This romantic wedding at The Wild Onion Ranch is my idea of outdoor perfection — It is effortless, rustic elegance punctuated by personal touches in the form of signage, notes and namesake desserts that make you feel like you instantly know the bride and groom, even if you weren’t invited to the wedding – like us! The couple and BZ events clearly put so much love, time and thoughtfulness into designing this one-of-a-kind wedding, and we are so grateful for their hard work. Shannon Cunningham Photography captured every stunning moment and style element in the full gallery images here!
From the Bride… Noah and I knew from the beginning we didn’t want just another ballroom wedding. We are both very active and love being outdoors in the sunshine, so we knew we wanted to be married outside. We wanted lots of natural light, green trees and soft colors. There was really only one choice. The Hill Country was the perfect place for our wedding. We also wanted it to feel like everyone was just hanging out together in someone’s backyard. The Wild Onion Ranch was the absolute perfect venue to provide this vibe because it is someone’s backyard. And even though it holds over 300 people, it still has an intimate, personal ambiance. As soon as we saw it, we knew no other venue would do. For the wedding decor, I wanted it to be beautiful but not too fancy, and I wanted to incorporate soft fabrics and colors to create a whimsical, romantic, rustic elegance. I also wanted to have lots of little details that were special to us. Purple is my favorite color so I wanted to incorporate several different shades of purple in the flowers, signage and decor. We even carried over the purple to the signature cocktail of lavender lemonade. :) Our wedding menu was amazing — lots of our favorite comfort foods and desserts. Tacos are my favorite meal, so I knew we had to serve them at the wedding. Noah is a self proclaimed cookie connoisseur and loves chocolate, so we knew we needed a dessert bar with cookies and all kinds of treats. Because we met at Crossfit, we wanted to be sure and pay tribute to it at our wedding. We decided to have a margarita bar station that served regular margaritas and a Paleo version.
Other than Crossfit, one of our other passions that we have in common is music. Music was very important to us (especially Noah) when we were planning our wedding. And not just for the reception — we also wanted the ceremony music to be very personal and have meaning to us. I walked down the aisle to “Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You” by Lauryn Hill and our recessional song was “I Gotta Feeling” by the Black Eyed Peas. All our ceremony songs were contemporary and fun. For the reception, we wanted our band to be high energy and to keep the guests dancing. Sauce definitely delivered on this the whole night.
We had the MOST amazing vendor team (thank you, BZ events) — our officiant Carolina did an amazing job coming up with a very personal ceremony, and she was very heartfelt in her delivery. All our guests thought we had known her for years and that she was a family friend. The flowers (Unexpected Elements) were the perfect mix of soft purples, ivories and greens. The arbor where we said our vows looked like something out of a magazine. I also loved my wedding invitations, which were actual pieces of wood that had a heart shape symbol with our initials in the middle so that it looked like it was carved on a tree. We also loved our private dining under the arbor after the wedding. It was nice to have some alone time before the madness happened at the reception. It was also fun to talk about our days and what we did leading up to the ceremony. Our honey butter chicken biscuit late-night snack from Whataburger (definitely not Paleo) was also something our guests will never forget!
Our advice for couples planning an Austin wedding? Hire BZ events. :) There are a million wedding vendors in Austin, and I would have gone crazy trying to make all the decisions on my own. They connect you with all the right vendors that can provide the wedding “look/feel” you want that is within your budget. The wedding day went off without a hitch and we didn’t have to worry about any of the small details. And thanks to the amazing Shannon Cunningham for capturing it all for us to remember forever.
Wedding Photography: Shannon Cunningham Photography / Wedding Venue: The Wild Onion Ranch in Austin, Texas / Event Planning + Design: BZ events / Floral Design: unexpected elements / Officiant: Carolina of Austin Weddings Unlimited / Wedding Cinematography: Crescent Video Productions / Catering: 2 Dine 4 Fine Catering / Wedding Cake + Dessert: Bake Sale / Wedding Invitations + Paper Goods: Anibella Ink + Paper / Props: Loot Vintage Rentals / Rentals: Marquee Event Group / Transportation: Vintage Rides of Austin / Ceremony Music: Hill Country Strings / Band: Sauce / Wedding Dress: Melissa Sweet “Saffron” / Bride’s Shoes: Christian Louboutin, Kate Spade + Enzo Angiolini / Hair: Rachel McDaniel / Makeup: Nisa Nicole / Groom’s Attire: J.Crew