Paula Deen's Wedding

Can you believe that this little girl, Paula Deen, is fixing to take the adventure of her

life. She's getting married. I realize that I'm bitten off a lot. I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed

Before I can walk down that aisle, before I can even get to the church

I've got a lot of things I've got to do, and I'm going to be counting on a lot of people

to help me get there. I started cooking when I was 18 years old

I came from a family of very good Southern cooks, and that love of food was passed on down to me

I was 42 years old, and in order for me to move on

I had to be able to tend to myself and my sons. And the only thing I had, and the only thing that I really loved

was my cooking. So I turned to my stove. I started a business called The Bag Lady

The Bag Lady will be 15 years old its next birthday. And when I think back over what all has happened to me

15 years is a very short time for a meager little business

with a value of $200 to wind up where I am right now

I have a 15,000 square foot restaurant that's been blessed with a lot of guests

I have two fabulous sons. I have a wonderful brother that I couldn't do without

I have my Aunt Peggy, which she's been there through this whole thing

I have my own cooking show. I'm fixing to be in a movie

I mean, come on. I don't have this good of an imagination

I could not have thought all that up. I've already been way over-blessed

And just when I think that, God answers one more prayer and sends me this wonderful man named Michael

and two more beautiful, wonderful children. Look at that. What is it

It's half of a wing. About three years before I met Michael, I added one little line to my prayer at night

And that line was, God, please send me a neighbor. because that's my only hope is a neighbor

At the time, I lived in downtown Savannah, and one day I got up and got a wild hair that I wanted to live on the water

I only looked at this one place, and I moved in, and I said

Okay, to my animals, this is where we're going to stay the rest of our life. Well, I had actually taken a hiatus from the restaurant to write my third cookbook

and my cousin Don and I were sitting over at the computer just working away on that cookbook

when Otis and Sam, the dogs, ran over to let me know they had to go outside

So we did just like we did every other time. We went to the back door on the water side

We always took a right and went to the square. Well, this particular day, they got to the back door, turned around and looked at me

Turn left, and here I was chasing these dogs, hollering, y'all, please stop, please stop

Well, they ran around this big, big wall, and there was just enough room to shimmy around this wall

trying not to fall into that water. And they took me straight up to this man that was outside propped on his fence talking on his cell phone

When Paula and I first met, about two weeks later she came back and Paula asked if I knew anything about Bo

I think she had done some investigating knowing that I did know something. So eventually we took a ride out to the Walsall Sound

It was a beautiful sunset and we've pretty much been dating ever since. We hit it off right away

I'd tell her it was love at first sight. He's such a great guy

It's just been amazing. You know, I didn't think marriage was in my future

And I think Paula's about the same way. And maybe that's what the big draw was, is I wasn't looking and Paula wasn't either

I'm what they call a docking pilot. A docking pilot goes aboard a ship and directs the tugboats and the ship's movement

to create maneuvers that the ship's power or the tug's power can't do by themselves

So I'm like the valet parking for ships. My younger brother Nick is a river pilot, and Hank is a priest

He prays that we don't hit anything. He and Paul are real happy together, and I'm thrilled. I'm delighted

Love is so much better the second time around. By the time you get my age, you know what the important things are

He loves me for who I am, and I love him for who he is

You know, if he didn't have a nickel, I really could care less. But the fact that he is accomplished in his own life just makes it more secure

So I'm marrying my neighbor. I'm feeling more and more bogged in, you know, between the restaurant and the show and home

and trying to spend time with you and trying to spend time with all of our children

You may need some help. You may need maybe a wedding planner. Well, maybe you're right

We've got 20 people coming in at a quarter to three today, so let's make sure we carry through the push

Couldn't be worse timing for a late big party. There's a lot to do before I'm able to walk down that aisle

Well, I'm going to check out the restaurant. But if you set foot on the floor, then you're going to be stuck there for the night

I just needed this, you know, because I'm stressing, I'm stressing, I'm stressing

and so I had to just touch my comfort zone. See ya baby Depending on where you have them in the oven All your ovens have hot spots and that why you have to rotate your pan

