Alda's Magnolia Hill

Welcome!

Engagement Portraits • Bridal Portraits - call for an appointment for your bridal portrait...in our Grand Swing, by the lake, with the carriage or on the grounds with your photographer. Mon-Thurs. only. (Visit our Bridal Portrait page )

Magnolia Hill is recognized by WeddingWire Award!

"Magnolia Hill is in the top five percent of the Wedding Wire Community in the nation for demonstrating excellence in quality, service, responsiveness

and professionalism within the wedding industry. "

"Congratulations Magnolia Hill ! You have been chosen to receive the Wedding Wire Bride's Choice Awards™ 2011. The annual WeddingWire Brides's Choice Awards™recognizes and celebrates excellence in quality and service within the wedding industry as determined by recent reviews and extensive surveys in the WeddingWire Community. "

Thank you to ALL who voted for us!

Magnolia Hill is the 1st Place WINNER!

KATV Best of the A List!

We are voted the number one Wedding Venue!

Daddy walks his little girl to the carriage

ready to walk her down the aisle.

After the wedding,

she steps out as a new Mrs...

Cocoa & Carriage Rides

Magnolia Hill is a historic wedding and reception venue on the National Historic Register and on 31 acres for story-book weddings complete with horse and carriage. The romantic stone altar by the lake includes a White Dove Release ceremony. Unique to our Southern setting is our own horse and wedding carriage to "present" the bride as guests watch from across the lake. If the groom so desires, he may arrive to the altar by canoe as guests watch!! The covered reception area overlooks the lake. All this and more is included with the venue.

The venue includes Brides Dressing room featuring antique triple mirror. Grooms Dressing quarters feature antique pool table and big screen TV. The estate is complete with an outdoor full kitchen for our exclusive caterer, Catering Creations, which includes wait staff, cake cutting service, and bartender if needed.

Ordained minister is available only if needed. Shepherds hooks for decorating ceremony aisle are included. Venue includes all seating for ceremony on hand-hewn cypress bench style seating. Reception ivory skirted tables and gold Chavari chairs are included in the venue as well. Our new stone courtyard is lit with Italian string lights and offers additional tables and seating. For summer weddings we have an outdoor cooling misting system overhead.

The seated guests watch as the bride comes from the back side of the lake to the altar with music of the London Symphony Orchestra from outdoor speakers. The ceremony ends with a white dove release. The doves may be released from a white heart shaped basket and they circle over the lake as guests oooh and aaaah. The couple walks back up the aisle as they both get in the horse and carriage to sign the marriage license on the front porch and begin the reception.

The reception area is covered and full of twinkle lights overlooking the lake. Tables and chairs are included with the venue for your guests. Linens are included as well. Our Grand Swing is for a unique bridal portrait or engagement portrait of the couple,and is complimentary with booking.

New at Magnolia Hill is the optional Fireworks package, to end your night with professional fireworks over the lake... which seems to be the perfect ending to a storybook wedding.The couple leaves in our 1938 vintage Packard car included with our "Elegant Exit".

For an appointment to view this historical estate, please call 501-690-2574.

The marriage ceremony ends with a white dove release. The doves may be released from a white heart shaped basket and they circle over the lake as guests oooh and aaaah. The couple walks back up the aisle as they both get in the horse and carriage to sign the marriage license on the front porch and begin the reception.

A Letter of Welcome...

As the fourth owner and caretaker of Magnolia Hill, the Dr. Morgan Smith estate, a job we do joyously, the history of this estate was recently the focus of the November Pulaski County Historical Society meeting. Dr, Morgan Smith was born in El Dorado, Arkansas on March 8, 1868, the son of a planter and state senator with considerable influence in Union County and South Arkansas. His father was a colonel in the Confederate army. Married in 1890, he and his wife moved to Little Rock and reopened his practice. Dr. Smith was charming, sympathetic, and humorous as he sported a goatee.

The Dr. Morgan Smith house was built in 1918 in the Craftsman style. Dr. Smith as a well respected and successful physician in the state built and used the home for both his living quarters and an office. The home sits on a hill overlooking one of Arkansas’ oldest roadways. During the Civil War, Union Forces occupied the Ten Mile House which is a few miles down the road. Stagecoach Road was then known as Military Road. On the Smith grounds, a few bullets and even a cannonball has been found, believed to be from the nearby Battle of Brodie Creek.

Embracing a Jeffersonian ideal, Smith constructed his ample home on a large property in a rural setting surrounded by farms. The architect is believed to be John Parks Almand. The stonework on the home was recovered from cobblestone streets in downtown Little Rock as they prepared to brick them. The house is noted for being the best example of Craftsman architecture in this area of the South.

Dr. Smith graduated from Tulane University. Considered by many to be Arkansas’ first Pediatrician, he was Dean of the Medical School from 1912 to 1916 and noted for obtaining the Old State House for use of a medical school as the legislators moved into the brand new Arkansas State Capitol building.

In 1947 the house was sold to Dr. Lester M. Hill. In 1960, Atley and Betty Davis purchased the house, and asked carpenter Cooley Mason to update the kitchen cabinets...never knowing that his daughter would someday be the owner. We the current owners, Alda and W.G. “Buddy” Ellis purchased it in 1980 and have raised our two boys underneath the cloak of history. It is our joy in sharing this bit of heritage with you, as the Dr. Morgan Smith house whispers of a time gone by, and yet offers a bridge to the future.

