Forget Blush and Bashful, This Southern Wedding Went Bold and Beautiful
If you’re going for theatrics at your wedding, you can’t do better than a chihuahua ringbearer.
Such delights and surprises were surely expected at the recent nuptials of Trey Norris and Travis Coles, two of Savannah’s most visible show biz luminaries. Of course this was going to be a glorious production, as these gents have spent their careers putting on the most fabulous shows in town as the management team of Club One and the Bay Street Theatre.
They’ve also hammed it up onstage aplenty. Both of them play revolving roles in BST’s annual rollicking Rocky Horror Show —Travis’ Riff Raff served many giggles in 2023, and mild-mannered Trey transformed into the domineering daddy Frank-N-Furter several years back. You may have caught his alter ego Treyla Trash sassing it up with lipsync superstar Blair Williams at Moon River’s Drag Brunch or on their highly entertaining podcast.
But even with the sensational fashion and striking presence of Savannah’s most iconic performers, the most standout moments of their special day reflected the simple, time-honored rituals of two souls promising each other forever. Who knew these theatrical fellows were so traditional?
Here were all the hallmarks of a classic Southern wedding: Guests were greeted with champagne at The Mackey House, a sprawling Scarlett O’Hara venue on the outskirts of town that feels a world away with its pristine pine forest and sparkling lake.
The Sunday afternoon sun glinted upon a lavish arch of white roses as the wedding party glided down the aisle to “Pachelbel’s Canon,” the most popular musical precursor to matrimonial bliss in the Western world.
Officiant and Bay Street stage veteran JinHi Soucy Rand commanded gentle authority in black velvet, and Travis’ sister Stacey Fuller Coles and tech director supreme Erin Muller were resplendent in dove gray bridesmaids dresses. (A color scheme of “blush and bashful” would’ve been too over-the-top Southern belle, though Steel Magnolias did make an appearance at the reception in the form of an armadillo cake.)
Joyful tears were already mussing everyone’s make-up by the time the grooms appeared arm-in-arm in elegant tuxedos. The sniffles elevated into audible weeping when Trey announced that he would be taking the Coles name, in honor of Travis’ father who passed away last year.
“He adored you,” Travis told his soon-to-be husband over the smiling sobs.
The rightness of their union felt palpable and pure, a partnership spun from the strongest bonds between hearts.
“The greatest happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved, loved for ourselves,” affirmed JinHi.
“If there is anything better than being loved, it is loving.”
To riff on the old Tolstoy adage, all happy weddings are alike, this one included. But let’s be clear: This was a gay wedding full of theater folk, so there were bound to be dramatic flourishes.
There was Adele’s version of the Bob Dylan ballad “Make You Feel My Love,” sung by lovely nightingale Susanna Kennedy until the last chorus, when the first five rows of guests suddenly erupted into harmony, blending their voices as a musical gift to the grooms.
Then there were the callouts. (If you’ve ever attended a Rocky Horror show you know, ya slut.) In the midst of everyone’s sappy crying, Travis began his vows with how he’d been looking forward to this day with so much antici—
“Say it!” we hollered.
“—pation!” he laughed, then settled into the serious stuff.
By the time their petite pup Piper came tottering down the aisle with the rings affixed to her collar, it was obvious this traditional Southern wedding had entered its flamboyant phase. We adjourned to the Mackey’s tented courtyard for an open bar and a wonderful seated dinner, where toasts and gaiety abounded. (Pro tip: Marriage is giving your spouse the bigger piece of sea bass because you know he’ll let you finish his piece of wedding cake.)
Somebody had clearly labored over the seating arrangements to ensure prime sociability, and we shared a table with actor/nurse Kim Limehouse (actually a medical professional, does not play one on TV) and prolific director David Poole, fresh off the Junk 2 Funk fashion show at Savannah Arts Academy. To our left was the actor-producer-goddess Teresa-Michelle Jackson, whose recent IMDB credits include locally-filmed May December and Origin and will be directing “The Revolutionists” this spring at Savannah Rep.
Dancing commenced on the Mackey’s sumptuous balcony, where the couple’s swoon-worthy first dance gave way to ballroom moves and death drops. Presiding over the fringes of the festivities in dapper suits (with the occasional fox stole) were august members of Savannah’s LGBTQ+ royalty, or what longtime activist Pam Miller called, “the ‘gayim’.”
“Who would have thought thirty years ago we’d be going to weddings all the time,” marveled the First City Network member, who recently contributed an enlightening interview to the LGBTQ+ Proud Savannah Oral History Project.
That’s when it hit me how bold Travis and Trey had been in keeping with what seemed like (mostly) typical normative wedding traditions. It has been less than a decade since marriage equality became a fundamental judicial right in this country, and that has meant leaps forward for most of us and our loved ones.
But the legal system continues to exclude trans people from basic protections, and plenty of couples still battle bigots who get all litigious over not wanting to make a cake (no one wants your crumbly red velvet shitshow anyway, Karen.)
Homophobes and haters still run for office and pervert our institutions. We’ve got a long way to go when it comes to including everyone in the pursuit of life, liberty, and happiness. The more we normalize gay marriage as the same as any other kind, the more it becomes an integral part of our society — and less likely to be taken away by a bunch of horsey-faced hypocrites.
Whether they meant it as such, the Coles did just that with their magazine-perfect Savannah celebration. And I’m positive that if she’d been invited, even that cranky steel magnolia Ouiser would agree that love is love, and a wedding is a wedding.
But wigs on or not, no one tears up a dance floor like a drag queen.
If you can’t say anything nice about anybody, come sit by me ~ JLL
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Congratulations Travis!!! Wishing you both very well and for a long time...
But where's the Chihuahua?????