Kirkwood / Brakel

MADALYN MARIE KIRKWOOD & BEN BRAKEL

OCTOBER 30, 2021 ~ NATCHEZ, MISSISSIPPI ~ PHOTOGRAPHY BY ANNE MCDANIEL

The wedding of Madalyn Marie Kirkwood of Natchez, Mississippi, and Ben Brakel of Slidell, Louisiana, was held on October 30, 2021, on the elegant front steps and lowerlevel veranda of Dunleith Historic Inn in Natchez, Mississippi, at 6:00 in the evening with the Honorable Judge Lisa Jordan Dale presiding.

The bride is the daughter of Jan and Jeff Kirkwood of Natchez and the granddaughter of Ann and Don Marion of Natchez and Billy Faye and Sidney Kirkwood of Madisonville, Kentucky. The groom is the son of Karen and Rob Brakel of Slidell and the grandson of Gene and Catherine Barouse and John and Evelyn Brakel, all of New Orleans, Louisiana.

Escorted by her father, the bride wore an off-the-shoulder, long sleeved, ivory illusion fit-and-flare gown with beaded lace by Justin Alexander. She wore her mother’s wedding veil of ivory illusion and lace and carried a bouquet of white and light rust roses and eucalyptus.

Comprising the bridal party were matron of honor Kalin Kirkwood Hamil of New Orleans, Louisiana, who having just had her daughter, Annie, nine days earlier was on hand to attend her sister; Maria Murphy Darnal and Logan Leighann Talbert, both of Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Emily Dixon Hall of Natchez; Adrian LeJeune Fremaux, Kristen Elizabeth Seaux, and Taylor Trache Atkinson, all of Lafayette, Louisiana; Kaitlin Ellen Martin and Maria Louise Moss, both of New Orleans, Louisiana; Haley Brooke Stockton of Pineville, Louisiana; and Eleanor Wesley-Anne Turner of Houston, Texas. The bridesmaids wore topaz full-length gowns and carried smaller versions of the bride’s bouquet.

The groom’s best man was Jason Brad Brakel of Sanford, Florida. Groomsmen were Christopher Blake Thompson and Shane Matthew Riedie, both of Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Sean Robert William Nelson of Port Allen, Louisiana; James Keith Vining II, Corey Michael Meaux, and Samuel Woods Atkinson, all of Lafayette, Louisiana; Lee Wilcox Shelton of Welches, Oregon; Jeffrey Paul Farmer of Metairie, Louisiana; Geoffrey James Rhodes of Belle Chase, Louisiana; Andrew Joseph Pasch of Katy, Texas; Michael Keefe Atkinson of Lacombe, Louisiana; and Braden Tyler Eddy of Houston, Texas.

Serving as ushers were Vincent Joseph Calamari of Slidell, Louisiana; Harris Charles Pantlik of Charleston, South Carolina; Hunter James Falcon of Baton Rouge, Louisiana; and Richard Warren Broussard III of New Orleans, Louisiana. The groom, groomsmen, and ushers wore Italian-cut navy tuxedos with ties that coordinated with the bridesmaids’ dresses.

Flower girl for the occasion was Lily Grace Atkinson, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Michael Atkinson of Lacombe, Louisiana; and ring bearer was John Ross Burgos, son of Adrian LeJeune Fremaux of Lafayette, Louisiana.

Ana Andrea Brakel, daughter of Jason Brakel of Sanford, Florida, served as program attendant. Readers during the ceremony were Alison Laine Neuliep and Gabriela Emilia Andonie, both of New Orleans, Louisiana. Event planners for both the wedding and reception were Lyn Jenkins, Becky Fortenberry, and Jan Kirkwood, mother of the bride.

A string quartet under the direction of Soyeon Rachel Seo of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, provided the music for the ceremony: “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring” for the seating of the mothers and “Canon in D” for the processional of the bridesmaids and groomsmen. Once the bride arrived by horse and white wedding carriage provided by Southern Carriage Tours, she was escorted by her father to “Trumpet Voluntary.” During the ceremony, keyboardist Alvin Shelby played and sang “Unforgettable.”

For both the ceremony and the reception the flowers were furnished by Brenda and Bethany Zerby of Moreton’s Flowerland of Natchez; and the food was catered by the amazing chef, Doug Hosford, and his staff at Dunleith. Capturing the event’s most memorable moments was photographer Anne McDaniel of Natchez and videographer Megan Elizabeth Films of Hattiesburg, Mississippi. The bride’s cake was a three-tiered combination of almond cake with vanilla buttercream filling, vanilla cake with almond buttercream and raspberry jam filling, and buttercream pecan cake with bourbon buttercream filling, all of which were accented with flowing white flowers and greenery.

The groom’s cake was a combination of butter pecan cake with buttercream filling and chocolate cake with caramel buttercream filling. Being an avid sportsman, the groom chose a hunting related theme for his cake with a display of special pieces from his hunting adventures. The base of the cake was provided by the bride’s brother, Jordan Kirkwood, from a tree at the family’s home. Reception entertainment by the tenpiece band Fly by Radio, headed by Wes Goode of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and further comprised of musicians from Birmingham and Mobile, brought even more flair to the festivities, including the music and songs for the evening’s traditional dances: the couple’s first dance to “Beyond” by Leon Bridges, the father-daughter dance to “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell, and the mother-son dance to “I called Mama” by Tim McGraw. Being Halloween’s Eve, the couple departed the reception by black limousine to the tune of Michael Jackson’s “Thriller,” the bride wearing a black high-low dress and the groom wearing a white tuxedo and sporting his grandfather’s white cowboy boots. To begin the wedding weekend’s celebration, the bride and her bridesmaids were honored with a Friday bridal luncheon at the home of Andreé Gamberi in Natchez. On the eve of the wedding, the groom’s parents hosted a rehearsal dinner at The Castle on the grounds of Dunleith. On the day of the wedding, friends of the family gathered for a bridal toast while the bride and bridesmaids prepared for the wedding ceremony. The couple now resides in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where Ben is the safety and inspection manager with Guice Offshore Operations and Maddie is the Critical Care Trauma Pharmacist at Our Lady of the Lake hospital.