1 of 3
2 of 3
Mary Hollis Huddleston
3 of 3
Asher Fogle Paul
From the dresses to the décor, to the venues, “I do’s,” and more, weddings have a way of capturing our hearts.
But there’s no need to wait for your next invite to experience all the glitz and glam wedding dreams are made of. Instead, read the new release of Mary Hollis Huddleston and Asher Fogle Paul’s debut novel Without a Hitch.
Set against the world of high-end Southern weddings and inspired by real events in the authors’ lives, Without a Hitch takes readers on a hilarious journey through the world of over-the-top weddings and what it really means to find your happily ever after. The novel tells the tale of unlucky-in-love twentysomething Lottie Jones who thinks she has her life mapped out, only to have her plans fall apart. She lands a new career as a wedding planner at a top-tier boutique event firm where she must channel her own dashed hopes to make her clients’ dreams come true. Embarking on a hilarious journey through the world of Southern weddings, she learns what it means to take ownership, face your fears, plan your ex boyfriend’s wedding, and choose a happy ending that deviates from your original plan.
And there was no better duo to tell the tale than Huddleston and Paul. Close friends and former college roommates, each woman began careers that provided plenty of larger than life experiences to inspire Lottie’s fictional world. After graduation, Paul moved to New York where she interviewed celebrities and covered red carpets as a human interest and entertainment journalist. Meanwhile, Nashville native Huddleston immersed herself in the world of elaborate eventsas a wedding planner in Dallas, planning occasions for some of the wealthiest families in the South. Eight years later Huddleston moved back to Nashville where she co-founded the event rental company Please Be Seated with her husband and launched her destination lifestyle platform, Mrs. Southern Social.
“Nearly everything in the book is inspired by the experiences I’ve had over the last decade, and the lessons I’ve learned working in the events industry,” Huddleston says. “I’ve worked with so many talented vendors and clients that it was really fun to write a novel based on the wacky—but fabulous— world of high-end weddings.”
Although Without a Hitch is a fictional story, the ties to Huddleston’s real-life experiences are apparent throughout the novel. And it’s her firsthand knowledge of the art of Southern charm that helps to bring all the joys of a wedding to life.
“In the South, our motto is ‘more is more and less is a bore.’ This book speaks directly to that credo,” she says. “We love parties and entertaining, and the Nashville wedding scene is back and more over-the- op than ever post-lockdown. At the end of the day, this book is about celebrating everything and that’s very true to how people feel in the South.”
Without a Hitch encompasses the kind of vibrance and liveliness only a wedding can bring. Written during a time when so many celebrations were put on hold, Huddleston and Paul set out to bring that sense of joy to life, page by page.
“This book was created during a trying time and gave us a lot of joy,” Paul says. “Our goal was to share that joy with our readers. We hope it’s a welcome reminder of the wildness of massive parties, the celebrations with friends and family, the hilarity of youthful mistakes, and the truth that, even when plans go awry, something even more beautiful can come. We hope it inspires readers to celebrate everything, every moment that they can, especially as life continues to grow more vibrant and open again.”