At Home Magazine July 2021: Katie & Matt's Wedding Announcement
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Lovely photos from Katie & Matt’s May 2021 wedding at The Jefferson
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The Jefferson in the News...
The Jefferson launches new website
/We are relaunching our website to showcase a few of the stunning photographs that have been taken at The Jefferson during the last year. We are so grateful to the photographers and brides that have allowed us to use their photographs. Thanks also to the many vendors that have decorated the venue so beautifully on these occasions.
Photographers: B. Flint Photography, Wilson Benton, Kenneys, Karla Pound, Taylor Square Photography, Camila Buoni, Danny K Photography, Barreg Weddings, Photography by Tema, Mass Interact (Google 360), & the Jefferson staff.
Special thanks to Oxford Floral, Jim Wilkirson, Details Specialty Rental, Magnolia Rental, Elizabeth Heiskell Catering, My Michelle's, Michelle Rounsaville, Alysha Kester, Twisted Twigg, Lisa Kelly, Southaven Party Rental, Claire Kiamie, Ferriday Mcclatchy, Courtney Surber Paz, Emily Sanders, Kwanei Holloway, Mackenzie Huelsmann, and venue managers Lisa Mills & Marti Mills.
Oxford Magazine: The Jefferson, Oxford’s newest wedding/event venue, is turning heads in its first year. There’s a reason for that.
/Grand Entrance
The Jefferson, Oxford’s newest wedding/event venue, is turning heads in its first year. There’s a reason for that.
BY ALEX MCDANIEL
PHOTOS BY ANN-MARIE WYATT, KARLA POUND & BETH HONTZAS
“THE BACK PORCH
The Jefferson was designed with plenty of space and adaptable design to provide areas for guests to retreat, including the porch at the back of the building.”
“THE GRAND HALL
The largest event space in the venue, the Grand Hall was built to accommodate a crowd with built-in benches lining the walls and eight air conditioning units that can blow 40 tons of cool air in the room at once.”
When Tom Green first conceptualized The Jefferson, Oxford’s newest wedding/event venue, he took just about everything imaginable into consideration. Green’s three daughters, all Chi Omegas at Ole Miss, would tell him about events they attended and how there just didn’t seem to be a spot that could fit everyone without dealing with logistical problems or crowded spaces.
“We started playing with the idea that there might be a need (in Oxford) for something bigger,” Green says.
What began in concept as a 9,000 square-foot space evolved over time, opening in 2016 as an 18,000 square-foot lakefront venue sitting on 90 acres a few miles outside of Oxford proper.
For Green, who co-owns The Jefferson with his sister, Margie Schloesser, the design concept came to him in pieces, a collection of ideas and moments of inspiration that helped him conceptualize how to build something that could accommodate just about any event while maintaining a rustic feel rooted in elegance and authenticity.
“A lot of it was thinking about my daughters and my wife,” Green says. “If they had a ceremony out here, how could we make it a perfect day?”
The size alone makes for a lot to take in when touring the facilities. But at the core of The Jefferson’s construction, and likely a big draw for event planners, are in the details.
At first glance, the Grand Hall, the Jefferson’s largest room, looks relatively straightforward in its construction with clean lines, large windows and column-less open space. Look closer, and you’ll see how Green’s attention to detail comes through. Built-in wooden benches line the walls to offer additional seating space without clutter. The large stage at the end of the hall sits beneath an archway, an idea inspired by a Hallmark movie Green watched with his wife.
To avoid a common party problem in which rooms filled with people tend to warm up quickly, Green installed eight individual air conditioning units in the hall, blowing 40 tons of air into the room and serving as multiple layers of back-up in case one of the units were to go out during an event.
Even behind the scenes lies impressive intentional design. There are a private room and bathroom located near the stage for musicians and bands to retreat without having to cut through the crowd. Green installed a large ladies restroom with eight toilets to minimize long lines. The bridal parlor is equipped with wall-to-wall mirrors, a tall chair for the bride so hair and makeup stylists can work comfortably, and outlets connected to separate breakers to accommodate a larger number of tools like blow dryers and curling irons.
Of course, there are a handful of things Green’s team didn’t foresee during construction. One example: An event held in January that overwhelmed the venue’s 200-coat closet.
“We had over 400 mink coats,” Green says, laughing.
That prompted Green to install a back door in the closet that connects to a conference room. This allows for overflow coats to be hung on racks and rolled into the adjoining space.
There’s an authenticity to The Jefferson’s vintage aesthetic due to Green’s longtime interest in salvage and restoration. The large, sturdy front doors came from the classroom of an old school building in Henderson, Tennessee. The restored chandeliers suspended in the Grand Hall were originally broken-down light fixtures a church in Memphis no longer wanted. The pine floors are from a textile mill in Virginia. The railing around the lake was crafted from an old guardrail that once lived on Highway 309.
A subtle touch can be found in the brick walls and walkways within the venue and outside: thousands of reclaimed bricks made by the short- lived Oxford Brick and Tile Co.—all engraved with the town’s name.
“We put them everywhere because this is Oxford and we should show everyone what we have here,” Green says. “This is our town.”
There are two other main rooms in The Jefferson, all freely flowing into the others to make for a larger event space or to provide options for people who want to hold smaller events at the venue. There’s also a back porch and plenty of seating by the lake for guests who want to break away from the main event to be alone or have a conversation with others away from the festivities.
