-Jenn

at Lakeway Resort

“Most of All, I Remember…”

“I knew I wanted to marry Zach the first time he called me. We had talked via text message and Facebook in many attempts to try to get coffee or dinner for over a month before and nothing had transpired. A few weeks had passed by since I had last been in contact with Zach and thought that our lives were just too busy for each other. Then one fall night as I was taking my puppy, Leo, for a walk, I received a phone call that in essence, changed my life. I often ask Zach what made him randomly pick up the phone that night and he can never recall what it was.

Zach and I ended up talking for four hours that night. We had many of the same interests, thought the same way politically, and had many of the same aspirations in life. We made firm plans to see each other the following Friday. Upon ending the conversation at 2 am, I knew that I was going to marry Zach – of course I never told him this until after he proposed.

A month and a half later, Zach traveled to Texas with me for Thanksgiving and met my family for the first time. I never shared with my dad that Zach was “the one”, but when we left to return to Colorado, my dad told my mother, “she is going to marry him”. Even seeing Zach and I together for the first time, it was evident to my dad that Zach would be the one I would share my life with forever. Reflecting on this, it is nice to know that I am not the only one who felt this prematurely. It is funny how things work out, but we both know that us being brought together was done on purpose by God – so now I do know I wasn’t crazy in predicting my future husband too soon as my dad and God both knew!”

- Lauren

–Jenn

at Barton Creek Resort

“Most of all, I remember…”

“Our wedding weekend was the most amazing and memorable time that we will cherish forever.  We felt blessed to exchange vows under the most gorgeous chappah.  We also felt so lucky to have friends and family there with us from all over the world dancing the night away.  We truly enjoyed every moment of the weekend from getting ready to seeing each other for the first time to the ceremony to our first dance to a night full of energy.”

–Lindsay

at St. Luke’s United Methodist Church and River Oaks Country Club

“Most of all, I remember…”

“Lizzy and I met in Washington D.C. on our way down to do Peace Corps Panama in August 2009.  It just happened that she was the first person I met during an ice breaker and then once in Panama, she and I lived next door to each other for the first 3 months.  During that time we would walk to class together, do our homework and just hang out and talk.  It was those first conversations and simple / amazing moments that started everything.  We quickly became best friends and now I can say that I’m engaged and going to marry my best friend.  Pretty cool, huh?

Anyways, after those first couple months of training and living right next door we both moved to our respective communities, which just happened to be 11 hours door to door away from each other.  It just so happens that neither one of us had cell phone reception either…

So for that next year we spent in Panama we would both hike up our mountains (45 minutes for her, just 30 for me) to talk every other day.  On top of that, every 10 days or so we would hike out of our sites (1 hour for her, 2 hours for me), hop on our respective buses and meet up in Panama City.

Aside from those times we also managed to spend many memorable moments together at Thanksgiving, Christmas, Carnival, Peace Corps Trainings and Seminars and vacations to the U.S. together.  It was an amazing year leading up to one of the most nerve-racking and awesome moments in my life.  But I’ll let Lizzy tell that part of our story.”

–Tom

“On the morning on July 1st, Tom made me breakfast, and we (ironically enough, watched The Proposal…he said that part was not planned, but definitely a nice touch). Then just causally Tom said, ” Lets do lunch in the city.” He told me that he made reservations, but I was just taking my time getting ready.  I wasn’t even going to put on makeup because Tom said that it was just so casual (he was doing his best to throw me off, which worked because I HAD NO IDEA what was going on). He also told me to pack a bag because we would probably going out in New York with his friends and we would crash with one of them. So I grabbed a t-shirt and toothbrush…thinking we would be back the next morning. Tom causally said “you might want to bring more in case we stay longer.” I was still just taking my sweet time (Tom had made reservations 2 months in advance) and he was starting to get nervous. I had no idea why we were in such a rush. But I started to pick up the pace and packed a bag.

We drove to upper Manhattan to an amazing restaurant called New Leaf that is located in the Cloisters gardens (looks like Central Park put more flowers and less people). We had a great lunch, and then we took a walk through the gardens. The weather was BEAUTIFUL!!! It was sunny with such a great breeze. Tom and I stopped at this quiet spot. He gave me a hug and said “I want to do this forever”…I was still COMPLETELY clueless…I was like “Of course, me too!”

Then he pulled out the ring, and the sweet nervous Tom could only get out the words “will you marry me?”

