You must love something dearly to make it your wedding theme; that’s exactly what one couple did in honor of the Masters.
Kate and Matt Ziance were married at First Presbyterian Church and the Roger Sherman Inn in New Canaan, Connecticut, on July 3. In attendance? Friends, family, a green jacket, ring caddies, and Jim Nantz (kind of).
“We couldn’t think of a better way to make this 100 percent us than incorporating golf at every turn,” Matt told Golf.com. “We knew our favorite sport had to play a main part and that’s where the creative juices really started flowing.”
Here’s a list of ways the couple paid homage to the legendary major:
- A personalized neon sign in the shape of the iconic Masters logo featuring the names of the bride and groom.
- A personalized Masters flag replica at the welcome table.
- As the groom, his parents and the rest of the bridal party walked down the aisle, the couple’s church music director, Terry Flanagan, played the Masters theme song, “Augusta.”
- The bride and groom’s nephews served as “ring caddies,” complete with personalized, adorable white jumpsuits and golf ball ring boxes.
- The flower girl carried a range bucket with balls, custom golf tees and rose petals.
- The couple’s pastor, also an avid golfer, delivered his take on the powerful marriage lessons that can be gleaned from golf during the couple’s vows.
- The reception, billed as the evening’s “Par-Tee,” began with a taped video message from Jim Nantz, who personally congratulated the newlyweds and greeted guests with his iconic, “Hello, friends.”
- The bride and groom’s grand entrance featured an attempt to make a long putt across the floor — and the groom donning a custom green jacket of his own.
- The reception featured over 5,000 cookies baked by the groom’s mom, many of which were golf-themed.
- A Masters-themed cake featured a take on the famous logo and green jacket.
- Guests received custom “Hello, friends” dinner menus, and found their tables via a “Green Jacket” seating chart. The tables were outfitted with flags and labeled “Hole 1,” etc.
- The groom wore custom socks, a golf-themed tie, custom Nike gear for the after-party.
Neither Kate nor Matt has ever been to the Masters, but they dream of one day winning the ticket lottery. In the meantime, Matt estimates they played around 60 rounds together in 2021. While he has been playing since his childhood and is a 12 handicap, Kate took up the game when they started dating in 2020, supposedly making her first hole-in-one in only her sixth full round ever.
As for the Nantz cameo, no, the bride and groom did not pay the sportscaster to make a video for them. Matt is a former member of the NBC Sports and Golf Channel marketing team and was able to enlist Nantz’s help for the occasion, as well as getting country artist Spencer Crandall to perform a song in person when he proposed to Kate in Nashville in 2021.
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