A perfect waterside wedding location

Story by Scottie Vickery
Submitted photos

In all the years Terri and Anthony Riccio have owned homes on Logan Martin Lake, entertaining typically meant throwing some burgers on the grill for their sons’ friends or having a laid-back dinner on the patio with a few other couples.

So when their oldest son, Cannon, got engaged to Lauren Scambray last November, and their future daughter-in-law wanted an outdoor wedding at their house with the gorgeous water view as a backdrop, there was a moment of panic. Actually, there were many moments of panic.

“Anthony was sending her links to other venues every week,” Terri said with a laugh. “I finally told him he had to stop because this was where she wanted to have it.”

Once the decision was made, the two families joined forces and started planning. Despite a 6-month timeline and the fact that Lauren’s parents, Rachel and Scott Scambray, live in Las Vegas, they managed to pull off a beautiful June 3 event that was better than any of them imagined.

The couple exchanged vows at the water’s edge before guests and the wedding party headed across the yard for dinner under a sailcloth tent. After enjoying a buffet that included some of Lauren and Cannon’s favorite Italian dishes, the crowd toasted the couple with blue champagne before heading to the gray and white checkerboard dance floor where they celebrated under the stars.

“We wanted the wedding to be as much ‘Lauren and Cannon’ as it could be,” Lauren said. “We wanted all of our favorite things and all of our favorite people at our favorite place, and it was just perfect.”

The back story

Nearly three years before popping the question, Cannon met Lauren in an economics class at the University of Alabama. Lauren, who grew up in California, always knew she wanted to try something different after high school, so she applied to several out-of-state colleges. Alabama won her heart. Not long after they met, Cannon did, as well.

Before long they were spending all their time together, much of it at the lake with a group of friends. “We came every chance we got,” Lauren said. “If there was a free weekend, that’s where we all were.”

That was just fine with Terri and Anthony. After all, they’d fallen in love with Logan Martin years ago when they came to the lake with friends during college. After they married and had Cannon and his brother, Grant, they got a boat and then graduated to a mobile home at Pocono Park. They later bought a house in Country Club Estates on the Talladega side of the lake and used it as a weekend home for five years before they sold it in January of 2020 and started looking for a permanent home.

“We kind of started out slowly and put our toes in the water a little bit at a time,” Terri said. Although the Riccios loved raising their kids in Trussville, they knew they wanted to eventually retire to the lake, but the lure of life on the water was too strong to wait.

They bought their current house, which is in River Oaks in Cropwell, in April 2021 when Grant was nearing the end of his senior year in high school. Although they both still work in Birmingham – Terri’s in interventional radiology at UAB and Anthony’s a market executive and executive director with JPMorgan Chase – their view makes the commute worthwhile.

“God’s beauty is all around,” Terri said. “The sunsets are just gorgeous, and the wildlife here is beautiful, too. We have eagles, osprey, egrets and white squirrels. When we get home from work, we go down to the dock, turn on some music and enjoy the peaceful nights.”

The view wasn’t the only thing that sold them on the house. The downstairs living area, with two bedrooms, a bathroom and a great room was a factor, as well. “We knew it would be perfect for the kids to come, bring their friends and bring their families one day,” Terri said.

Details, details, details

Although Terri and Anthony loved entertaining their kids’ friends, they never expected to hold a wedding at their house. “When Lauren started talking about wanting to get married here, I said, ‘You know, Alabama weather is not like California weather. It’s hot in the summer, it could rain, there are bugs,’” Terri said.

But Lauren knew it was the perfect spot for the wedding of her dreams. “I’ve always wanted a beautiful background, whether it was water or a pretty view,” she said. “Cannon and I both knew this was where we wanted to get married.”

Despite being 1,800 miles away in Las Vegas, Lauren’s mother, Rachel, wasn’t intimidated by the challenge of planning the wedding long-distance. In addition to organizing several large fundraising events over the years, “I planned our wedding 28 years ago and the weddings of a couple of friends,” she said.

“She never seemed stressed out at all,” Terri said of the mother of the bride. “It also wasn’t at my house,” Rachel added with a smile.

The Scambrays, who had moved to Las Vegas from California two years ago, came to Alabama a few times during the process, but FaceTime and Zoom proved to be invaluable. As the families began to think through everything that hosting a wedding with more than 200 guests would require, the list started growing.

“It really was like building a venue from the ground up,” Rachel said. They realized they’d need a powerful generator, tables, chairs, linens, lighting and bar setups. The Riccios had to get permits as well as liability insurance for the day in case someone was injured. In addition to the tent for the reception, they also needed a separate tent equipped with tables, lights and fans for the caterers to use.

They rented bathroom trailers equipped with air conditioning, flushing toilets and sinks with running water. Parking was a big concern until Anthony suggested guests park at the neighborhood boat launch, where they could shuttle to the site in rented vans or on a pontoon boat. “That was really fun,” Terri said. “Someone said they had never ridden to a wedding in a boat before, and another guest said, ‘I’ve never been on a boat before.’”

Once the logistics were covered, the focus turned to the details. “Lauren had a Pinterest board for years with the vision and fine details she wanted to come to life,” Rachel said. “It changed a little over the years, but there were some things I always knew I wanted,” Lauren added.