Are you sure you baked it? Yes, ma'am. See what it means

Well, it looks hot. Well, how are you feeling? I hate thinking that, you know, I can't handle it all, that I can't do it all

Well, I think your plate's pretty full. So I don't think you're a failure for not doing it all

You may need some help. And my dress, my dress. Can I tell you how torturous it is to walk into that wedding shop

and seeing all those dresses about this big around and dresses that fit me look like Grandmother the Bride

Well, I know it'll be beautiful. It's still, I don't, it's just a... Granny

Now, you don't have any. And I finally broke down and shared with Michael that I was on the verge of becoming overwhelmed

And at his suggestion, he thinks I should hire a wedding planner

And, you know, we don't ever like to admit that we can't do everything, that we're not superwoman

But I think he's right. So I'm going to contact a wedding planner, Trish Windham

She's great. She'll keep me in line. She'll snatch and jerk me, make me do what I'm supposed to

Tell me what kind of wedding you want. I want this, being a second marriage, being a southern woman

I want it in very good taste. Okay. I want you to keep me from making any big, bad faux pas

All right, and you're going to marry at Bethesda Chapel. Yes. Which is a wonderful place

One thing you've got to think about is it will only hold 100 people. Yes

Now, how about your cake at the reception? I just happened to think about the cake while we were talking

We're getting to the best part now, aren't we? We're getting to the good part now. Well, we've got to get you married first before we get to the good part

All right. Molly Stone does, by far, the best cake. Yes, I'd love for Molly to

You're going to have to have a pretty big one because you're going to have a lot of people. You know, I'm so glad I didn't have lunch today

because I think I remember Trish telling me that Molly always gives you a sample size to try

of your wedding cake. I tell you what. You want me to do it

You know me, so you pick the cake that matches my personality

All right, you pick the shape. Are you feeling round? Are you feeling square

Some days I feel. What do you feel? Let me see what I feel like today

How do you feel? I feel pretty round. Pretty round? Okay. All right, now look at this

That, to me, is the most simple, tailored, and elegant cake. Well, listen

I ain't here to make this simple on you. It ain't simple to do

You want to eat some? Well, what you think? You offer a fat girl cake

Yep. You think she's going to turn it down? The fat girl is going to cut the fat girl some cake

It is a sour cream pound cake with an almond and orange extract

That's my favorite wedding cake. And an almond buttercream. Mm-hmm. Ha! That's a better

Michael's going to love this wedding. Yes. On the groom's cake, believe it or not, Michael is not a real huge chocolate cake man

What is he like? His mother used to make him like a banana nut

Like a banana nut bread, but a cake for him. Yeah, yeah

And she made a cake. That's his all-time favorite. What kind of icing

Cream cheese. Can you do something like that? Yeah, let's figure it out

You can make him a happy man. That'd be fun. I like to lick that bowl. Would you believe I've just eaten wedding cake and got to go try on the dress

Sitting here now, I wish I hadn't eaten as many pieces of fried chicken and hoe cakes as I did

You know, because I still think of myself as being 18 and that cute little body I had

And then, you know, you're beautiful to me. Thank you. But no, I saw in that mirror

I saw in that mirror with those wedding dresses. I said, oh, my God

By the way, I was just thinking, what is what is that cake

You told me that your mother used to make for you. It was your favorite cake. Banana nut cake

Banana nut. Yeah, she used to make it for my birthday. Did she

Yeah. And what was it like? What did it taste like? Banana nut cake

Tasted like bananas and nuts? Yeah. Was it moist or was it dense

Real moist, yeah. It's moist and had a white icing on it, like a cream cheese icing

Oh, really? Yeah. I don't know what made me think of that

I was just wondering. My mind, it just jumps from one great beginning

I want the food to be very representative of a southern wedding

I want to prepare things that the staff is good at. I think I want to go with more traditional

This is by far the hardest part to get married. My biggest concern at this point probably is the guest list

But we've got 600 to 700 names on this bankroll. What are we going to do

We've got 20 people coming in at a quarter to three today. This is by far the hardest part to get married

What do we need to be stressing? All right, you call off

Couldn't be worse timing for a late big party. Okay, got him

Okay, Andrews. Bobby, did you ever find Mom? Is she going to come down and sign

You know, I'm marrying Michael and I never get to see him because I'm so caught up in all this stuff

