Meredith Fielding Flores & Mason Alexander Barker Exchange Vows

By Leanne Raesener    Photography by John Cain Photography

Meredith Fielding Flores, daughter of Jim and Cherie Flores of Houston, and Mason Alexander Barker, son of Keith and Stacy Barker of Houma, Louisiana, recently celebrated their nuptials in Houston. The couple first met at an LSU hang-out. Mason was a college senior, and Meredith was a sparkling new freshman. A friend introduced them, and while they both flirted, Mason played it cool, imagining he’d have another chance to ask her out. Little did they know, it would be five years before the opportunity would occur again, and by then, he did not waste time. They dated for two years, followed by a one-year engagement. Mason proposed at sunset on the beach of the Lyford Cay Club in the Bahamas. The bride’s family has a vacation home in the Lyford community, so after the proposal, they all celebrated the joyous couple together.

The couple wanted a personal ceremony filled with their closest friends and family, so a private ceremony was held in the garden of the bride’s family home in River Oaks. They had 250 guests at the ceremony and 450 at the reception. Naeem Khan and his son, Zaheen designed Meredith’s dress. She made eight trips to New York to assist with its design. The hand-beaded grown, with a tree-of-life symbol embroidered into the dress, took over 200 hours to create. The bride also wore a Naeem Khan white beaded jumpsuit for the after party.

The bride walked down the aisle to the Beatles’ Here Comes the Sun, played by a string quartet with French horns from Élan Artists. The bride shared, “We were so joy-filled as the pastor spoke that we both went in for the kiss too early. The wedding guests laughed in delight, as did we.” The bride also mused, “When we finally kissed, the altar trellis dripping with roses allowed a flash of the sun to shine through, displaying the most heavenly sunset, creating my fairytale moment.” The groom beamed when his niece (the flower girl) ran full sprint down the aisle into his arms. He shared, “Seeing the love of my life walk down the aisle for the first time in her wedding dress was the most cherished moment. She looked unbelievable and completely took my breath away.”

The reception was at the Corinthian Houstonian, with lavender, dusty pink, and pale blue colors for the ceremony and reception. The wedding event planner/planning team was Todd Events, and the wedding photographer was John Cain. City Kitchen Catering provided chef-attended food stations that included scrumptious over-the-top selections. Susie’s Cakes made the bride’s wedding cake inspired by chinoiserie wallpaper. The groom’s cake was a traditional croquembouche by Patisserie Paris Je T’aime.

The reception band was Rhythm Collective, and the festivities continued at the after party in the Corinthian’s historic former bank vault. Guests danced the night away there to the sounds of DJ Savy Fontana. The day after the wedding, the couple took a mini-moon to St. Barth’s for six days. Then, they later took a two-week sojourn to Italy. The couple resides in Houston, where the groom works as a Commercial Insurance broker at Insgroup. The bride is an international residential real estate agent at Martha Turner Sotheby’s.