Wedding cake was on the menu at Starkville Caf Sunday.
Starkville Caf waitress Joyce Palmer, now Joycce Talley, who normally serves up eggs and bacon in the morning, took her wedding vows instead.
Palmer decided she wanted to exchange vows with her groom, Michael Talley, at the Starkville Caf because it served as a backdrop to the two’s romance.
“I work here and he works at the hospital, so the only time he saw me was here,” said Palmer, who lives in Mathiston. “He actually proposed to me at the register.”
Palmer serves patrons the most important meal of the day, breakfast, with a personal touch only experienced in small towns or in the movies.
A group of area businessmen, known as the Liar’s Club, that regularly gathers to eat breakfast together at the caf, gave Palmer away in marriage Sunday. The ceremony took place in front of a packed house full of family, friends and beloved customers who gathered at the only location appropriate for such an occasion.
The Starkville Caf, transformed into Palmer’s wedding chapel complete with autumn-colored flowers and a three-tiered wedding cake, shut its doors for business at 3 p.m.
At 10 minutes after 6 p.m., someone tapped a glass of water with a spoon, “The Wedding March” played and Palmer walked in on the arm of Tom Dawkins, representing the Liar’s Club.
Another regular customer of Palmer’s, Justice Jerry Jones from Eupora, married Palmer and Talley, who started dating about a year ago. The songs “I Swear” by John Michael Montgomery and “The Rest of Mine” by Tracy Adkins played in the background while the couple stood in front of the standing-room only audience.
When Jones asked, “Who gives this bride away?” Tom Dawkins replied, “Starkville Liar’s Club and I do.”
“It was a very big honor for the club to give her away,” Dawkins said after the ceremony.
During the ceremony, Palmer stood next to the Liar’s Club’s designated table, located towards the back of the caf.
“That’s my family every morning,” Palmer said. “When people are sick, they take up money and help out in some way.”
Another Liar’s Club member, Ken Honeycutt, explained that eating breakfast with Palmer is like “sitting down and having breakfast with your mama.”
Cafe owner Sherry Moorland explained that Palmer sees her regular customers getting out of their cars in the morning and already knows what to get them.
“She’s a jewel,” said long-time member Bill Collier. “If Dan (Moorland) didn’t have her, he’d have to close.”
Moorland added that this was the first wedding in the 12 years that she and her husband have owned the popular restaurant.
“All the guys here at the Liar’s Club table think just as soon as I get married I won’t come back,” Palmer said.
However, the newly-married Palmer said she would be back on Monday afternoon after her honeymoon.