Being in the wedding industry as a photographer, this sweet Bride had a serious head start on the planning and vendor scouting process for her very own wedding. And having worked alongside her friend, Ashley Garmon for 13 years, choosing a photographer was a no brainer. The gorgeous gallery is garden romance at it’s best my dears—see it all right here!
From Ashley Garmon Photographers… This is actually the wedding of a photographer who has been shooting weddings with me for the past 13 years. Needless to say, we’ve whispered about the possibilities of each others weddings in many a church balcony, privately taking stock of pieces from each wedding that we secretly wanted to incorporate into our own. We have basically spent the last 13 years making mental lists. So when she became engaged, I was beyond excited. She and her fiance were the most excited, but I’m sure I came in a very close third!
From the beautiful Bride… When Jeremy and I became engaged last March, we knew we wanted our ceremony and reception to be outdoors. We also wanted to get married that fall – one of the busiest times for weddings in Austin. So when a few of my top venue choices in Austin weren’t available, we decided to check out one in Buda that I wasn’t too familiar with – Le San Michele. When Jeremy and I visited it, we were blown away and knew it was the perfect location for our wedding. I have photographed weddings for 18 years but had never been to or photographed a wedding at Le San Michele, so it was a place that could really be “ours.” The romantic European feel of the gardens and house provided the inspiration and direction for almost all of my design and detail decisions. My dress from BHLDN was flowy and romantic, and we hired Hill Country Strings to provide music for the ceremony and cocktail hour. They even worked up the theme from Amelie for my walk down the aisle.
Truly the most important part of our day was the ceremony, and we knew we wanted Spike Gillespie to marry us. We worked with her to create a beautiful ceremony that reflected who we are and the kind of marriage and partnership we want to have. The ceremony is what I most remember from the whole day, and Spike made it so very special and personal for us.
I was willing to compromise on some details to stay within our budget, but I really wanted beautiful letter-pressed invitations. I am so grateful to my super-talented designer friend Allison Mabry who designed the invitations using calligraphy I commissioned from AbiTCalligraphy (found on Etsy). Lo-Tide Press in San Francisco (another Etsy find) printed the suite beautifully and affordably. The invitation provided the design inspiration for all the other paper elements (signs, program, menu card, etc.).
For flowers I worked with Lea from Blackbird Floral. I love her wild garden designs, and aside from asking for a pale pink, peach and white palette with a lot of ferns and greenery, I basically left the designs up to her. She came up with four different table centerpiece designs that were stunning! I particularly loved the bell jar designs and the botanical arrangements in footed bowls.
My wonderful twin sister Becca was not only my matron of honor but also made the wedding cake! It was a delicious Italian Cream cake, and it turned out magnificent! Becca made the cake for our younger sister’s wedding so it meant a lot that she took that on for us too; it was a huge project. Becca’s dress was also from BHLDN and she gave an amazing toast as well!
For the reception, we decided to bring in a few of our favorite local Austin elements: The Peached Tortilla provided food and the bar, the CoolHaus truck served custom-built ice cream sandwiches, and Jeff Hughes & Chaparral played their classic two-stepping tunes mixed in with country covers of pop songs. We also had a fun photo booth provided by Max Photography.
As I mentioned earlier, I’ve been shooting weddings for a long time, but for the last 13 years, I’ve had the honor and privilege of shooting with Ashley Garmon Photographers. Ashley is one of my dearest and closest friends, and we are so grateful that she shot our wedding for us, along with two other wonderful shooters, Vanessa and Alina. Ashley and I have spent so much time working at weddings together, that I just couldn’t imagine anyone else capturing our day for us and she did it so beautifully. It was surreal being on the other side of the camera, and after experiencing the whirlwind of my own wedding day I am even more appreciative of having these photos to remember it.
Photography: Ashley Garmon Photographers | Floral Design: Blackbird Floral | Wedding Gown: BHLDN | Catering: The Peached Tortilla | Makeup: Allie Towell | Hair: Marina Meredith | Calligraphy: AbigailTCalligraphy | Band: Hale Koa phineas Estate | Groom's Suit: Nordstrom | Officiant: Spike Gillespie | Ceremony Music: Hill Country Strings | Ceremony And Reception Venue: Le San Michele | Dessert Truck: Coolhaus | Invitation Design: Allison Mabry | Letterpress: Lo-Tide Press | Matron Of Honor Dress: BHLDN | Rentals: Marquee Event Rentals | Wedding Dress Hanger: Heirloom