Robert Andrew Whalen and Emily Cathryn Snellgrove

Published 6:00 am Sunday, October 11, 2015

Robert Andrew Whalen and Emily Cathryn Snellgrove were united in marriage at 5:30 p.m. on June 6, 2015, at First Presbyterian Church in Oxford. The Rev. John Semmes performed the double-ring ceremony.

The bride is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. William Eric Snellgrove of Oxford. The bridegroom is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Ferguson Whalen of Cleveland.

Escorted by her father, the bride wore an ivory lace gown accented with crystal beading. Complementing the bride’s ensemble was bouquet of white tea roses, white hydrangeas and coral garden roses wrapped in lace from the wedding dress worn by her mother and grandmother.

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Attending as maid of honor was Margaret Erin Snellgrove, sister of the bride from Oxford. Bridesmaids included Anna Frances Shankle of Shreveport, Louisiana, and Laine Frances Phillips of Hattiesburg, cousins of the bride, also Victoria Elizabeth Long of Auburn, Alabama; Elizabeth Caroline Martin of Meridian; Mary Elizabeth Peacock of Brandon; Anna Claire Reed of Tupelo; Anna Caroline Riley of Murphreesboro, Tennessee; and Kacie Michelle Watts of Clarksdale. Mary Caroline Busby of Oxford served as flower girl. The bridesmaids wore floor-length waterfall blue dresses. Their bouquets complemented the bridal bouquet with white hydrangeas and coral tea roses.

Daniel Ferguson Whalen, father of the bridegroom, served as best man. Groomsmen included Daniel Allen Whalen and John Benjamin Whalen, brothers of the bridegroom from Cleveland; Paul Wesley Snellgrove, brother of the bride from Oxford; William Christopher Hardman of Cleveland; Kyle Mitchell Hood of Jackson; Michael Parham Mordecai of Jackson; and Zachary Douglas Pinkerton of Cleveland. Jack Garland Busby of Oxford served as ring bearer.

Following the ceremony a reception was held at The Lyric Oxford. Guests danced to the Motown music of The Beale Street All-Stars. The bridal cake was adorned with flowers complementing the bridal bouquet while the bridegroom’s chocolate cake was topped with a Peter’s Pottery bulldog representing the couple’s alma mater, Mississippi State University.

On the eve of the wedding the bridegroom’s parents honored the couple with a rehearsal dinner at the Oxford University Club.

After a honeymoon trip to St. Lucia, the couple is at home in Cleveland where the groom is employed as a loan officer with Planters Bank.