I was in COMPLETE shock. I had NO IDEA it was happening now but of course, I said YES I WILL MARRY YOU! And so we were engaged!!!

Also, we weren’t crashing at one of Tom’s friend’s apartments, Tom had booked a hotel room for us at the Hotel Roger Williams. Everyone at the hotel knew what was going on and kept congratulating us. We get up to the room and there are bottles of my favorite champagne and dozen long stem roses. AGAIN, I was BLOWN away!! He told me that we had dinner reservations at 7:00 so we needed to head out soon. So we had a glass of champagne, and I changed into a party dress that Tom had packed for me. We were having dinner at La Lanterna Caffe. At this point, I had been trying to call my parents to tell them that we were engaged, but I could not reach them. Tom just blew me off telling me that we would talk to them after dinner. Tom and I walked into dinner and MY PARENTS were sitting at the table with Tom’s parents!!!! I just started crying. I couldn’t believe they were there. Tom flew them in and booked them a hotel room months ago. I was just so happy both families sitting and celebrating the engagement. It was great.

The next morning, my sister Lacey bought a ticket to come celebrate as well. Tom and I spent the day calling friends and just soaking up the special moment. Tom had also planned a small engagement dinner for some of his friends and family, and my family at Freemans. Tom’s best friend from New York put together a menu for the party and at the top of the menu it said “Congratulations Tom and Lizzy!” Tom had put so much planning into every moment of this weekend.

Saturday morning, Tom’s parents, brother, sister, grandma, aunt, and other grandma and my parents and sister went to Tom’s parents house in small town New Jersey for a catered brunch. It was so amazing to have all the families spending quality time together sitting on the porch.

Since November 2010, we have been back in the U.S. and after spending time with family in Houston, Memphis, Washington D.C. and New Jersey we have happily settled into our lives in New York City.”

–Lizzy

at Austin Seventy-One

“Most of all, I remember…”

“Having our first conversation immediately after we were married.  It was just the two of us, for the first (and only) time that day, actually week.  It had all felt so strange to me that the person with whom I have shared everything for the past several years–every stress, sadness, happiness, everything–was supposed to stay isolated from me for most of the day on one of the biggest days of our life!  I had so much that I wanted to talk to him about! I felt so many emotions and wanted to tell him so many things that day. Just finally being able to talk and hold his hand and give him a huge hug was one of the happiest feelings I had that day.  A glass of champagne and beautiful Austin sunset didn’t hurt either ” –Morgan

“Most of all, I remember…”

1.  Seeing Morgan and her dad come around the corner and towards me down the aisle.  For the first time all day I felt no stress.  I knew I was exactly where I was supposed to be.
2. Snacking on hors d’oeuvres immediately after the ceremony.  I remember thinking “this is my first conversation with my wife!”
3.  Our first dance.  There was no one else in the room.”  –Barry

Jim and I truly felt honored to be a part of actualizing Stephanie and Paul’s vision for their wedding day. This talented couple’s inner beauty, kindness, and their love for each other and their family shone through the entire day.

You can see Paul’s artwork here: http://paulmeyerstudios.tumblr.com/ and Stephanie’s fabulous design blog here: http://meyeronthewire.blogspot.com/

Stephanie designed the gorgeous program you see below and their wedding invitations. Bringing a graphic designer onto your wedding vendor team can make a huge difference in incorporating small and beautiful yet noticeable touches to your wedding. I keep looking at Paul’s paintings and keep going back to the one called “Progress.” Love it and just can’t stop looking!

