The Guide

from Hoover's Magazine Spring 2022

From the Editor

ON THE COVER

Heather & Connor

Heather Garnett and Connor Kilgore both grew up in Hoover but didn’t meet until they were setup on a blind date in college. They married on Oct. 24, 2020, at Shades Mountain Baptist Church. Photo by AL Weddings Design by Kimberly Myers AAs a preschooler I’d hide behind my mom’s legs when I met new people—I was that shy. But not at my Aunt Betsy’s wedding. Somehow putting on a lacy peach dress and getting a basket of flowers to take down the aisle unleashed a different child on the dance floor—one who cried during the bride and groom’s first dance because she had to step away from the floor. Turn on music or, better yet, a live band, and a child can dance for hours on end without a care in the world like I did that July evening with my cousin Andrea. Fast forward 31 years and one worldwide pandemic later, and once again I found myself at family wedding—a reception for a couple we had watched wed on Zoom a year before. It was the first large indoor gathering I’d been to in well over a year, and I entered the scene freshly vaccinated and apprehensive about all the people—almost like my childhood shyness. But before long, I found myself on the dance floor, once again with my cousin Andrea. Quickly, we tuned out all thoughts of the virus that had changed our world and danced the night away without abandon. It was freedom-filled bliss. To me, that is one of the best markers of a wedding—to be so in the moment, so focused on celebrating two people becoming one that all the sorrows and fears of the world around us fade for a brief while for feasting, dancing, merriment and perhaps a few tears of joy. That’s also part of why putting together this annual wedding issue is my favorite part of my work year as I get a taste of those blissful celebratory moments for couples and their guests. Each comes with a unique story, many of them this year either during or coming out of the height of pandemic times. And now I get an extra layer of editorial joy to get to share them with all of you. In addition to our features on Hoover brides and grooms, you’ll also find inspiration images from a bridesmaids’ luncheon and a shower grazing table, as well as wedding dresses by independent designers that I can’t stop staring at, a guide to selecting just the right wedding tie and a few pandemic-era wedding trends that are here to stay. Plus, before you get to all the wedding section goodness, we introduce you to the artwork of Brittany Legvold and invite you to take a taste of

British cuisine with Southern flair at The Anvil. Cheers to all the marriages this issue celebrates, and here’s to hoping your 2022 is marked by moments where you too can pause all thought of the hard things of this world and dance the night away like a child!

madoline.markham@hooversmagazine.com

”“THE QUESTION

What do family and friends who attended your wedding remember the most from it?

My family and friends remember the music and being able to sing together despite a limited number of attendants. #covidwedding

-Olivia Stiles

My husband breaking his ankle the day before so him being in a wheelchair

-Jessica Stodden

The minister saying my husband’s name wrong; “Beth, do you take Math?” rather than, “Beth, do you take Matt?”

-Beth Rhodes

Family tradition has newlywed couples go out to the Hallelujah Chorus, and the last INCH of my beautiful train made by my mom got hung on the corner of the bottom step.

-Laura Dutton Guffin The fire engines. Not once. But twice.

-Lisa McLeod Balazs

Watching us get married in our backyard the weekend that the world shut down because of COVID… March 2020!

-Brooke Wingard Mitchell

It poured down rain all day!

-David Lamb

We married the day after Christmas, so the church was decorated with poinsettia and candles.

-Bill & Amy Watkins

REGIONS TRADITION

MAY 11-15 Greystone Golf and Country Club

This annual tournament brings together top PGA Tour Champions players and World Golf Hall of Fame members to compete for a major championship. Since the tournament became Regions Tradition in 2011, it has raised more than $4.5 million for local charities and more than $19 million since the tournament’s inception in 1992. Children’s of Alabama serves as its primary beneficiary.

COMMUNITY

LOVE TO LIVE IN HOOVER

You can now find big, blue Love to Live in Hoover hearts in Aldridge Gardens, Moss Rock Preserve, Chace Lake and beyond. After the city was recognized by 247WallSt.com as the best city to live in the state of Alabama, Mayor Frank Brocato wanted to call attention to this recognition, and Content Logistix worked with a team from the city to create a list of the most-loved places in Hoover to place hearts. Today there’s a giant 8-foot version of the heart at City Hall and other locations too as well as a 65-foot banner on overpasses on I-459 and I-65. When you see one, take a selfie and tag it with #lovetoliveinhoover on social media.

MARCH 5

Hoover Service Club Hearts in Harmony Fundraiser Hoover Country Club

MARCH 5 ASPIRE Wine 10K and Benchmark First Responder 5K The Finley Center, Hoover Met

MARCH 31-APRIL 10 Stephen Sondheim’s Company Virginia Samford Theatre

APRIL 8-10 Birmingham Barons Home Openers vs. Rocket City Trash Pandas Regions Field

APRIL 8-24 Once Red Mountain Theatre Company

APRIL 9 Diabetes Walk for Camp Seale Harris Veterans Park

APRIL 22-24 Magic City Art Connection Linn Park

APRIL 28-29 Spring Plant Sale Aldridge Gardens

APRIL 29-MAY 1 Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama Barber Motorsports

FRIDAYS STARTING MAY 13 Ross Bridge Farmers Market 2101 Grand Avenue

MAY 24-29 SEC Baseball Tournament Hoover Met Complex

APRIL 29

HCSF Denim and Dining

ALDRIDGE GARDENS PAVILION 6-10 p.m.

