A Classic Wedding at The Phoenix Ballroom in Waco, Texas

Mary Parrish (22 and a sales clerk) and Herman Iles III (23 and a catering manager) met through the Ignite Fire Poi Troop and remained friends as they went separate ways for college. For three years, the couple enjoyed football games, swing dancing, many road trips and, of course, practicing their fire poi. A lunch date in Austin and a walk up to the hilltop of Auditorium Shores turned into a romantic proposal, and one year later, the couple married at the First Baptist Church of Waco, Texas. The couple was attracted by the stained glass windows and late 18th century architecture, but also because it was one of the few places in town that could accommodate Mary’s large side of the family. Mary wore a vintage-inspired ivory ball gown with lace for the ceremony, and changed into a shorter dress for the reception. She carried a white bouquet with pops of blue cymbidium orchids that was wrapped in her mother’s veil. Herman wore a gray tuxedo with an ivory vest and tie in elegant, traditional style. The color palette included amethyst and Tiffany blue, inspired by the orchids. At the reception, Mary and Herman slow danced to “Your Guardian Angel” by Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, but switched gears as the music faded into Kenny Loggins’ “Footloose.” The couple drove away in a vintage car to their road trip honeymoon to Red River, New Mexico.