–Jenn

Most of all, I remember…
“Paul and I met, fell in love and were engaged in a little over six months.  Our whirlwind romance was eventually slowed down by life: four months after our engagement, my mom had a near-fatal operation that left her in a coma for two months.  She survived, thankfully, and was able to make a full recovery over the next year.  Around the time we were thinking of revisiting our wedding plans, life gave us a happy surprise: I was pregnant.  We put our wedding on the back burner {again} and later that year I had our son, Dylan.
About a year and a half later, our dormant wedding plans finally found new life.  A spring wedding at my Aunt & Uncle’s home in Lago Vista, Texas, just outside of Austin, was set and, lucky for us; the third time truly was a charm!
With its lush gardens, impressive cypress trees and intricate stonework, my Aunt & Uncle’s home, named Mariposa, is almost reminiscent of an Italian villa.  We wanted our wedding to be an intimate celebration of love and family and Mariposa was a perfect fit to the relaxed and sophisticated wedding we had always dreamed of.
With a color palette of soft gray, pale pink and dove white and accents in pale orange, moss green and lavender, our Italian-themed wedding started taking shape.
We were definitely spoiled by the natural beauty of our location: our ceremony site was bordered by huge rose bushes bursting with new blooms and mass amounts of Larkspur, a gorgeous purple-hued wildflower, dotted the property.  We were married under a tree at the front of the property.  Vintage crystal chandeliers picked up from thrift stores hung from the swooping branches and a pair of white, concrete planters clad with bougainvillea served as the altar.
For the reception, guests sat at long tables and dined on a pasta dinner served family-style.  Three small arrangements of pink peonies, green hydrangeas and peach roses lined each of the tables, which were covered in cream tablecloths and white lace overlays.  My Mom and Dad made the four Maypoles that lined the dance floor using satin-faced ribbon in soft hues to complement our color palette.  Café lights strung across the reception floor topped off the idyllic setting for the big Italian dinner reception that we envisioned!
For dessert, guests chose from four different kinds of gelato and a dessert table with pies, cakes and the most gorgeous rose cupcakes I’ve ever seen!   My Aunt loaned us her silver cake stand collection and the cake topper is a Meyer family heirloom.
Looking back, we couldn’t be happier that it took five years (!) for our wedding to finally happen.  Because, when it did, it was amazingly wonderful and everything we could have asked for.  Thanks to husband and wife team Jenn and Jim for capturing the sweetest, funniest, dearest and loveliest moments of the day for us to remember.

Bride’s advice: We planned our wedding ourselves and relied on help from our amazing friends and family.  But, if I could go back, I would hire a wedding coordinator for our wedding day.  I think I would have saved myself some moments of stress and the basket of 115 hand-stamped muslin bags with chocolate covered almond favors that my mother-in-law assembled may have actually been put out for our guests!”

–Stephanie

Thank you Rachel & Greg!

http://www.strictlyweddings.com/dallas/wedding-photographers

Their site is truly beautiful and they also sponsor some amazing giveaways through their facebook page.

http://www.facebook.com/strictlyweddings

We’ll be publishing some of our weddings on their blog soon, and will update here as soon as those go “live!”

Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd

The Four Seasons

Austin, Texas

“Most of all, I remember…”

“People aren’t lying when they say your wedding will be a blur!  It is literally a whirlwind of faces and smiles and singing and dancing.  But there are a few of those faces, smiles or dance moves that inevitably stand out – the ones that you’ll never forget.
I remember standing at the altar holding Ben’s hands and looking up at his sweet face when we heard Reverend Allen saying something along the lines of “this couple is now legally married”. I think I might have jumped a little from sheer excitement because I remember the congregation laughing at me.  I remember being glad they had seen that.  I just married the most amazing and most handsome man on the planet, and I’m happy people noticed how elated I was…and am.
I remember getting to the reception and walking through a line of faces, all smiling at us, so excited about this journey we were embarking on.  I remember cutting the cake before we headed into the beautifully decorated ballroom.  We had a seated dinner, and I remember Ben cleaning his entire plate (and mine), while I was too emotional to eat much.  We had fried chicken, collard greens and black eyed peas in honor of my mother’s Mississippi heritage – it was fabulous!
I remember our first dance and how Ben twirled me around the dance floor like a pro.  We hadn’t planned that at all but my friends thought it was rehearsed.  I can’t decide if that’s embarrassing or awesome. Ha!
Right after they served the brandy freeze shots, I remember they announced my brother’s name from the stage (he’s a singer) and the band started playing “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg.”  Ben and I literally sprinted to the stage to witness Reid’s rendition of the song, which turned out to be a mash up with “Signed, Sealed, Delivered.”  That was without a doubt the best part of the reception!
I remember being escorted out of the reception to sit in a holding room for a minute while our guests lined the staircase we were about to exit down.  That was the first moment Ben and I had been alone all day, and we both just kind of stared at each other.  I remember feeling a mixture of exhilaration and exhaustion as we talked about how great the wedding had been and how we couldn’t believe we were actually married.  I remember neither of us could stop smiling.
We tossed the bouquet and garter from the staircase and ran out the back door.  I remember hoping we wouldn’t see anyone after we left the reception, since I was tired from the countless conversations through the night.  However, to my wonderful surprise, the elevator door opened for us to go upstairs, and two of my best friends were there!  We all got the biggest kick out of seeing each other and laughed all the way upstairs.
The night was perfect.”

–Shelby