By Emily Etheredge
Although planning and organizing a wedding can be stressful, Cindy Vining owner of Jemison Wedding Chapel happily helps any bride and groom prepare for their special day.
“I love weddings,” Vining said. “There is something very rewarding about having a wedding run smoothly and know that I helped contribute to making the wedding a success.”
Vining and her husband Frank opened the wedding chapel in August 2011 after leasing the building from the owner of the property who stated he wanted the building to be turned into a wedding chapel.
The Vining’s quickly got to work repainting and redecorating the interior of the chapel with historic colors and furniture to replicate the era it was built.
“We wanted to keep everything historic,” Vining said. “We wanted everything inside to resemble what it would have looked like back then.”
The exact date of when the chapel was built is unknown, records found underneath the building, formerly a church, show the land was granted to Isaac Littleton to build a township of Jemison in 1831 signed by Andrew Jackson.
“We know the building was constructed in the early 1800s so it helped us to know how to decorate everything,” Vining said. “It is just a wonderful thing for this community to have this historic building that was erected and is still standing. I have a lot of brides who love the chapel just for the historic portion.”
Since opening in August 2011, Vining has hosted nine weddings at the chapel along with various birthday parties, anniversaries, baby showers, and holiday gatherings.
Those interested in getting married at the chapel pay a fee ranging from $375-$875 and Vining will decorate, organize the music, cook for the reception along with numerous other details that make the weddings a success.
“I enjoy making a bride feel happy on her wedding day,” Vining said. “People can come get married here and save money without having to have their parents spend a fortune on a wedding. It is just a simple country wedding that we offer in a historic setting.”
Vining sits down with the brides and their families prior to the wedding day to discuss details of the wedding and studies every detail to adequately prepare for the weddings.
“It usually takes me about two or three weeks to prepare everything,” Vining said. “Every family has their own particular niche so I like to find that out and work to make sure everything is how they would like it to be.”
Vining said the craziest request from a bride so far has been to have her dog as the ring bearer during the ceremony.
Vining said most brides that have gotten married at the chapel provide their own music but request for Vining to bake the bride and groom’s cakes, as well as provide decorations to adorn the chapel.
“When everything is all put together and runs smoothly, I am happy,” Vining said. “I have a huge sense of pride when I stand back and observe a wedding going on that I helped make the day beautiful.”
Vining opened a café in the back of the chapel in November 2011 offering soups, salads, sandwiches and coffee but closed it in November 2012.
“We had a lot of fun with the café and we had some wonderful folks who would stop by and eat, we just couldn’t make a go of it,” Vining said. “There would be some days we would have 15 people stop by, there would be other days we would barely have five. It was hard to gauge from one day to the next how many people would come eat but it was fun having it opened.”
Vining hopes that more brides will utilize the wedding chapel that hosts a rich history with many from the community having married inside the chapel doors.
“We have a lot of people come in and tell us about a family member or someone that they knew who got married here at one time or another,” Vining said. “It is really special for us to be able to reopen a place that has been around for so long and means a lot to the people of this community.”
For more information about the Jemison Wedding Chapel visit, www.jemisonweddingchapel.com or call 492-0808.
The chapel is located at 161 Thomas Street in Jemison.