So I just want to get through, get through so I can see my man. Yeah

I've got to run out to the church now and meet the guys

I mean, since I couldn't fix your supper, the least I can do is cut you a banana. Couldn't I

Mm-hmm. So, okay, look over the page. There it is. Makes me weepy just to see it

Hey, guys. Hey, Mom. You excited? What are you? Oh, yeah. makes me want to cry I not inside it beautiful I know and it made me want to cry when I pulled up and looked at it Ain that gorgeous

Oh, look at it. Oh! It's perfect. What do you think, Mom

And I've already got your dresses picked out. And guess what color I picked out a pale yellow for you

I think it'll be beautiful. So what do you think, man? Oh, I love it

Who's going to give you away? Baba. Baba's going to. And y'all are the bridesmaids

That's what we figured. I was sitting there in the chapel thinking

I know that I'm doing the right thing, Mary and Michael. I know without a shadow of a doubt that I've found my soulmate

Without a shadow of a doubt. We're building a wonderful home on the water where the dogs led me to Michael

That's very exciting to know that you finally found your permanent nest

Oh, I tell you what, I just, ten years ago I would never, ever have thought things could be this way

Oh, me neither. And most people at our age are downsizing. Yeah

And we're upsizing. That's because I'm going to get pregnant on our wedding night, aren't I

I'm not sure about that. Oh, gosh. It's beautiful, Michael. The house looks beautiful there, huh

It does. It's going to be gorgeous. I'm excited. You know, I just don't sit down and think about, wow, Mom's getting married

Yeah. I think, oh, we've got 500 people are going to hit the front door at 7 o'clock Saturday

Yeah. Downtown. Yeah. With no parking. Yeah. And we got to get them up and out with the live music and we're having three bars run and all the food

I'd say around 7.30, two cocktails in, we'll be fine. Yeah. A.M.

There was no question at all that the reception was going to be at the restaurant

Go ahead and count out 30 settings of silverware. How are you holding up, brother

You all right? Not a salad fork, just a hard fork and a knife

Go ahead and get those downstairs, too. Food's on the way down right now? Perfect

Perfect. Stack of napkins. We got 28 that's eating it, 12 o'clock

All right? Beautiful. Thanks, guys. Let's just try to take all of the restaurant work off of Mom

There's several good caterers in town. You just want to contract it out and not have to worry about it

No. What kind of food are you thinking about, Mom? Southern stuff, kind of like what we do

Yeah, yeah. I want the food to be very representative of a southern wedding

I want to prepare things that the staff is good at. Well, shrimp cocktails and crab cakes for sure

Yeah. Carbon station for sure. Maybe some shrimp and grits and tomato sandwiches

You know, you can't have a party without tomato sandwiches. So that'll take a tremendous amount off of me

How about if we did little handle sandwiches? Sounds great. Are you talking about using the wing drumette instead of the chicken leg and do smaller

I think that's perfect. Let me play with that and see if we can pull that off. Wouldn't that be neat to have handle sandwiches

I don't know, son. It may be 800 people. It could be that many

But if you'll work with Teresa and Brandon. I will. You know, just let these people know that you're there for them to help share the responsibility

Of course. Yeah. We get on set. Okay. Dad, come it. I love you guys, but I got to get on the set

Love you. See you in a bit. I'll see you during break. Okay. Thanks, guys

All right, Mama. About the bridesmaids' dresses? Yeah. I was serious

Uh-huh. I'm sure you were. How about you? No. No. Final answer

I'm not doing it. Believe me, if I can do it? Come on, Jamie

I'm not bridesmaids dress ready. You know, that could unhinge my whole presidential campaign thing

I'm not doing it. Oh, no

Surprise, please! Well, between all this planning, my friends threw me a bridal shower

and my boys decided they were going to surprise me. Hey, girls

I've got two days to back out. I told Bobby you should have gone strapless

I feel beautiful. It just worries me, though, that y'all are prettier than me

Hi, y'all. Hey, guys. I mean, girls. Oh, my gosh

Those boys are crazy. And, you know, I guess they get it from me

My friends couldn't believe that I had time to get away and sit in the sun when they saw me

