Ashley Ham and Owen Peak

Ashley Ham never imagined a winter wedding, but it seemed ideal after Owen Peak proposed on a beautiful evening in April 2009. The Peak House on Glenn Avenue, owned by Owen’s grandfather and Ashley’s residence while a student at Auburn University, was the perfect setting for Owen to surprise his future bride. Everything fell into place for a Jan. 23, 2010, wedding.

Owen is the son of Jere and Peggy Peak of Selma, and Ashley is the daughter of Mayor Bill and Carol Ham of Auburn.
The wedding, held at Auburn United Methodist Church, was a celebration of their faith and commitment. Well-known florist Stanley Sistrunk fulfilled Ashley’s wishes to create “something different” by transforming the church into a winter forest using enormous urns filled with bare trees enhanced by a clustering of white flowers on the altar table. An organist, violinist and cellist filled the church with a combination of traditional and contemporary music.
Following the ceremony, a beautifully lit fire welcomed the bridal party and guests to a reception at Moore’s Mill Club in Auburn. Tables were adorned with crystal grapevine-wrapped bowls bursting with white hyacinths surrounded and illuminated by bark candles. Copper linens covered the buffet tables which held an enormous branch-filled urn with hanging amaryllis surrounded by logs, pears and magnolias creating a warm, woodsy theme. The five-tiered bride’s cake, created by Peggy McKinney, was covered in the same lace design as the bridal gown.
After a magical evening, the couple ran through a tunnel of sparklers where a 1940s Packard convertible waited to whisk the newlyweds away to their new life together.