Houston’s Dreamy Memorial Park Wedding Makes the Most Of The Eastern Glades’ Magical Setting — Catherine Clay & Brooks Chapman’s Love Story
A Traditional Ceremony At a Historic Church
BY Shelby Hodge // 02.19.25
Catherine Clay and Brooks Chapman share a moment at their wedding reception in the Clay Family Eastern Glades of Memorial Park. (Photo by John Cain)
February is Wedding Month at PaperCity and throughout the month we’ll be telling stories of notable Texas weddings. Some might involve well-known figures, many won’t. But all will be wedding tales that go beyond the ordinary and perhaps say something about love. And ourselves.
Catherine Clay Chapman doesn’t consider the start of her Houston love story with her now-husband Brooks Chapman terribly exciting as they met while working together as analysts in a commercial real estate firm. They were friends at first. Then came what she jokingly calls their “scandalous” in-office romance.
But it is the three-tiered wedding that sets this story apart from your typical wedding tale.
The couple got engaged on the Emily Clay Family Scramble in Memorial Park. The stair step feature crossing the Eastern Land Bridge (aka tunnel) across Memorial Drive was funded by a $3.5 million gift from the bride’s mother in 2022.
That was just the beginning of the family connections that set Catherine Clay and Brooks Chapman’s wedding apart. The service was held at Houston’s historic St. Joseph Catholic Church. Catherine’s great-grandparents played key roles in supporting the construction of the historic structure in the early 1900s, adding an extra special family connection.
Almost a century later, Catherine was baptized at St. Joseph. Then, she got married there last spring with the wedding itself a simple Catholic mass during which the bride’s grandparents offered communion.
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Following the nuptials, the couple and wedding party found themelves whisked off to Memorial Park for the dinner reception that was held in a grand tent erected on the Clay Family Eastern Glades. This elegant section of Memorial Park’s reimagining was financed with a $10 million gift from Catherine Clay Chapman’s parents in 2018. Needless to say, Houston’s green oasis holds a special place in this family’s heart.
With the talents of The Events Company, a slice of Memorial Park’s Eastern Glades was transformed into an elegant celebratory setting, with an open-sided tent allowing views to Hines Lake and the glorious surrounding treescape. Within the tent, the arrival cocktail area was flush with greenery while the seated dinner, catered by CityKitchen, was served amid a floral cornucopia. Cake cutting and dancing came to the sounds of The Big Beyond.
As for the decor? “We tried to channel a Mexico City atmosphere, inspired by the trees at the center of the venue,” Catherine Clay Chapman tells PaperCity.
The couple departed the wedding in the back of a Jeep as fireworks erupted along the park drive. Next stop was Emilia’s Havana, the Annie Cafe’s tucked away speakeasy, for a rocking Latin-infused finish to a memorable wedding day. This set the stage for the honeymoon in Puerto Vallarta.