Hoover City Schools Foundation is celebrating 30 years supporting Hoover’s now 17 Hoover schools and 13,000 students. Come out to support their work—including more than $28,000 awarded in teacher classroom grants in 2021— at this signature event. Tickets, $75 early bird or $85 the week of the event, include a barbecue dinner, beverages, desserts, entertainment, a silent auction, a live auction and more. Purchase yours at hoovercsf.org.

APRIL 30

Celebrate Hoover Day

VETERANS PARK 11 a.m.-3 p.m.

Celebrate the City of Hoover with a day of fun and festivities at the park. Festivities include a Veterans Memorial paver dedication, Mayfield ice cream, an exhibitor pavilion, a kids zone, a petting zoo, carnival rides, a car show, live entertainment and document shredding provided by Shred-It.

ARTS CULTURE&

SCENIC LAYERS

Brittany Legvold’s journey as an artist has gone hand-in-hand with motherhood.

BY MADISON BLAIR PHOTOS BY MORGAN HUNT

LLight streams in from kitchen windows, guiding Brittany Legvold as she layers paint into an abstract landscape-in-the-making. Between groceries and kitchen appliances, she sets up her station, complete with canvasses, brushes and acrylic paint. Next to her 3-year-old Anders paints with watercolors, a lessmessy alternative to acrylic paint, at a small easel. As he works on his own creation of scribbles and blobs, Brittany forms calming abstracts of blue and green. Growing up with a grandmother who was an artist, Brittany has always been inspired to paint, but it wasn’t until she was pregnant with her son that she decided to get into the art form as an adult. “I kept thinking about it and thinking about it, and finally bought some supplies after he was born,” she says.

Brittany knew from the beginning that she wanted to create abstracts. As a child, though, she had been surrounded by her grandmother’s oil paintings, which were more realistic in style. Now, their common passion for art bonds them even more. Her grandmother often offers her advice on technique and is one of her biggest cheerleaders. “It’s really neat because our styles are so different,” Brittany says, “but we still share the same love of painting.”

When she was first learning how to paint, Brittany found inspiration in other artists’ work, and as she tried replicate their techniques, she found her own style: building up texture by using modeling paste to create layers upon layers of paint. Along the way, blues and greens have become her signature colors

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Brittany Legvold started painting when her son, Anders, now 3, entered her world.

too.

Now that she’s been painting for two years, Brittany finds inspiration from being in nature. “It really offers me therapy,” she explains. “I feel better when I get some sunshine on my face.” She tries to get outside as often as possible and likes to take her son to the trails by her house in Ross Bridge. Painting these nature scenes reminds her of growing up in the country, of her family’s land with big hay bales and playing barefoot in the grass.

While some artists find their inspiration through pain, it’s the opposite for Brittany, as is evident in her colorful layers. “My biggest inspiration is having margin in my life,” she says. “For me, this is the happiest stage of my life—having a young child, being married—and I’ve been more inspired in this stage than any other stage.”

As a former English and theatre teacher, Brittany has always been inspired by words as well as art, and you’ll find them as names for each of her creations. One of her paintings, titled Counting Sheep, was based off a poem she wrote of the same name when she wanted to capture the moment after her son had fallen asleep. “It’s a very intuitive process,” she says about naming her art. “Sometimes a word will pop into my head, and I’ll paint something that reminds me of that word. I want it to

COUNTING SHEEP

Artist Brittany Legvold wrote this poem after watching her young son sleep, and it inspired a painting by the same name.

The sweet coos, the pitter patter of little feet, chubby cheeks and squishy legs, The “mommy and me” he says when he wants me to put him to sleep The up and down, filling cups and cleaning counters of spilled cups The falls and scrapes and bruises and cuts The holding my hand walking into preschool each day The tantrums, the whines, the pleas for “one more time” My heart bursting out of my chest with the deepest love I didn’t know I had You, my son, are my greatest joy I’ll lay beside you and count sheep as long as you’d like… These are the best days of my life be meaningful.”

About a year ago, Brittany decided to start sharing her work on social media and with other artists for the first time, and the positive feedback encouraged her to begin to sell her art. “It’s a very intimidating step because it’s very vulnerable,” she admits. One of her earliest motivators was Tom Findlay, owner of Thomas Andrew Art Gallery in Homewood, who told her that her art is very sellable. “I wasn’t expecting that,” she says, “but that gave me the confidence to share more.” In fact, Tom even asked if he could sell her art in his gallery.

And that was just the start of the world social media has opened her art to. “It’s really surprised me how sharing my art has helped me to create more community,” she says. “From sales to connecting with other artists to connecting with retail stores or galleries, I’ve been surprised. The more you share, the more people will see it, the more people will want to connect with you.”

Still, what motivates Brittany the most is encouraging others to be creative, living by the motto, “To inspire people, don’t show