It’s pretty darn tough to top a proposal in the French Alps, but sure enough, Rodan and Billy did just that. Their guests were treated to a black-tie garden party including one epic family-style table designed in the hands of 36th Street Events. Intention and heart were behind every detail of the day and Michelle Boyd and Gentry Railsback captured the pretty you won’t want to miss.
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From Michelle Boyd Photography… How to describe Rodan and Billy’s day? … Intentional. From start to finish, this wedding day was full of sweet and intimate details. Our sweet bride and groom thought of so many ways to give their guests and families a beautiful, welcoming, and FUN experience, which only highlighted the sincerity and kindness in both of their hearts. Usually when I arrive to photograph the bride getting ready, things can be a bit hectic. But not on this day! I entered into the hotel to see a room full of Rodan’s closest friends simply sitting with their bride, encouraging her, telling stories, and laughing with each other. But it was when Rodan, in preparation for the day, read her vows aloud to her ladies, and there wasn’t a dry eye in the room that I realized we were in for a very special day. When we arrived at Laguna Gloria, it felt like we had been transported to a little oasis. Clementine’s floral design embraced the natural greenery of our venue, and enhanced the feeling that we were in someone’s elegant backyard garden. 36th Street pulled off a flawless affair, from the moment guests arrived, until Rodan and Billy departed under the sparklers. From cold custom cocktails to greet guests on our toasty April day, to music throughout every moment of the day, and dinner under twinkle lights and stars – every part of Rodan and Billy’s day was magical!!
From the Bride…
What did you envision your wedding being prior to planning?
My fiancé and I got engaged on an epic hike through the French Alps and that was where we really fell in love with the immersive consuming beauty of nature. Afterwards, I knew I wanted to be married somewhere lush and outdoorsy to try and recapture some of the visual beauty of where we got engaged. Simultaneously, I wanted a really elegant wedding. I knew I wanted tuxes and gold details in my tablescape. I wanted to keep a lot of those amazing traditional details, so a lot of my vision for our wedding was about balancing the two themes. In the end, I ended up creating a visual mood board that helped me narrow and really bring to life my vision.
What was your color palette and your style vision?
Wanting something lush and yet elegant naturally created some boundaries for what colors I wanted in the wedding. Once I knew I was getting married in Austin, as opposed to some of the other locations I was looking at, I knew I wanted a lot of green. Eucalyptus is also one of our favorite trees so green as base color made a lot of sense. From there white, rose and a deeper dusty blue made sense to give it a romantic and elegant feel. At the very last moment, I decided to include some details of red because in the Chinese culture, red is the symbol of good luck and celebration.
What unique elements or DIY details did you include?
We sprinkled bits of DIY details throughout the wedding process. For our website, we created a Pinterest map of all the fun places to go to in Austin bucked into things like shopping, eating and fun local activities. For our welcome bags handed out to guests at the Welcome Drinks, my mother-in-law made small batch pecan bourbon for a special Texas touch. As for our invitations, I worked for weeks with a talented illustrator / designer to create the perfect crest and designed our invitation to exactly match the tone I was trying to achieve for our wedding.
What was your favorite moment?
Every moment was awesome, it’s so hard to pick one. Obviously the vows and ceremony itself stand out as the most special moment, but after we said “I Do”, our photographer walked us around the venue to the back of the museum where we would take photos and seeing everything come to life – things I had spent months dreaming of and putting together – it was really special and magical. All of my favorite details were there – the beautiful array of candles, plates and eucalyptus, our personalized crests on the programs, the incredibly inventive and delicious catering.
Tell us about your flowers, your gown, your favors, your cake, etc.
It took me a long time to find my dress and even when I found it, I was kind of unsure right up until the final fitting. It was a beautiful gown by Reem Acra from a few seasons back and really perfect and elegant. The reason I had hesitancy was because I always kind of wanted a ball gown and the Reem Acra dress was so far from that. Looking back though, it really was the perfect dress. I kept the other accessories quite simple but ended up doing my hair and makeup in an old Hollywood way which I felt like was just the right amount of glamour to make me feel special on my wedding day but also kept me feeling like me. My fiancé wore a custom blue tux that he took a lot of pride in designing and it was the perfect compliment!
What is one piece of advice that you could give brides-to-be?
I would give three pieces of advice. First (and this is from my husband), whenever the festivities start, give your phone to someone else and just enjoy everything. From what was planned to what wasn’t – live the ride. We certainly did. We partied harder and cried harder than I think we could have imagined. Second, brides – don’t ever feel pressured to make a decision. Especially when you’re just getting your feet wet when venue picking. People will pressure you saying 10 other couples are looking at the exact wedding but don’t let them. Make the decision that feels best to you. Lastly, it’s worth it. No matter the stress – this was the very happiest and best day of our life. It all came together insanely better than we could have imagined and I wish I could do it all over again.
Photography: Michelle Boyd Photography | Videographer: Gentry Railsback | Wedding Coordination: 36th Street Events | Floral Design: Clementine Botanical Art | Wedding Dress: Reem Acra | Cake: Polkadots | Stationery : The Wells Makery | Catering: Contigo Austin | Hair & Makeup: Leah Moon | Calligraphy & Signage: J.RoCro Arts + Letters | Ceremony & Reception: Laguna Gloria | Ceremony Musicians: Live Oak Trio | Cocktail Musicians: Taylor & The Wild Now | Reception Musicians: TX Pro DJ | Wedding Design: 36th Street Events