Looking toward the future, Green hopes to add a garden for planting herbs and spices—a helpful addition for caterers like Elizabeth Heiskell, who’s working out of the Jefferson and has catered events in the space. Eventually, he’d even like to build cabins on the property, ideally as a lodging option for guests traveling to attend one of The Jefferson’s events, should the hosts want a more all-inclusive experience.
“You can have a destination wedding—maybe overseas or on a secluded island somewhere, and that’s great,” he says. “But Oxford is a place where people always want to come back after they’ve graduated.”
EXTRA
- Storybook Wedding: Alston & Katie Love Owen
- A snapshot of how The Jefferson transformed its 18,000 square feet of space into one couple’s dream wedding day.
VENDORS
- Oxford Floral
- Elizabeth Heiskell Catering
- Details Specialty Rentals
- My Michelle’s, Bar Consultant
- Cobra Security, Security and Valet Parking
- Ferriday McClatchey, event planner
Voted Oxford's Best Wedding Venue 2017
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The Jefferson Oxford - The Grand Hall
Best Wedding Venue: The Jefferson
In the daytime, you might miss this 18,000 square foot venue tucked away along Highway 6, but at night, you’re drawn to its beautiful, bright lights. The Jefferson, with its rustic feel and high ceilings, sits along an 8-acre lake, making it a perfect location for a romantic wedding – be it a small, intimate ceremony or an event for 1,500 guests.
Southern Living: This Mississippi Bride Brought the Outdoors In With Rustic Touches
/A rustic, wonderfully wooden venue in Oxford, Mississippi played tribute to this couple’s love of the outdoors.
Caroline and Clinton’s nature-inspired wedding day was nothing short of perfect. From enchanting wooden details to graceful greenery mixed with all-white blooms, the space these two created could easily make you forget you were actually inside.
“Clinton is a huge outdoorsman, and having grown up on a ranch, we knew we wanted our big day to reflect our love for the outdoors,” said Caroline. “Due to the cool spring temperatures we decided to bring the outside inside and enhance our rustic venue with a ton of greenery, branches, pops of crisp white flowers and dim lighting. These elements created the perfect simple, yet elegant, backdrop for the most special night.”
Photographed by Mississippi wedding photographer b.flint photography, this classic, yet outdoorsy affair is sure to inspire.
A Whimsical Wooden Ceremony Space
Full of wooden details and evergreen flourishes, the couple’s ceremony at The Jefferson in Oxford, Mississippi accomplished exactly what they hoped – to bring the outdoors in.
by B.Flint Photography
Princess Ball: An Enchanted Evening For Sparkling Daughters And Proud Daddies (Including A Famous One)
/February 7, 2017 Written by Kaylen Miller, an intern for HottyToddy.com and a student of the Meek School of Journalism and New Media.
Tuesday night, Chick-fil-A’s 5th Annual Princess Ball had daddies, daughters (and mommas, too) gleaming while parading through the doors of The Jefferson across a red carpet to the ballroom floor, where daddies in their finest suits could sweep their sparkling princesses away in a dance.
The magical evening consisted of a delightful dinner followed by dessert, a chance to steal the spotlight in the photo booth, and arts and crafts for every princess to design something unique while creating memories to last a lifetime.
To top off the night, daddies and daughters witnessed possibly one of Oxford’s “fairest of them all” when a famous father of three girls of his own stood behind the mic and left the crowd in awe.
For Peter Pan, time may never be planned, but Ole Miss Football head coach Hugh Freeze reminded daddies that time does, indeed, go by quickly.
“It moves very, very fast. The question you’re going to ask yourself one day is, ‘Did I do enough?’ I’m struggling with that right now. It’s real, and it gets there in a hurry.”
Freeze’s oldest daughter, Ragan, was 12 when the Freeze family moved to Oxford. Now, Ragan will soon be going to college while the younger two will be going into high school.
“It moves very, very fast,” Freeze said. “The question you’re going to ask yourself one day is, ‘Did I do enough?’ I’m struggling with that right now. It’s real, and it gets there in a hurry.”
Lance Reed, owner of Chick-fil-A in Oxford, said the ever-growing Princess Ball would not be possible without the tremendous community support that is poured into such an enchanting night.
“Even though it’s something that Chick-fil-A is doing, and it kind of goes with our corporate purpose – that we want to have a positive influence in the community – it really, truly is a lot of groups and organizations,” Reed said. “That’s one of the deals that we love about it and why we really look forward to doing it.”
Reed said that Oxford Floral has graciously donated roses for the princesses, Yoknapatawpha Arts Council has been more than helpful in designing the sets and themes, Home Depot has been instrumental in providing building supplies, and Holli’s Sweet Tooth has kept the desserts ever-sweeter with each Princess Ball that has passed.
“It’s grown incrementally every year,” Reed said. “This is a way that we’re able to have a positive influence in our community and dads and daughters’ lives. That’s why we do it; this is a community-wide event.”
One Oxford father, Danny Moore, brought his princesses to the ball for the third year in a row.
“It’s always just fabulous and a great bonding experience,” Moore said. “My daughters have been asking how much longer until this event since about October.”
After treating their princesses to a night to remember, most daddies, like Moore, left the 5th Annual Princess Ball with the words of Disney’s Mulan on their hearts: “The greatest gift and honor… is having you for a daughter.”