And when I told them it was a spray on tin that only takes a half an hour

Well, they all wanted one. So we all left the shower together, went to the tanning salon

and I felt like I was 16 again. And when we get up there, y'all, we've got to take our clothes off, okay

Okay. All right. Are y'all... Put these on. All right. Can we put these on? No, not while they're spraying

We've got to get naked. We've got to get naked. And we've got to stand like this and stand like that and do like this and do like that and do like that

And then we can put these on. Y'all ready? We're so stinking silly when we get together

Ann Hanson is the world worst She embarrass the mess out of you All right here Here Here the camera Ah ha ha

Ah, ha, ha, God. Ah, ha, ha, ha, ha. Oh, Lord. And you know, a girlfriend is..

It's kind of like marriage. You get to pick your friend, which makes it so special

And I just love them. Just love them. Well, after I went and got my spray tan

I couldn't be a block away and not go into the restaurant

They were unbelievably busy. They had been working themselves silly. It was packed

And I felt a little guilty because I had been off getting a spray tan

and acting like a silly 16-year-old and having so much fun while that wonderful staff was there working themselves silly

Preparing hundreds of pounds of food, not only for the diners that moment

but for the wedding the next day. And thank goodness Molly finally got the banana nut cake recipe

for Michael's Groom Cake. And you know, she had so little time, she actually had to bake it right here at the restaurant

The groom's cake, according to any history I've read about it, started in England and Ireland

And it was a fruit cake with white icing. And it was taken home by people in little boxes and hoped that they would dream of the person that they would marry

Michael is a docking pilot. So we have to have something to do with the boat

And he likes banana nut. So I've got to make up something that's banana nut cake with a cream cheese and nut icing

and make it look nautical. I don't know if you want to go check

You know, you can talk to Brandon, make sure that all the flowers and everything are going okay

Flowers for the wedding. Are they going to be here? Yes, they're on their way

I'm trying to nail down. I want to make sure that everything's put together for mom's wedding tomorrow

We do know that we've gotten all the seafood and everything in. All the staff is lined up. We're looking at 500 or 600 people

Have y'all got everything that you need? Is things falling into place? Food's here

I'm doing too much. 7 o'clock in the morning, that bar should look completely different

We have the round tables out. And I don't think it's going to take that long

You know, if we just hold her over, I think Dustin said he was planning on holding over like ten guys

Plus, everything else going on, we invited all the out-of-town guests and, of course, the family to come into the bar

and have kind of an informal rehearsal dinner celebration with us. So the poor staff, you know, they had several things going on

Is this your ketchup? No. No, no, no. I got it. How y'all doing, folks

At 6 o'clock this evening, we're going out to Bethesda and go through our rehearsal

And then I understand that after rehearsal, we're going to come back here to the Lady and Sons

and we're going to go upstairs to our bar, and we're going to have some fun

We're going to celebrate Paula's last night as a single woman. Walk down

It's time. Disgust on her fingers. I can't believe it. I will come back

Oh. Oh, that's it. Did it? This is the last time I'm doing it

Turn in, not your back, but just in. Wait, wait, now I'm supposed to..

I'm supposed to forget my kids. Do I shake his hands? I don't care. I just be nice to him like you like him. What

Well, then you can do it for a day. Okay. This hand

Okay, okay. Okay, now, then if you'll just automatically put your hand in here

Okay. There you are. Did Mike get the spray tan? No, I think his bleeperish is up

I think we're really married, aren't we? Yep, that's it. Should we really be married now

I thought we were, because he's the judge and he said it. He said it

He said it, so we don't have to come tomorrow, right? Yeah. I remember exactly what my thoughts were

before they opened that door and let me in. I thought the sand gnats were going to take my hair off

I remember thinking, open that door and let the sand gnats. When I got in that carriage and they rode me down to the church, yeah, I felt like Cinderella

Just praying that 12 o'clock wasn't going to strike. That'd be easy, Lou

Hey. Hey. You look gorgeous. Thank you. Oh, my goodness. You are

You look good. Thank you, Bubba. Happy wedding day. Thank you. I know you're probably real nervous, so I just want you to calm down

