[section title=”The Planning”]
[field title=”Wedding Colors”]Blue, white & green.[/field]
[field title=”Design / Vibe / Vision”]The bride loves tradition and family. She wanted their wedding to reflect them, their families, their professions, and just who they are. The couple’s families have been in the horse and cattle industry for years, so the vision of this wedding was classy cowboy. The bride wanted to keep things elegant with the backdrop of the old pecan trees and cows on her family’s pecan orchard. The bride’s great-grandfather purchased the land in the early 1940s. The orchard is full of memories for the bride and was a dream of hers to be married on the property. The orchard served as the perfect backdrop for the couple’s I-do’s.
From the bride: “I love tradition, family and simplicity. I wanted our wedding to reflect us, our families, our professions and just who we are. I wanted my wedding to be simple, but elegant and in keeping with the natural beauty of the family land. I felt the pecan orchard with the beautiful old trees would be a perfect backdrop to say our I do’s. My great grandfather purchased this land in the early 1940’s and I am the fourth generation to live here. My great grandfather and great grandmother lived on this family land in this pecan orchard and I had many great aunts, uncles, cousins and friends who played here, hunted here, harvested pecans, worked this land and spent so much time under these trees and all have stories to tell. The land has produced many crops throughout the years, but is currently a cattle ranch, and still produces hay and pecans. It was always a secret dream of mine to get married on the land in which myself and so many family members and friends grew up, had many memories and spent so much time. I wanted the ceremony to take place under the trees with wooden chairs for the guests. Then guests would walk to a clear tent with tables decorated with beautiful linens and florals for the reception. We had the guests shuttled from the front of the land down a rock road to the wedding site. My uncle is in landscape design so I wanted him to dress up the entrance coming into the land as well as an entrance leading into the tent from the ceremony. I envisioned a clear white tent along the bayou so guests could look up and see the beautiful tree limbs and leaves hanging overhead and then the stars in the sky as it became dark. I envisioned it being decorated with greenery, white lights and white floral arrangements with the bayou in the background. We wanted to include my fiance’s brother’s band for the reception and a DJ so he could then enjoy the wedding.”[/field]
[field title=”Proposal Story”]We went to go fish on the river at sunset, like we always love to do. I went to throw the cast net to catch shad to bait the trot lines and Cole says “honey” and I turned around and he was on one knee in the boat. He asked me to marry him and I said yes. Then we went to put the ring in the house and went back to fish!
It was perfect for us… and of course, our pup, Jake was there. [/field]
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[board_carousel title=”Getting Ready”]
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[board_carousel title=”Bridal Portraits”]
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[board_carousel title=”Flat Lays”]
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[section title=”The Fashion”]
[field title=”Wedding Gown”]The bride wore the same wedding gown that her late grandmother and mother wore on their wedding days. Three generations wore this beautiful, elegant, timeless dress. It was first worn by the bride’s grandmother in 1961. Her great-grandmother had the dress preserved in a box in hopes that one day a granddaughter would wear it again. Thirty-one years later, in 1992, the bride’s mother wore the same gown. However, the veil was never found, so she wore her own veil. The bride’s great-grandmother and grandmother were both present to see the bride’s mother wear the gown. The bride’s mother had it preserved in hopes she would have a daughter wear the same gown. The tradition continued, as it happened to be thirty-one years later, the bride wore the same wedding gown on her wedding day. The bride only wishes her grandmother could see her in the wedding dress and wanted to honor her memory by carrying out the tradition.
The bride wanted to keep it as close to the same as possible. The bodice had some tears and needed to be replaced, so a friend had to put a new bodice to match the old, carefully remove the appliques, and then hand sew the same ones back on the gown. She also lined the dress with the new fabric. She felt it needed more sparkle, but without changing the style and elegance, so she beaded and pearled all the lace appliques and extended the pearl buttons down the back to the end of the train. She also made a cathedral-length veil to match the ivory dress and pearled my wedding shows. It was a special project for the bride’s friend.
The dress will be preserved and hopefully worn again. The bride and her mother sure hope so!
