Purple tulle…How can you not love a wedding when a bride wears purple tulle under her gorgeous gown?! I do not think it’s possible. The pretty purple hue is ever prevalent in this party captured by She-N-He Photography and Design, and the pretty just gets prettier with the seriously gorgeous flowers from Petal Pushers. It’s Hill Country chic at its finest and there is even more in the full gallery!
Click here to see the entire image gallery!
From the Bride… When Jim and I first met, we knew that we would one day marry each other. Once we were engaged, we couldn’t wait to get the planning started! We knew we didn’t want a super long engagement, so we couldn’t waste any time, and we jumped right in. Shortly thereafter, we found ourselves overwhelmed with options, and thinking, “How is this ever going to happen in just 9 short months?” That’s when I came across a quote that I will never forget: “You only need 5 things to get married: A bride, a groom, a marriage license, an officiant and a witness. The rest is just fluff!” After seeing this, we decided to stay true to ourselves and try to stay focused on the real reason for our marriage. We wanted to be united together before God and our family and friends, and everything else was just fluff! Our first priority was to sign up for marriage preparation classes at our church, and ask our Pastor if he would lead our wedding. Once we were able to plan the most important part of our wedding day, we began adding the fluff!
Though we live in Houston, we wanted to have a wedding in the Hill Country and decided on The Duchman Family Winery for our venue. We wanted something very romantic and whimsical, rustic and natural, but sophisticated at the same time. I called it, “Hill Country Chic!” The entire staff at the winery was especially helpful for helping us carefully carry out every detail, and we are so grateful to have worked with them.
My favorite color is purple, and I am blessed that Jim was completely on board! Our colors were black and white to be accented with wisteria, eggplant and sangria. We met with Stacey, the owner of Petal Pushers, and she was wonderful! She took a lot of time to sit down with me and take bits and pieces of the things I loved in so many arrangements, and put them all into one for me. My bridesmaids wore simple black dresses from White House Black Market that I purchased on sale for $31, and we brought all the color in through their flowers and it was better than I hoped for. The flowers couldn’t have been more perfect, and it really set the tone for the entire evening!
I collect apothecary type jars, and we set up a full candy station, with velum bags that we embossed by hand as an additional favor of the night. The jars sat on old wine crates leveled at different heights, and made the table look magical! I bought a simple bird cage and added ribbon, flowers and paper butterflies for our cards, and had a friend design and print our place settings and table numbers. My mom and a few friends helped me create, print, cut, and assemble our wedding programs and I loved them- though they were a lot of work!
Our sign in table was very special to us. We had pictures of our parents’, grandparents’, and great grandparents’ weddings set out for everyone to see. Though I requested for our parents to provide the pictures, it brought me to tears when I saw it for the first time set up all together next to our engagement photo. What a blessing to have such beautiful examples of true love surrounding us! To make everything even more special, my “something old” was my great grandmother’s engagement ring what I wore on my right hand.
Last, but certainly not least, we needed a photographer! If we were going to have all of this “fluff”, we needed someone who would capture every detail of our day. We had spoken with a few photographers, by phone, but no one really gave us the warm and fuzzy feelings inside! Just as I was beginning to think that I would have to get over it, I found Melanie. I was searching online, sent an information request in (secretly thinking I might hear back within a day or two), and not three minutes later, my phone rang! Within a few minutes of speaking with Melanie, I fell in love! She was exactly what we were looking for, cared about our vision, and took her time getting to know us! We booked her for our engagement photos, rehearsal dinner and wedding day! Every detail was captured beautifully, and I WILL be using her again in the future for our family photos as well! We have had people who were unable to make it to the wedding comment on our photography, and say how they feel like they were there because every detail was captured! At the end of the day, the pictures are what we have to relive our wedding day.
After our rehearsal dinner, Jim and I exchanged love letters to each other and promised one another that we wouldn’t read them until the next morning. When I read Jim’s letter to me, I cried and cried. I knew then, more than I had ever known, that I was marrying my soul mate. Any nerves that I had when I woke up were immediately gone once I read his letter, and so began our perfect day. Our wedding flew by, and we were on our honeymoon before we knew it! Our wedding day wouldn’t have been the same without our family and friends. We are so blessed to have so many great people in our lives to have traveled from near and far to celebrate with us on our very special day.
Wedding Photography: She-N-He Photography and Design / Wedding Venue: Duchman Family Winery / Floral Design: Petal Pushers / DJ: Altared Wedding Productions / Ceremony Music: Serenade String Quartet / Photo Booth: Max Photography / Wedding Cakes: Stardust Pastry / Catering: Trattoria Lisina / Candy Bar: Nuts in Bulk / Guest Transportation: R&R Transportation / Bridal Party Transportation: Hill Country Excursions / Getaway Car: Antique Limousines of Austin / Rehearsal Dinner: The Salt Lick / Wedding Rings: Shafftel Diamonds / Wedding Dress & Hair Piece: David’s Bridal / Flower Girl Dresses: David’s Bridal / Bridesmaid Dresses: White House | Black Market / Bride & Bridal Party Shoes: Nina / Groom & Groomsmen Attire: Men’s Wearhouse