With a courtship that took them from Louisiana to London, this couple was well traveled and ready to celebrate with all their loved ones when it came to their special day. Hosting their celebration in the colorful city of Austin, their wedding took on that energy with bright greens and gold, and a Bride that never stopped smiling. Jenna McElroy captured it all for us to soak up right here.
From The Bride… As all great love stories begin, we first met in a bar in Shreveport during my senior year of college and on Jamie’s last day of a work trip. He’s British and in the Royal Air Force and had been working from an Air Force base in Shreveport-Bossier for the last couple of weeks. We exchanged email addresses and began a long distance friendship over the next year. After many emails, Skype calls and a deployment to Afghanistan, our friendship had become much more and Jamie decided to fly over to Austin for our first official date, on New Year’s Eve of 2009. Over the summer I had received word that I had been accepted into a Master’s programme in London and we were very excited about the prospect of living in the same country. We were long distance for the next nine months, save a two week trip to England in March in which he surprised me with a trip to Paris as a belated Valentine’s Day gift.
I finally moved over to England in August of 2010 and since then we’ve been through three more deployments, finishing my master’s degree and establishing ourselves in Cambridge. Last Christmas, Jamie decided to pop the question at our family Christmas and flew over on Boxing Day (December 26th) to see me and my family. It didn’t go completely as planned and involved a crazy cat and a giant TV hogging the limelight. But of course, I said yes and I wouldn’t have had it any other way. It typified our relationship, so much love, lots of laughs and a little bit of crazy. Apparently there was a second proposal planned, but it was ruined as well when I had to work late one night; so when we returned back to England, I opened a picture collage that Jamie had made with ‘Will You Marry Me?’ written across the glass.
We had the most incredible wedding weekend celebration in Austin. Family and friends flew from all across the globe to celebrate; it was the first time our parents had met and it was the most wonderful feeling to have all the people that we love in the same room. Besides saying our vows and dancing with my dad, the most precious memory was walking down the aisle and seeing all of the people that travelled to celebrate with us; I’ve never felt a room bursting with so much love. It was the most perfect day.
Photography: Jenna McElroy | Florist: Kathy Barger | Bridesmaid Dresses: Bella Bridesmaid | DJ: Tunes Across Texas | Baker: Crema Bakery | Bridal Store: Maggie Louise Bridal | Dress Designer: Mikaella Bridal | Film Scans: PhotoVision Prints | Hair Artist: Pearl Austin | Hair + Makeup | Make-up Artist: Danann Patrick Of Mint Salon | The Mansion: The Tfwc Mansion