OVER THE MOUNTAIN JOURNAL
WEDDINGS
Thursday, June 17, 2021 • 21
WEDDING SPECIAL SECTION
In Praise of Small Weddings Lauren Theiss and Frank Gleason Downsized to Family Gathering at Honeywood Valley
By Emily Williams-Robertshaw
B
oth Lauren Theiss and Frank Gleason were raised in Birmingham, she in Vestavia Hills and he in Mountain Brook. Both Lauren and Frank followed in the footsteps of their fathers as medical professionals working at UAB. The couple didn’t meet during their youth or in the halls of the hospital but, instead, at Inisfree Pub in Lakeview. They met at a seemingly inopportune time. The two began dating while Frank was in his final year of medical school. Luckily, he matched at UAB, where he has continued into his surgical residency.
Lauren Theiss and Frank Gleason were married at St. Francis Xavier, and the entire family made their way out to Honeywood for the reception.
raged on. “Given that a large percentage of our friends and family are in the medical profession, the fact that we would have to downsize seemed pretty inevitable,” she said. Adding to the injury, The Theodore closed. “Before the Theodore reopened, we signed a contract with Cahaba Brewing Company for the same big reception,” Lauren said. “Come August, we decided we needed to pivot.” With the couple looking to drastically downsize the ceremony, their caterer, Thomas Cox with Table and Time, suggested they look into Honeywood Valley in Sterrett. “It’s a lodge on a private lake,” Lauren said. “It sleeps about 13 people, but it also can be used as a wedding venue.” It was a complete divergence from the original plan but a welcome one.
Photos by Rebecca Long
Birthed from the chaos of planning and replanning was a wedding experience more special than she imagined.
A year later, it was Lauren’s turn to graduate to her own residency in surgery. “Luckily, I matched with UAB,” Lauren said. After four years together, Frank found a way to surprise Lauren when he asked her to marry him lakeside in November of 2019. “He’s just not a planner at all,” Lauren said. “But he planned a weekend at his family’s lakehouse. He had my whole family and his whole family there and he made a whole itinerary.” Shortly after they were engaged, the couple set a date for the wedding, Dec. 19, 2020. The plans were for a classic pre-pandemic celebration. A Catholic Mass at St. Francis Xavier would be followed by a large reception at The Theodore accommodating 350 of their family and friends. As if planning a wedding around two busy surgical residency schedules wasn’t enough, a global health crisis came knocking at the door. “It was a roller coaster, for sure,” Lauren said. While they stuck to their guns for a time, luck was not on the world’s side as COVID-19
Their first dance would be held in the rustic 100-year-old Amish barn, and then they would retreat to the lodge overlooking Lake Lomah. “We ended up just doing immediate family, so 13 people,” she said. Both Lauren’s brother and sister got COVID19 around Thanksgiving. They recovered with ease while quarantined. “I was so stressed for the two weeks leading up to the wedding,” she said. If one of their family members had to quarantine, the wedding could go on, but if Lauren or Frank became sick, the entire plan would be void. “Frank was on a busy service at work,” Lauren said, which added to her worries. Lauren was called in to get her first COVID19 vaccine just three days before the wedding. “Our families were so lucky, one, that we were healthy and fortunate enough to be able to do that during such a stressful time for so many people,” Lauren said. “Also, that this was totally normal and a blast.”
A Family Retreat
Frank’s parents hosted the rehearsal dinner the night before the wedding at Golden Age in Mountain Brook Village. “That’s a place that is very special to us,
Please turn to page 24