Magnolia Hill, Invites you to join

The Pulaski County

Historical Society

pen and ink by Richard DeSpain

We welcome you to join our Sunday afternoon monthly PCHS meetings .

A very special thank you to

AT HOME ARKANSAS

for featuring us on the cover as part of Dream Weddings,

and a six page article on Magnolia Hill !

5.0 out of 5.0

Magnolia Hill...

"Where the past and future gather."

www.mandyshoptaw.com

For price quote please call

Alda or Buddy Ellis.

Call 501.690.2574

or email us: aldaellis@aol.com

Wedding and Reception Venue

For a day most unforgettable, let us share our inspirational woodland setting for your special event with classic Southern elegance.

For years you knew us as Alda's Forever and Alda's Sentimental Living. We helped retailers and brides all across the country get ready for the special day, for we love gracious entertaining.

And now we can be your venue ! ...for a fairy tale lakeside wedding & reception.

Classic Southern Elegance

Right in the heart of Little Rock, a countryside retreat is ready to take your breath away. The Dr. Morgan Smith Estate sits on 31 acres of secluded countryside that includes a private three acre lake, rolling lawns, hundred year old oak trees, magnolia trees, fountains, ducks, geese and the most modern conveniences. The Dr. Morgan Smith estate was built in 1918, and is a National Landmark of Historic Places. Two age-old Magnolia trees sit atop the hill that Dr. Smith planted. The estate has grown to be called Magnolia Hill. At the turn of the century, it was a day’s buggy ride to downtown Little Rock. Today, the warmth of this historic home is a most convenient place for your wedding and reception. Magnolia Hill has been returned to its turn of the century charm by its current owners, Alda and Buddy Ellis.

For Weddings & Receptions

Destination Weekend Weddings

www.mandyshoptaw.com

www.serenitysunrisephotography.com

From the ceremony to the reception...Magnolia Hill becomes a wonderful personal occasion- a thoughtful way to marry two separate pasts and invite new friends and relatives into the heart of a family.

www.jrdavisphoto.com

Melissa McCrotty.com

Visit our Bridal Portrait Page

"I wish you a

wedding

you and your

guests will

never forget."

_ Alda

Visit our "Shop Online" page for distinctive wedding accessories!

Now Available! Contact us for "Off Site" rental of our doves.

"Find of the Month"

Guest Signing Platter

For something unique, our Guest Signing Platter lets guests sign on wedding day, and the platter will grace your new home through the years...instead of a traditional paper book.

Visit our "Shop Online" page

for wedding accessories.

SOUTHERN CHIC

http://weddingsinarkansas.com/digital-edition/

Magazine

weddingsinarkansas.com pages 54 & 55!

Congratulations! Alda's Magnolia Hill made the

2012 Hot List!

We're pleased to announce that Alda's Magnolia Hill has made the 2012 Wedding Hot List. The Hot List is made up of wedding professionals that received the top reviews on momentville.com in their respective categories and locations in the past year.

Our venue includes:

• 31 Acre country lakeside setting on the National Historic Register

• Brides Dressing Room

• Grooms Dressing Room w flat screen TV & Pool Table

• Lakeside stone altar, candleabra, urns

• Choice of hurricane lanterns or shepherd’s hooks decor

• Seating on hand-hew cypress benches

• Outdoor speakers

• Music is furnished for your ceremony

• Horse & Carriage Presenting the Bride

• Horse & Carriage Recessional for couple

• White Dove Release

• Lake, Dock, Walking trails, Fountains, Great Lawn for tenting

• Canoe entrance for groom or photos

• Crystal Chandelier

• Private 1 acre parking & parking attendant

• Golf cart for transporting guests

• Availablity 10-10 on Saturday & Sundays • Friday Complete Rehearsal for Saturday weddings

• Reception seating

• Abundant candlelight décor throughout

• Silver cake plateau, or wood "slice" bases cake pedestal, silver toasting chalice & cake cutting

• Optional bar service (Caterer provides bartender, client provides beverages)

• Professional Sound System, with Bose Speakers and IPOD docking station

• Estate Decor including lanterns, ferns, chalkboards, Twinkle lights

• Îtalian lighting over stone courtyard

• Event Staff and hosts

• 2 wooden Swings for portraits

• Weekday Bridal portrait session w your photographer

• Cover for rain options

• Decor package- easels, chalkboards, candles, twinklelights, lanterns

• Personalized & Professional Wedding Planning

• Coordination Day of Event

• Director for ceremony & reception

• Bonfire area & hay wagon for Dessert station or S'mores Bar

• Pool area for floating candles and flowers

• Vintage Car for bride & groom to leave reception (“Elegant Exit”)

• Fireworks fountains for Exit

• Fireworks packages over the lake optional

Our 1400 sq. foot Big Red Barn is heated and cooled. Rustic Luxe decor with chandeliers and concrete floor. Opening soon!

A favorite date just reopened....

Saturday,

June 16th , 2012 is now available for booking.