Austin Mercury Hall Wedding from Katherine O’Brien Photography

Dawn Strong
May 2, 2013
Categories: Casual
Tags: Dance Hall

You know what is seriously fantastic? A bride who says she “absolutely loves to throw a party” and dives into crafting the day of her dreams like it’s no ones business. I love brides like that. So, this stunning Austin Mrs.? I happen to adore her. Because, together with a talented team of vendors and her handsome Mr., she put together a day that was all kinds of crazy gorgeous with a stunning Mercury Hall setting, to-die-for blooms from Central Market and a gallery of non-stop pretty captured by Katherine O’Brien Photography. Join me there for sooo much more.

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Classic Weddings Vintage

From the Bride… As soon as we saw Mercury Hall, it solidified our vision because it was a little bit of charm tucked right smack dab in the middle of central Austin with a beautifully simple interior and gorgeous live oak grove outside. We selected a color palette of plum, eggplant, green, ivory, and gold that picked up on the natural landscape surrounding the venue, the stained glass windows of the hall itself, and the cozy feel we wanted to capture.

Once we settled on a location, the rest quickly fell into place. As someone who absolutely loves to throw a party, I stepped into high gear with all sorts of DIY projects. Several friends pitched in too by lending their beautiful handwriting to our menus and origami talent to whip up scads of paper roses to mark each place setting. We tried to be mindful about overspending by getting married on a Friday night, having a very small bridal party, choosing two signature cocktails over a full bar, buying our own beer, wine and liquor, having our favorite neighborhood bakery provide cupcakes and working with our florist to use seasonal flowers.

We spent a great deal of time thinking through our ceremony because we knew that it was truly what the day was about. As a weepy gal and a more introverted guy, the idea of reciting personal vows felt like too much. Instead, we chose to exchange letters with our private vows while we were getting ready. Amazingly, we gave each other the exact same card! We also made the non-traditional choice of walking into the ceremony arm-in-arm as a symbol of entering into our marriage together. We asked my brother and two of our friends to read poems that resonated with us. And, we wanted to involve all of our guests by passing out blessing stones as they arrived and asking them to imbue them with their well wishes, prayers, and hopes for us.

Our goal was to wrap-up all wedding-related details ahead of time, so that we could enjoy our wedding week – and we did! The days leading up to our nuptials could not have been more relaxed. We felt totally present in the moment and supremely grateful for the love we have for each other and for our community of family and friends. It was so cool to see people from different points in our life connect with one another, explore Austin en masse, and develop friendships over multiple days of festivities. We were fortunate to have vendors who came through for us in every way to hold a meaningful ceremony, throw a heck of a dinner and dance party, and capture all of it for posterity via film and video. My husband and I could not stop grinning. Every time we reflect back on our wedding, Michael and I can’t help but smile.

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