Her dream wedding included bouquet of peonies, a gray and white checkered dance floor, great music, and a cigar lounge area with tufted leather couches. She also fell in love with a chandelier made of crystal globes. “We designed the whole layout for seating based on the chandelier,” Lauren said.

She also always wanted to be a June bride. Since they got engaged in November, that meant they had to work quickly. “It was either plan it in six months or wait a year and a half,” Lauren said. “We didn’t want to wait.”

While Rachel and Lauren were booking the florist, caterer, DJ and other vendors, the Riccios focused on the rehearsal dinner, which was held at the Venue on 20^th in Pell City, and getting the house and yard ready. That included putting out 200 bales of pine straw and spraying for mosquitoes and other insects. They had already planned to replace the deck with a larger one, so they moved forward with construction.

Unfortunately, because of weather delays and supply issues, the project wasn’t completed before the big day. That meant the plan to have the ceremony under the deck in case of rain was no longer going to work. “We decided we could move the head table out from under the tent, and guests could sit at their tables for the ceremony,” Rachel said.

They were all delighted that rain wasn’t an issue. “The second we decided the wedding was going to be outside, we started praying about the weather,” Lauren said. “Ten days before the wedding we were checking the weather every day – sometimes several times a day,” Terri added. “Friday and Saturday, we never even looked. At that point, we decided it is what it is.”

Their prayers were answered, and they were blessed with a beautiful day. “We had pop-up storms every day that week and there was a big storm with sideways rain on Sunday,” Terri said, “but Saturday was perfect.”

In the moment

The days before the wedding were a whirlwind. Vendors dodged construction workers, Anthony hung string lights in the trees, friends came with leaf blowers, and the neighbors on each side graciously allowed the setup to spill over a little into their yards.

“It was all hands on deck,” Lauren said. “We have so many great people in our lives, and we’re so thankful.”

The day went off without a hitch. Guests enjoyed an Italian buffet with flatbread pizza; pasta dishes with meatballs, chicken and shrimp; a salad bar; and vegetables. A beautiful Italian cream cake and an ice cream cart for Cannon, who doesn’t like cake, completed the menu.

Lauren’s grandfather, Steve Butterfield, knew she was planning to use blue and white accents in the form of chinoiserie vases, so when he and his wife had blue champagne on a trip to Italy, he had several cases shipped to Alabama for the wedding.

Even the fireflies cooperated. Nearly half the family and friends came from California and other states and stayed at Airbnbs around the lake. As they gathered near the cigar lounge and enjoyed the sunset, they were thrilled to see the glow from the lightning bugs, which many had never seen.

“I never saw any before I came to Alabama,” Lauren said. “We had a cool spring, so we didn’t see many, but about a week and a half before the wedding, they started coming out more.”

While their guests enjoyed the music and view, Lauren and Cannon slipped away for a sunset cruise. “Everything had been so crazy, so it was great to get a moment to ourselves,” Lauren said. “But then we wanted to go back and join the party.”

Although there were a few “what have we done” moments along the way, Rachel and Terri agree that all the planning, stress and worries were worth it. “Everything was perfect,” Rachel said. “The whole day was magical and dreamy.”

Lauren and Cannon agreed. “Everyone said that your wedding is the one time all of your people will be in one place, so soak it all in,” Lauren said. “That’s exactly what we did. We loved everything about the day, and I wish we could go back and live it again.”

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Although Lauren and Cannon Riccio love Italian food, especially the dishes their mothers make, they knew asking them to cook for their wedding reception would be too much. Although Rachel Scambray and Terri Riccio left the buffet to the caterer, they agreed to share some of their favorite recipes.

Sausage, onion and pepper sauce

Directions:
Saute garlic, celery, onion and peppers in olive oil until tender. Remove from skillet and set aside. Remove sausage casings and cut sausage into 1-inch pieces. Add more oil to skillet if necessary and cook sausage until done. In a large stockpot, add all canned items, cooked vegetables, sausage, salt, and Italian seasoning and simmer 30 minutes or more. If thinner sauce is desired, add ½ cup water.
Serve over cooked linguine.

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Pasta sauce

From Rachel Scambray

(Makes 10 to 12 large jars)

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 6-pound can tomato sauce
• 2 small cans tomato paste
• 1 cup dry red wine
• 1 32-ounce carton of chicken broth
• 6-7 Italian sausages, sliced
• 1 pound ground turkey or beef
• 1 package neck bones
• 1 beef roast (about 2-3 pounds of chuck or other roast) cut into chunks
• 2 onions, chopped
• 5 garlic cloves, crushed or chopped
• 1 pound mushrooms (optional)
• Italian seasoning to taste
• Salt to taste
• Pepper to taste
• 3-4 tablespoons dried parsley
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• Red pepper flakes to taste

Directions:

Saute onions in olive oil and add garlic for the last few minutes. Set aside. Brown meats in same pan and add more olive oil if necessary. Combine onions, garlic, meats and all other ingredients in a large pot. Bring to a slow boil, then lower temperature to simmer. Simmer 3 to 4 hours, stirring often as it can burn easily. Remove bones when the meat falls off. Adjust spices as necessary and add broth and/or wine as needed for appropriate thickness. Use as meat sauce for lasagna, spaghetti or other Italian dishes.