Deana Carter Marries Jim McPhail

Deana Carter is a married woman! The singer wed Jim McPhail in an intimate ceremony at Pearl Hotel in Rosemary Beach, Florida. Carter's sister, Jessica Carter, officiated the ceremony, while her brother, Jeff Carter, gave her away.

"This is a special time for both of us," Carter says in a statement. "We are extremely blessed to have met during this season of our lives and blending our families into one happy one."

Carter and McPhail met in 2017 through mutual friends, and quickly fell in love. They will divide their time between their homes in Los Angeles and Santa Rosa Beach, Fla.

Carter burst on the music scene with the chart-topping "Strawberry Wine" in 1996, which won a CMA Award for Song of the Year, and was nominated for a GRAMMY for Best Female Country Vocal Performance. She followed that up with her second No. 1 hit, "We Danced Anyway."

The daughter of the legendary Fred Carter, Jr., music was always in her blood.

"It was what my dad did to earn a living,"Carter tells LowCountryToday.com. "So I just watched him, and my mom who doesn't get a lot of credit, but she was always there as well. I got schooled on the art of songwriting, publishing, and promotions. There are so many things that have to happen before an artist gets heard on the radio. I got to experience all of that while I was growing up, so you could say I had a better idea of what it took to make it in the industry."

Carter started out with a career in Rehabilitation Therapy, before ultimately deciding her heart was in music – specifically, country music.

"A lot of great ladies in country music came about when I first hit, so I definitely wanted to set myself apart from the field," she explains. "The beauty of the new artists that were emerging in the 1990's is that they were all so versatile. Everyone had different backgrounds and different influences, so you got to witness new country and traditional country being introduced."

In addition to being an established singer-songwriter, the 52-year-old has also appeared in several films and TV shows, including The Badge, Painted Horses and Strong Medicine, among others.

Carter's latest album, Southern Way of Life, is available for purchase on her website.

Photo courtesy of Wortman Works Media & Marketing