ABBY RENE OLIVIER EARP FRANKLIN JENNINGS III
Abby Rene Olivier became the bride of Earp Franklin Jennings III, who goes by Jay, at 5:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 30, in Christ Episcopal Church. The Rev. J. Scott Walters of Calvary Episcopal Church in Memphis officiated, assisted by the Rev. Kate Alexander of the church.
The bride is the daughter of Dawn and Rene Olivier of Biloxi, Miss. Her grandparents are the late Merle and Joseph Shepherd of Butler, Ala., and the late Thelma and Benjamin Olivier of New Orleans.
Parents of the groom are the late Medora and Walter Clark Jennings of Little Rock. He is the grandson of the late Mayvene and Jack Sifford of Camden and the late Irma and Earp Franklin Jennings of Little Rock.
The altar held arrangements of roses, Queen Anne’s lace, larkspur, hypericum and myrtle. Music was by the Christ Episcopal Church choir, led by organist and choir director Steve Bullock, and soloist Alexandria Slocum, cousin of the bride, who sang “Love Came Down at Christmas.”
Given in marriage by her parents, the bride wore her mother’s wedding gown of English net. The bodice had a high neckline embellished with lace embroidery, a natural waistline and long pointed sleeves. The skirt had a scalloped Schiffli lace hem and a chapel-length train. She carried a bouquet of roses and Queen Anne’s lace.
Whitney Olivier Ott of Biloxi served as her sister’s matron of honor.
Flower girl and ring bearer were Mary Alice Ott and Shepherd Jacob Ott of Biloxi, the bride’s niece and nephew.
Jonathan Portis of Little Rock was best man.
Guests were seated by Edwin Steve Ott of Biloxi, Frank Herbert Parke III of Little Rock and Samuel Glenn McGee of Richardson, Texas.
A reception on the mezzanine of the Capital Hotel followed the ceremony. Tables were decorated with roses, Queen Anne’s lace, white larkspur, green hypericum and myrtle. Music was by violinist Bill Thurman and Charlotte Taylor and band.
The bride is a cum laude graduate of the University of Mississippi where she was elected student body vice president and received a bachelor’s degree in public policy leadership. She has a master’s degree in public service from the University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service and was a museum and program director at the ESSE Purse Museum.
The groom graduated cum laude from Vanderbilt University and has a master’s degree in English from the University of Chicago. He is senior editor at Oxford American magazine, the author of the book Carry the Rock: Race, Football, and the Soul of an American City and
the editor of Escape Velocity: A Charles Portis Miscellany. After a wedding trip to Hawaii, the couple will live in Little Rock.