We may live in the San Francisco Bay, but somehow we keep leaving our hearts in Mississippi.
We’ve been incredibly fortunate to be asked back to the state several times to document Southern celebrations, which are unparalleled in culture and character. Kristen and Jonathan asked us to be their photographers after seeing photos from our past Mississippi weddings, and when they mentioned theirs would be in Clarksdale, “birthplace of the blues,” we found ourselves looking eagerly toward December.
When it finally arrived, we were lucky enough to stay at the cozy Shack-Up Inn, a string of sharecropper shacks and undoubtedly the most unique “hotel” we’ve ever experienced; tour the town with Kristen and Jonathan (including visiting the “Crossroads,” where legend has it that the famous guitar player Robert Johnson sold his soul to the devil); witness the emotion-packed rehearsal dinner at actor Morgan Freeman’s restaurant Madidi; and party with the wedding crew at the famous blues club Ground Zero. And all before the actual wedding day.
The wedding day itself was everything you might expect from a bride raised in Clarksdale and a groom from Baton Rouge: an emotional ceremony, lively blues music, Cajun cuisine, and some good old-fashioned New Orleans second-lining on the dance floor. We were treated like family the entire week, and even invited to come back to Clarksdale someday to stay with Kristen’s family. That’s just the way they do things in the South, and for us, it was the perfect way to close out our 2010 wedding season.