This New-to-Louisville Bride and Groom Planned a Southern Classic Wedding

Ruth Powderly and Scott Rotterman married last fall in an “absolutely perfect day.” After a long nine years (mostly long distance), my husband and I finally tied the knot. After moving to Louisville from Ohio, we almost immediately fell in love with the city and could not imagine getting married anywhere else.



Around 250 guests attended the wedding ceremony held at 2pm at Holy Spirit Church, with a 5:30pm cocktail hour followed by reception until 11:30pm at the Gillespie.
Here are the details:

Photos: Meagan Jordan Photography 

Bride’s Favorite Memory: Right before the ceremony, downstairs in the church with my mom and all my bridesmaids. The excitement was high, the nerves were high, and I was so happy and ready to marry the guy of my dreams. It was truly the best feeling.

Advice to Others: Your wedding should be an extension of you and your relationship. Think about how you want your wedding to be and don’t get caught up with trends. Your wedding day is all your own and will be the best day of your life.

One Thing You Would Have Done Differently: The only thing I would have done differently — and it’s so small — is had a fun type of exit after our ceremony on the church steps. It always makes the most beautiful pictures.

Best Planning Tip: Keep guests addresses in a spreadsheet. You will be writing so many invitations (showers, etc.) and thank you cards, and this will help you get them done fast!

Best Money Saving Tip: Choose the aspects of the wedding that mean the most to you. Is it the band? Is it flowers? Find those things first and spend a little more in those areas. There are plenty of ways to save in other areas, and you will be happier spending the money on the things that mean more to you.

Location of Ceremony: Holy Spirit Church, Lexington Road
Why it Worked: First of all, it is a stunning church. Second, our priest was absolutely great to work with. He listened to everything we wanted and didn’t want and really made the ceremony beautiful.

Location of Reception: The Gillespie
I wanted a Southern Classic “theme” to my wedding, and The Gillespie fit perfectly with what I wanted my wedding to be. It also is great for any size of wedding.
I Would Have Changed: The lighting isn’t the best for photos during the reception, but I’m not sure how that could have been changed.

Photographer: Meagan Jordan Photography

Favorite Photo: Wow, that’s hard. I think the photo right after our first look at each other — the looks on our faces is something I want to never forget.

Special Choices: Meagan is one fabulous photographer. Meagan’s style of photography worked perfectly with our wedding and what I wanted. She does such a fabulous job at getting non-staged photos and making them look classic and timeless.

I Would Have Changed: Worked on my posture and made sure I had told a bridesmaid or Meagan to check if my hair needed to be fixed.

Dress: Rebecca’s Wedding Boutique
I was absolutely in love with my dress. I am someone who loves planning outfits and dresses for every type of event or situation I may be in, and my wedding was no different. I had been to Rebecca’s the first time with my mom to try on dresses and didn’t love anything, so I left a little discouraged and was nervous I would not find the perfect dress. I went back a second time when my mom and sisters were in town, and Mary Ruth at Rebecca’s picked out my dress for me to try on. I took one look at it and fell in love. It was everything I wanted and more.

Bridesmaids Dresses: LuLus

Why it Worked: The dresses were flattering on every body type. I wanted dresses that were slightly different but cohesive, and these dresses allowed the girls to choose how they wanted to tie it and what looked best on them. And the price was reasonable.

Tuxes: Macy's Bar III

Why it Worked: The price of the black suits was similar in price to renting a tux, and this way the groomsmen got to keep the suit. Macy's also offered a deal when buying that many suits.

I Would Have Changed: Nothing. These suits are very fitted. Macy’s did not recommend these suits for big, bulky guys, but the suits looked fabulous.

Food: Masterson’s
Masterson’s knows what they are doing. They have been in the business for such a long time and that knowledge is indispensable. They made me feel completely at ease because they were so in control of every aspect of the food.

I Would Have Changed: Nothing, loved having different appetizers around.

Drinks: The Gillespie

Special Choices: We had a signature cocktail — the Lou (named after our dog) that pulled in the Kentucky theme with bourbon.

Why it Worked: Having all the drinks taken care of by our reception venue made it easy and streamlined.

I Would Have Changed: Had another bar! Or at least made sure that the Gillespie had no lapse in time that guests could not get a drink. A little line built up at the start of the reception (after the cocktail hour), and I was not happy.

Cake: Christi Murphy, with Stir Crazy Cakes

Special Choices: Christi allows you to choose from so many flavors. Each layer of your cake can be a different flavor and you can choose from cakes, cupcakes, and/or sheet cakes.

Why it Worked: We decided on a simple three-tier cake for us to cut and sheet cakes to pass out. It was so great to be able to choose different flavors so the guests could taste test.

Flowers: In Bloom Again
Wayne is phenomenal. I basically had all my visions in my head, but Wayne was able to hear what I wanted and make it come to life.

Music (both ceremony and reception): Kenny Sauter, Masters of Music

Special Choices: We gave Kenny a large list of songs we wanted to be played. We had spent a weekend with some of our college friends before our wedding and made a rough list. It was the best playlist!

Why it Worked: The DJ or music is a VERY important part of any wedding — they basically dictate your ceremony. Kenny went above and beyond by making our reception flow and create the absolute best dance floor.

What You Would Have Changed: Nothing, except maybe have Kenny DJ every party I have from now on!

Transportation: We hired a charter bus from Miller Transportation to take everyone involved in our wedding and their dates between the ceremony and reception.

Why it Worked: One thing I really wanted was to be able to hang out with all of my friends and family in between the ceremony and reception while taking pictures. Our Catholic ceremony was earlier in the day so there certainly was some time in between.

Planner: Katherine Sims

Why it Worked: Katherine was phenomenal. She started working with us about a month out — she took care of basically everything. Once the wedding got nearer, I honestly was not loving the planning because it was making me very stressed and anxious. Once I hired Katherine I was able to relax and truly enjoy every part of wedding planning and the day.
Hiring a day-of planner was the best decision I made. Wedding planning can be very stressful — it is extremely worth it to have help!

Invitations: Helane Cooper of Impressions
I wanted my wedding to be Southern classic; Helane was able to work with that and produce a classic simple invitation that I loved.

Makeup/Hair: Dawn Phillips and Allie Barnes are truly the best of the best. These ladies are game changers.



Rehearsal Dinner: Bourbons Bistro

Why it Worked: We wanted a venue that had more of a Kentucky theme — a lot of our guests were from out of town (we both are not from Kentucky) and we wanted them to really experience how amazing Louisville is.

Length of Planning Time: about 18 months