OUR STORY
Every event begins with a story.
CHAPTER ONE
Tradition:
There was Always Room for One More
I grew up in a big family, where cousins were as close as siblings and gathering together was simply part of life.
Some of my favorite memories were made in my Grandma Vi's tiny house. She had five children, who brought their spouses and twelve children of their own. Somehow, all of us would squeeze into two rooms to eat, open gifts, play cards, laugh and simply be together.
It was crowded. It was chaotic. And it was wonderful.
I didn't know it then, but my Grandma was teaching me something I would carry with me for the rest of my life: You don't need a lot of room to make someone feel like they belong. You just have to make room for them.
“You don't need a lot of room to make someone feel like they belong. You just have to make room for them.”
CHAPTER TWO
Celebration: Carrying the Story Forward
Celebration was our family tradition.
My parents carried that same spirit into our home. Christmas wasn't simply a holiday in our family — it was practically a season.
For 45 years, my dad transformed their home with an incredible Christmas light display that brought generations of families back year after year. Inside, my mom created a Christmas wonderland, including a Christmas village so elaborate they eventually added a room to the house just to showcase it.
Their annual Christmas open house welcomed family, friends, neighbors and strangers who didn't stay strangers for long.
That love of gathering was passed down to me. I became the holiday house — hosting, decorating, and making sure everyone knew: There is a place for you at my table.
Now I hope my grandchildren remember my home the way I remember theirs — the decorations, the food, the noise, the people, and most of all, the feeling that they belonged.
CHAPTER THREE
Legacy: The Birth of The Jade Magnolia
And then came Magnolia Jade.
When my youngest grandbaby, Maggie, was born, I found myself thinking about legacy in a way I never had before.
I thought about my grandmother, and everything she gave me without ever calling it a legacy—the holidays, the crowded rooms, the traditions, and the understanding that there was always room for one more. And I realized I wanted to build something of my own. Something made from all the things that had been passed down to me, with the hope that someday there would be something meaningful to pass on. I wanted to give her a legacy. The kind my grandmother gave me.
The Jade Magnolia is a beautiful place to hold a party. But that isn't really why it exists. It exists because generations of my family taught me that gathering matters. That celebrations become memories. That traditions connect one generation to the next. And that sometimes one of the greatest gifts you can give another person is simply to say: There's room for you here.
“I wanted to give her a legacy. The kind my grandmother gave me.”
There's room for you here.
My hope is that The Jade Magnolia is still here when Magnolia is grown. Maybe someday she'll make it part of her own story. Maybe its story will unfold in ways I can't possibly know yet. But no matter what the future holds, I hope she knows why I built it. Because I loved her. Because I loved where I came from. And because I wanted to make room for the stories that come next. Every event begins with a story.