Marcail Virginia Moran and Thomas Richard Waskom can’t come to a full agreement on exactly when they first met, but Marcail says, “It’s romantic to feel like we’ve been in each other’s lives for so long that we almost can’t remember not knowing each other.” She maintains they met in the fall of 1999; Tom insists it was the following spring; and Tom’s sister Erin swears they had met by January 2000, because “he made the whole Waskom family watch the girl he had a crush on College Jeopardy.”
Regardless of the specifics, their love story began when the two were attending college in Virginia – she at Hollins University and he at Hampden-Sydney College. Despite attending different schools, the two shared friends. Marcail says the two ran into each other often and chatted, but in the end always went their separate ways.
It wasn’t until after college in February 2005 the two really connected. A mutual friend, Andrew, suggested one evening he and Marcail grab dinner at a new restaurant in Richmond, hinting there could be a third party joining them. She says she and Tom spent the entire evening “ignoring their chaperone” and talking only to each other.
“We’ve been together ever since.”
After three-and-a-half years of dating, Marcail says she knew the big question was coming soon. She became suspicious when Tom’s cell phone alarm went off late one night while the couple was watching television. Later Marcail realized Tom had stepped outside to call her father to ask his permission to propose.
Two days later the couple went to a low-key lunch at the restaurant where they had their first date, and upon arriving home Tom said he had to run out quickly for a haircut. An hour later Tom burst through the door. “I didn’t get a haircut,” he said. “I just couldn’t commit to it, because the only thing I want to commit to is you.” With that he got down on one knee, presented a ring he had designed for her and asked for her hand in marriage, to which an excited, though caught-off-guard, Marcail said, “Yes!”
The couple married on October 10, 2009 at Trinity Episcopal Church. Both the place and date were significant to the bride: October 10 is her parents’ wedding anniversary, and generations of the bride’s father’s family have been members of Trinity Church. Marcail says she attended growing up, and still does when she visits her hometown. Rev. Rob Goldsmith performed the ceremony, he himself a Hampden-Sydney graduate, which further solidified the New Orleans-Virginia connection.
The bride walked down the aisle to “Gabriel’s Oboe,” and says despite more than 200 of their closest friends and family in attendance, she only saw Tom. The bride wore an ivory satin strapless gown, designed by Melissa Sweet and purchased at Town and Country with a modified a-line skirt, French bustle, draped bodice and sweetheart neckline. Although finding the dress was “relatively easy,” the bride had trouble finding a veil, her good friend Catherine came to her rescue, designing and creating her “exquisitely simple and beautiful veil.”
The seven bridesmaids also wore Melissa Sweet gowns, in a deep sage green hue with a bow in the back, purchased at Wedding Belles. Catherine also designed triple-strand pearl and crystal necklaces for each of the bridesmaids to wear, which they received as gifts beforehand.
The groom wore his own Brooks Brothers tuxedo, with a R. Hanauer bowtie and cummerbund set in light purple and green. The nine groomsmen also wore black tuxedos and the same cummerbund-and-tie set, which the couple gave them as gifts.
Meade Wenzel created the floral arrangements both at the church and the reception, as well as the bridal bouquets and boutonnières. Marcail carried an elegant bouquet of white and light pink roses with white hydrangea, while Tom and his groomsmen wore simple coral rose boutonnières.
After the ceremony, the wedding party moved to the Fourth Street home of Hal Williamson and Dale LeBlanc for the lively reception. Marcail says Hal and Dale offered their home as the venue for the reception a year before the wedding, and Marcail knew it was the perfect venue for the simple fact that it was not a “venue.” “Having my first dance on a terrace where my grandparents hosted parties, walking down the stairs where my father and uncles used to play … made the wedding even more meaningful than I thought possible,” Marcail says.
The couple danced their first dance to “A Kiss to Build a Dream On,” performed by Sha’On and the Girls with Success. The band played a medley of tunes, including plenty of New Orleans-themed songs toward the end of the evening for the out-of-town guests to enjoy. Charlotte Latham was the photographer for the evening.
Kathy Little of Chateau Bleu Catering created an elegant menu that highlighted the best of New Orleans cuisine.
Swiss Bakery created the “extremely simple” wedding cake of white cake with butter cream frosting, with small dots and fresh flowers as added detail.
The couple currently resides in Richmond, Va., where Tom is a litigation associate at Hunton
& Williams LLP, and Marcail is a business development administrator.
