Mary Scott Westfeldt and Ryan Todd McKinnon met through mutual friends at the University of Alabama. Mary Scott had just finished an internship in London, where her family was meeting her to go on a family trip to Croatia.
The Westfeldt family went out to lunch at a place that Shelby Westfeldt, Mary Scott’s sister, had picked out.
Mary Scott mentioned that she wanted to take her family to her and Ryan’s favorite nearby wine bar, which is underground and lit solely by candles. Before they entered, Shelby told Mary Scott that she needed to take a phone call and encouraged Mary Scott to go downstairs and order some drinks. When she arrived, Mary Scott was surprised to see that Ryan was sitting at a table already with two glasses of wine – she had no idea he’d be in London. But his visit wasn’t the only surprise for the evening: Ryan pulled out an album filled with photos of the two of them throughout the years. On the last page, he had placed a photograph of a family engagement ring.
He got down on one knee, put the ring on her finger and proposed marriage.
On June 11, 2011, Mary Scott and Ryan married at Rugby Grange, the Westfeldts’ family farm in Fletcher, N.C. The property is one of the couple’s favorite places in the world.
Mary Scott searched for her dress through more than 200 bridal magazines. When she finally saw the perfect dress, she had Town & Country request a sample for her to try on. It was designed by Christos, and featured a sheer V-neck and a bottom adorned with hand-made flowers. Her bouquet was all-white, with hydrangeas, roses and baby’s breath in abundance.
Mary Scott’s bridesmaids wore dresses from J. Crew with ruffle necklines and A-line skirts in a taupe taffeta called Fawn. Shelby Westfeldt, her sister, served as maid of honor. The bridesmaids each held bouquets of blue hydrangeas and green spider mums.
Ryan and his groomsmen, including his best man, Michael McNamara, each wore a white linen suit, white bucks, a white pocket square and a blue tie featuring Weimaraners, (of which the couple’s dog is one).
True New Orleanians, Mary Scott and Ryan led a second-line from the ceremony at Sunny’s Lodge to the reception site.
Stacey Brown from The Bloom Room in Asheville, N.C., created the floral design. The fireplaces were filled with tall stumps with candles placed on top and the mantles were decorated with moss, hydrangeas and candles throughout.
Margo Bouanchaud from Baton Rouge catered the event. Mary Scott and Ryan had everything from seafood to pasta to a cheesecake (reminiscent of their engagement in London) as well as stacks of wheels of cheese.
The wedding cake was done by Michelle Fountain from Icing on the Cake in Asheville, N.C. Mary Scott wanted the cake to look like the farm where they held their wedding and was adorned with branches and leaves to mimic nature.
The groom’s cake was a replica of the lake on the property of The Rugby Grange Farm, decorated with a slide, a rope swing, a canoe, a dock and a floating trampoline.
Big Swing and the Ballroom Blasters out of Atlanta, a 13-piece Motown band, provided the music. Ryan and Mary Scott had discovered the band at Mary Scott’s cousin’s wedding a few years previously. A jazz band from North Carolina, The Asheville Gentleman played at the ceremony and for the second-line. Mary Scott and Ryan’s first dance was to Smokey Robinson’s “You Really Got a Hold On Me.”
Audrey Goforth of Audrey Goforth Photography in North Carolina served as photographer and included a photo booth next to their guest book. Mary Scott had Audrey take a photograph of her and her Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority sisters, and Ryan took a photograph with all of his Phi Gam fraternity brothers.
The happy couple honeymooned for seven nights at Cayo Espanto, a private island in Belize off the coast of Ambergis Caye. Mary Scott and Ryan live Uptown. Mary Scott is a sales associate at Anthropologie at Canal Place and Ryan is a coffee trader at Westfeldt Brothers on Gravier Street.
