PERSISTENCE PAYS OFF

STORY BY BETSY ILER PHOTOS BY MEGAN MULLINS

Ross won Shores' heart on their first date – he took her to a thrift store

Shores' promises to her husband included his daughter

They booked The Orchard for the weekend and dressed at the venue

WWhen Malorie Mann Shores married the love of her life, Ross Shores, a year ago in January, she also made a commitment to the love of his life, his daughter, Lee Ellen, who was 8 years old.

“I got a huge bonus with him – a daughter,” Shores said. “Having a relationship with someone who has children speeds things up and slows them down at the same time. You are forced to have serious conversations sooner but also you are very mindful of your decisions and the things you do together.” Those were conversations Shores did not expect to have when she met Ross for the first time at a friend’s wedding. Though they both were from Alexander City, they were not in school together. “We both grew up in Alexander City and moved away; and then, came back,” she explained. They were not acquainted until friends on one side of the reception told her, “You’ve got to meet this guy,” and friends on the other side of the room were telling Ross the same thing about her. “We didn’t hit it off right off the bat, but he was very persistent. He kept showing up to places where I was,

The Orchard's poolside patio served as a beautiful location for Shores' wedding portrait

A wedding is an opportunity to have everyone you care about together at the same time, Shores said

so I decided I would go on a date with this guy. He was really trying. We went to Outback in Auburn; and then, he took me to a thrift store and told me I could buy anything I wanted. It was my dream date. I love that kind of thing,” she laughed.

About a year into the relationship, Shores knew she wanted to be in it for life.

“A lot of it was seeing what kind of father he was to Lee Ellen; and then, I was just kind of hoping,” she said.

Hope became reality one evening as the couple stopped at some hunting property Ross owned, purportedly to check on something.

“I was dressed up in heels, thinking we were going to Auburn for dinner, so there I was tromping through the woods in my high heels. We got to this spot, and he had the deer camera set up and his mom taking pictures in a hunting blind. He talked about how we had dreamed of building a house together there and asked me to marry him. Then we headed to Niffers where our family and friends were waiting. He did good. It was really sweet,” Shores explained.

The couple married at The Orchard on Washington, a private estate owned by Tony and Karen Channell outside of Alexander City. The Orchard’s rolling meadow, pecan grove and pool cabana provided a beautiful outdoor background for the festivities, while the fine interior woodwork, plush carpets and spacious living areas gave the families room to comfortably

accommodate friends and family, especially elderly relatives who needed to be able to rest occasionally. “We rented it for the weekend, and that was so convenient for all of us,” Shores said. “We could be very flexible about the hours when we set up and cleaned up. It was relaxing and just wonderful. My daddy and Bill’s Electric put up lights. It was so pretty.” As the bride The couple planned a fireworks show as a surprise for Lee Ellen and her friends and groom and both sets of parents were born and raised in the Lake Martin area, Shores and Ross wanted to use local vendors for their event. They also wanted to make the day special for Lee Ellen, so Shores rented a horseand-carriage bounce house for her new daughter and her friends. She also arranged for happilyever-after meals for the kids and concluded the ceremony with a surprise fireworks show. “I wanted this day to be something special for all of us, for everyone to have fun, and for it to be something she remembered,” she explained. To make her commitment to Lee Ellen as meaningful as her vows to Ross, Shores played a recording of Blane Howard’s Promise to Love Her for her daughter and flower girl during the ceremony. “That was one of my favorite things about the day. There were a million little things like that from Momma and Daddy walking down the aisle to I’m Everything I am Because You Loved Me, to the slide show of special memories that played while our

The groom's mother, Teresa Shores, took pictures of the proposal from a duck blind on the farm where Ross popped the question

A hunting enthusiast, Ross proposed under the auspices of checking on hunting land while enroute to a dinner date in Auburn

friends entered as I Wish Grandpas Never Died was sung. It was an opportunity to have everybody we care about in one place at one time. There is only one other time when that happens, and it’s too late to say anything then,” Shores said.

That point became abundantly clear last summer when Ross, who owns Shores Remodeling, fell off a roof, breaking his L1 vertebrae. He was airlifted to the hospital, where Shores’ parents waited with her for news of her husband.

“I stood outside the emergency room and told my daddy and brother I was pregnant,” Shores said.

Lee Ellen’s little brother is due the last weekend of hunting season.

The Orchard

New wedding and event venue grows memories

The Orchard on Washington features an elegant, inviting event space

Once a working pecan farm, the picturesque grounds help to accommodate large events

Memories have been growing at The Orchard on Washington for a hundred years, but those were private memories until Karen and Tony Channell purchased the 27-acre pecan grove in Alexander City three years ago. The Channells recently updated the estate’s sprawling home, so the idyllic property could be shared for weddings, family reunions, parties and corporate events.

This new lake area venue includes gated access to a luxurious six-bedroom home with inside dining for 50-plus, a large kitchen and bar and a library for intimate settings. Outdoor amenities include a pool and deck area, stone fireplace, an additional barn, rambling lawns and wide open spaces to accommodate events of any size.

The beauty of The Orchard is its versatility, as it can be rented for a weekend of activities, serving as wedding rehearsal dinner space, lodging for the bridal party or guests, a dressing venue, ceremony venue, reception space, post-wedding gathering and even a morning-after breakfast hall.

For more information, contact executive director Donna King at events@theorchardvenue.com or 256-496-0444.