill Photography. 

Bride and groom’s names:

Mark Pinker and Alexandria Adams

How did you meet your husband?

Mark and I met in high school (My 9th grade year and his 10th) through basketball. 

Tell us the story of how he popped the question:

Mark popped the question at an Atlanta Hawks playoff game! Basketball is our mutual love that brought us together so he felt that it was the perfect place to ask! 

What was your wedding date and why did you choose it?

December 23, 2017. Mark and I have always known we would be married at Christmas time because it is our favorite time of the year. We both love everything about Christmas! The first trip I ever made to the Tate House Christmas luncheon I knew there was no other place I could imagine saying I do! The decorations are astonishing and the food incredible. Being that the Tate house has never done a Christmas wedding before due to their busy Christmas tour/luncheon schedule, Marsha was incredibly generous and offered to let us have our dream Christmas wedding the weekend after their last luncheon and it just happened to be December 23rd. Mark and I thought the date was so festive and was a great way to kick off Christmas weekend. 

What was your overall vision for your wedding?

A winter wonderland that embodies everything CHRISTMAS! 

What do you feel was the most special component of your wedding?

The most special component of our wedding was the way the decor, flowers, food, music, favors, and pretty much any detail we could think of embodied Elegant wedding with a Christmas themed touch! 

How involved was your groom in the wedding planning process?

Haha. From the very beginning Mark made it clear that he would only be involved in choosing the food. And he definitely followed through! We probably went a little over the top on food but the Tate house food was too delicious and we couldn’t help ourselves. From cocktail hour to dessert we had the tastiest menu we could have ever asked for! Although that was the only detail Mark was hugely involved in, he was thrilled with the way the wedding turned out and said it was “Better than he could have ever imagined.”

Did you have a wedding theme or color pallet, and if so how or why did you choose it?

Our theme was of course Christmas! Our color pallet was Red, Green, white and Gold. The bridesmaids wore dark green dresses and were accented with the most beautiful red and white rose bouquets with berries and greenery detail (Thank you so much to the incredible florist Paul). Our groomsmen wore light tan suits with a cranberry red bow tie. 

The pavilion was where our ceremony was held and the theme was a simple romantic winter wonderland.  The glass was draped with white linen and had greenery arrangements alternating between the glass panes. The center aisle was draped white with a starting arch covered with beautiful greenery and lined with glass votives filled with water and floating candles. At the front of the pavilion where the ceremony took place the background was lined with multiple Christmas trees lit with white lights and a beautiful arch draped with greenery and white and red flowers. It was romantic and such a perfect setting.

The ballroom which was my favorite part was decorated with gold sequin table cloths topped with alternating decor of white flowers and greenery and tons of candles! The beautiful Christmas tree and decor was the center attraction placed directly behind our sweetheart table. It was a magical setting! 

How important are the typical wedding traditions? 

We of course had some traditional wedding details but I feel that our wedding was definitely “Out of the box” in such a special way. So many people told us that our wedding “Put them in the Christmas spirit” and was “Unique and well executed down to the smallest of details” 

Did you plan on doing something outside of the norm to make your wedding more of your own?

Yes! As I’ve mentioned before (sorry for the repetition) we choose to do a Christmas theme which I feel is out of the norm! A feel small details that really went with our theme and were out of the norm were: Our cake was designed to look like Christmas packages stacked together, we served Christmas themed desserts made by the lovely Tate house chef, we left the ceremony to the song “All I want for Christmas is you”, and we made favors for all the guests that were designed like Christmas gifts with the Christmas theme tag that said “Candy canes are sweet and hot chocolate is too, but nothing is sweeter than spending our special day with you” the bag held an adorable Santa mug with hot chocolate and candy canes. 

One more thing we did that might be considered out of the norm was the way our grooms men’s bow tie and pocket square did not match the color of the bridesmaid’s dresses. We chose to do red bow ties to help tie the Christmas colors together in our bridal party and we loved the way it turned out. 

Why did you choose your wedding venue?

We chose our venue because obviously it’s incredibly beautiful and offers anything you could possibly need (bride and groom cottages, delicious food, ballroom, multiple venues options for the ceremony, awesome staff, amazingly talented florist, endless decor options and so much more). But the Christmas decor definitely sealed the deal! If you haven’t been and you love Christmas, you MUST go. There was no place that could have embodied the Christmas spirit as elegantly as the Tate house! And how lucky were our guests to get the Christmas decor tour at the Tate house during cocktail hour, what a bonus! 

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