Text by Holly McAlister
Photography by Leigh Photography

Seven o’clock neared and the wedding party did any thing but obey orders to stay hidden until the ceremony started. Longtime friends hugged and laughed, family members gave last minute advice to the bride and groom, and everyone was truly happy to be a part of the celebration. This was an event long in the making, and family and friends were too excited and overjoyed to follow normal wedding etiquette. The ceremony marked the end to a seven year courtship and the beginning to a beautiful marriage joined in unity before family, friends, and most importantly, before God.

A Divine Meeting
Ashley Britt and Chris Redman met seven years before, when Chris attended a junior varsity football game for which Ashley was cheering, at Male High School. Amazingly enough, Chris’s parents had met years before the very same way! God’s hand was on their relationship from the start, and they dated all throughout high school and college.

A Beautiful Proposal
Now a starting quarterback for the Baltimore Ravens, Chris played his second year in the celebrity golf tournament at Lake Tahoe in July, 2002. There, Chris planned to propose to Ashley in true Lake Tahoe fashion. At the lake, a gondola travels up to an observatory high above the ground, overlooking the beautiful summertime sunset, making it a perfect spot for such a romantic moment. But, the observatory closes just before dusk, and Chris and Ashley were seconds too late to catch the last gondola for the evening. Disappointed, Chris tried again the next evening, but the gondolas stopped early in the evening due to rainy weather. Chris was afraid that he would have to wait another entire day to propose. But the third try was the charm, as the rain let up in time for the gondola to start up again right before sunset. The sunset was probably as beautiful as ever, but it paled in comparison to Chris’s and Ashley’s love as he dropped to one knee and drew out the ring that he had held in his pocket for two days, waiting for the perfect moment to ask Ashley to marry him. Ashley eagerly said "Yes", and the wedding plans began.

Plans as Smooth as Silk
As is often the case with wedding plans, Ashley first started to narrow her possible dates down by what dates were available at the reception site about which she had dreamed. Calling the Olmsted Mansion as soon as they returned from Lake Tahoe, Ashley compared the available dates with Chris’s football schedule, and April 4, 2003, was chosen. Having eight months to prepare for the wedding, Ashley had ample time to make her preparations with the assistance of her ceremony coordinator, Mary Jon Denniston of Southeast Christian Church. Mary remembers what a privilege it was to be a part of the wedding, so happy that the couple’s number one goal was that everything be centered on God.

The Ceremony
Evening was beginning to fall as the wedding began at St. John’s Church in downtown Louisville. Candles and white flowers filled the sanctuary as Chris took his place at the front of the sanctuary with his groomsmen, best man and high school friend Brad Faulkner, college friends and former teammates Dave Ragone and Chip Mattingly, Baltimore Ravens teammate and friend Brandon Stokley, and college friend Camron Hahn. The men wore black tuxedos with four-in-hand knot ties and vests from Sam Meyers, with white mini calla lily boutonnieres.

Ashley’s attendants, maid of honor and sister Emily Britt, sorority sister Kelly Hensley, friend Lana Stokley, and life long friend Kate Madeya, preceded her down the aisle in After Six ivory matte satin strapless sheaths with fishtail insets in the back, from Patrecia for Brides. Each carried a unique bouquet of white flowers, one each with calla lilies, tulips, peonies, and roses. Three year old Austin Bedell, Chris’s nephew, followed with the rings in hand, stopping and turning around only once to whisper to the ceremony coordinator that he was .going to walk really slowly, as he’d been instructed so many times the evening before.

As the congregation of nearly 550 guests stood and turned to the door, Ashley, escorted down the aisle by her father Jim Britt, carried an exquisite bouquet of calla lilies, lady slipper orchids, white sweet peas, ivory tulips, stephanotis, ivy, and camellia leaves from In Bloom Again. Ashley wore an ivory silk satin A-line strapless Lazaro dress, with a champagne duchess satin embroidered sash around the waist and down the back, ending in a chapel length train. Her hair, arranged by James Eckart of Studio 151, was pulled up with a small tiara and tulle veil falling down her back. Chanel’s Carrie Lentz provided the makeup services for Ashley and her bridesmaids, while James Eckert styled the ladies hair.

The ceremony was performed by Southeast Christian Church’s pastors Bob Russell and Dave Stone, incorporating godly principles, communion, and a unity candle into the ceremony. Susan Turner, a friend of the groom’s family, sang a beautiful arrangement of .The Lord’s Prayer. The ceremony centered on neither the groom nor the bride as individuals, but solely on the two of them as a couple, as husband and wife being joined together by God. Photographer Shannon Leigh captured every moment on film for the couple to relive for a lifetime.

Following the ceremony, the wedding party proceeded to the Olmsted by trolley, taking a small tour of Louisville on the way. The trolley bore a "Just Married" sign on the back and had two bottles of champagne for a toast to the newlyweds. The best man, Brad Faulkner, stood up on the trolley to propose a toast during the ride to the reception, and Austin, the ring-bearer, accompanied the group on the "trolley-caboose-bus," as he called it.

Upon arriving at the Olmsted, the attendants danced into the reception hall, couple by couple, and the celebration began. Evoking a romantic atmosphere, the room was dimly lit by candlelight and a fire in the fireplace. Each table bore nine ivory candles at varying heights, a glass block, and a clear vase of white hydrangeas. The tables, divided into two sections, faced the marble entrance and fireplace, which later became the dance floor. Marshall Yancey Entertainment provided the music for the evening, playing both popular and classic tunes. The wedding cake, made by Christi’s Cakes, was a five tier square rolled buttercream cake that was ivory in color with delicate white accents, chosen to coordinate with the bride’s gown. Stephanotis and calla lilies were placed on top of the cake instead of a traditional bride and groom, with more flowers placed on the cake’s layers. The cake was majestically placed atop a silver-plated platform, commanding every guest’s attention immediately upon arriving at the reception. Each tier was a different flavor, carrot with cream cheese, strawberry with vanilla, vanilla with raspberry, and two marble with chocolate, offering guests a variety from which to choose. Pam Wexler supplied the groom’s cake, her signature cake, called the Chocolate Mosaic Cake. Also square shaped, it had two tiers and was chocolate all the way through. The evening was not complete until the guests and wedding party had danced the night away. For their first dance together as a couple, Ashley and Chris danced to Shania Twain’s .You’re Still the One, Ashley danced to The Temptations, My Girl, with her father, while Chris danced to Lee Ann Womack’s I Hope You Dance, With his mother. Then the floor was opened up to everyone, and the celebration continued well into the evening. Mr. and Mrs. Chris Redman left two days later for a week at the Swept Away Resort in Jamaica, spending a romantic week together in the Caribbean sun. They returned to Louisville, where they spend their off season time, some of that time at their lake house in southern Kentucky, before spending the football season in Baltimore. But, if the support Ashley and Chris received at their wedding indicates anything about their lives, this well loved, loving couple should have no trouble fitting in wherever they are. And as long as they have each other and their faith in God, they are happy to be wherever God places them.