I'm not nervous. Okay, would you rub me? I know you're probably nervous. Yes

But if you would just calm down. But you look beautiful. Thank you

Thank you. You ready? You look so handsome. Thank you. And when I told them how beautiful you are

Your lips, your eyes, your cheeks, your hair

Are in a class beyond compare You're the loveliest guy that one could see

Be that in this great big world you've chosen, be that in this great big world

You've chosen me

Dear friends

were here assembled in the presence of God to unite Michael Anthony Groover

and Paula Hires Dean in marriage. Who gives the bride to be married

Her family and I. Love is patient and kind

Love is not jealous or boastful. It is not arrogant or rude

Love does not insist on its own way. It is not irritable or resentful

It does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things

Love never ends. Michael will you take Paula to be your wife

Will you promise to love, honor, trust And serve her in sickness and in health

In adversity and prosperity And to be true and loyal to her

So long as you both shall live I will Paula will you take Michael to be your husband

Will you promise to love honor trust and serve him in sickness and in health in adversity and prosperity and to be true and loyal to him so long as you both shall live I will As a token of your vows you will give and receive

the rings. Michael, you will give the ring and repeat after me. Good. Paula Paula

With this ring With this ring I pledge my life I pledge my life

And love to you And love to you In the name of the Father In the name of the Father

And of the Son And of the Son And of the Holy Spirit And of the Holy Spirit

Paula, you will give the ring And repeat after me Michael

I got it. Michael. Michael. With this ring. With this ring. I pledge my love

I pledge my love. And life to you. And life to you

In the name of the Father. In the name of the Father. And of the Son. And of the Son

And of the Holy Spirit. And of the Holy Spirit. By the authority of the laws of this state, I declare that Michael and Paula are husband and wife

But therefore God has joined together. Let no man separate. You may kiss the bride

May I present to you Mr. and Mrs. Michael Anthony Grouvoir. Thank you

the love from the people on the street as well as the love from all of our friends and

family inside the restaurant. We were able to pull something over on her, you know, on this night when it was probably

the last thing she wanted. When Michael and I got out of that limo in front of the restaurant and all these people were lined up in the streets with cameras and yelling and cheering I felt like a movie star

Oh, look at everybody. Thank you. You know what? I was actually at the front door

When Mom and Michael pulled up, there had to be 60 or 75 people just standing out on the sidewalks around the building waiting on them to get here to the cheers

These people were going nuts over everyone. It was just almost breathtaking

Walking in the door to the reception, it was just almost breathtaking

I felt like I was saying stupid things and I was like an idiot

This reception was, what, probably four or five hours long. And I swear it was, it seemed like five minutes

It was unbelievable. There he is. There he is. The young lady's name is Megan Shanley from Nashville

And she's a beautiful young country artist. And she, they put together a song for Mom and Mike

and we thought it would be a really neat surprise to have them come out at the end and sing for Mom

And it was beautiful. It was really nice. It was beautiful. Didn't you think? Mom had no idea

It was gorgeous. We were able to pull something over on her, you know, on this night

when it was probably the last thing she wanted. And here it will always stay with you

You hold me close And touch my skin

A new life begins and bend. Here's where the orchestra plays

and the tide comes to sweep us away. Here's where we walk towards the sunset

in a long, slow phase. Here's where it all comes true

This dream we've been holding on to Here where I know that it right to feel like I do Here with you

The world we knew will never be the same. Starting this very day with you

The stars shine, the heavens spin

And kiss me again Amen Here's where the orchestra plays

As the tide comes to sweep us away Here's where we walk towards the sunset

In a long, slow place Do you know I never saw a camera during the whole ceremony

I never saw a camera. I was just into the moment. And having all of our children up there with us and my brother giving me away

I remember standing there during the ceremony. But I felt like my feet weren't quite on the floor

Not much went through my head other than somebody would have to slap me hard to slap this grin off my face

I knew I had done the right thing. I knew it. I said in a long slow day

Here's where it all comes true Yeah, this dream we've been holding on to

Here's where I know that it's right To feel like I do

Here with you For you