From the bride: “I wore the same wedding gown that both my late grandmother and mother wore in their weddings. Three generations wore this beautiful, elegant, timeless dress. I wanted to keep it as close to the same as possible. The bodice had some tears and needed to be replaced so a friend had to put a new bodice to match the old and carefully remove the appliques and hand sew the same appliques back on the gown. She also lined the dress with new fabric. She felt it needed more sparkle, but without changing the style and elegance so she beaded and pearled all of the lace appliques and extended the pearl buttons down the back to the end of the train. She also made a cathedral length veil to match the ivory dress as well as pearled my wedding shoes. It was a special project for my friend and I am forever grateful. I wanted it as close to the original as possible. It was first worn by my grandmother in 1961. My great grandmother had it preserved in a box in hopes that one day a granddaughter would wear it again. Thirty one years later in 1992 that granddaughter, my mother, wore the same gown. The veil was never found so she wore her own veil. My great grandmother and grandmother were both present to see my mom wear the dress. My mom had it preserved in hopes she would have a daughter to wear the gown. I then wore the dress and just realized that it has been thirty one years since my mother married in this dress. I sure wish that my grandmother could have been here to see, but I wanted to honor her memory and marry in the same dress. It’s been sixty two years since my grandmother first wore the wedding gown. It was not until the day of my wedding during the reception that my grandmother’s first cousin came up to me and told me that she too had worn the wedding gown, so that added a fourth person who wore the dress that my mom and I never knew about. Maybe that’s what happened to the veil we never found. She is supposed to be sending me a copy of her wedding picture. My mom now has three bridal portraits hanging in her living room, one of my grandmother, one of her and then myself all in the same wedding dress with different veils. Maybe one day I will have a daughter that will wear the beautiful gown. My mom and I sure hope so!”[/field]
[field title=”Bridesmaid Dresses”]The bridesmaids wore simple, modest, long blue dresses to provide a pop of blue.[/field]
[field title=”Groomsman Attire”]The bride envisioned her groom, Cole, and the groomsmen all in their jeans with a neutral sports coat, vest, and tie to dress it up a bit. They also wore a felt silver belly cowboy hat and blue ties to match the bridesmaid dresses.
From the bride: “I wanted to keep things elegant with the backdrop of the old pecan trees and cows. I felt white flowers and greenery would be classy and not distract too much from the natural beauty of the pecan orchard. I wanted to bring in a pop of blue to add color so my bridesmaids wore simple, modest, long, blue dresses. Several of the table linens added the blue as well. I envisioned Cole and the groomsmen all in their jeans with a neutral sports coat, vest, and tie to dress it up a bit. They also all wore a felt silver belly cowboy hats. They wore blue ties to match the bridesmaid dresses. My family and Cole’s family have been in the horse and cattle industry for years. Classy cowboy was what I had in mind.”[/field]
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[board_carousel title=”Wedding Party”]
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[board_carousel title=”Ceremony”]
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[board_carousel title=”Cocktail Hour”]
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[section title=”The Details”]
[field title=”Food & Drink”]The couple wanted their food to embrace Louisiana. They served appetizers of Louisiana Gumbo and grits, and passed fried alligator and meat pies. The buffet consisted of steak bites, a rib carving station, chicken, au gratin potatoes, green beans, pasta salad, and rolls. Toward the end of the ceremony, brisket-grilled cheese sandwiches were passed out. Silver Star Smokehouse catered the food.
From the bride: “We wanted the food to represent our family and Louisiana. We served appetizers of Louisiana Gumbo and grits along with passed alligator, and meat pies. The buffet consisted of steak bites, a rib carving station, chicken, au gratin potatoes, green beans, pasta salad, and rolls. Grown up grilled cheese sandwiches were passed out towards the end of the ceremony. “[/field]
[field title=”Florals & Decor”]White flowers and greenery would be classy and not distract too much from the natural beauty of the pecan orchard. The bride picked white flowers and greenery to provide a simple, elegant, and tasteful look without detaining the landscape. The wedding arch was perfect, with thick white flowers and greenery as an amazing focal point for the ceremony. Beautiful wooden chairs formed an aisle leading to the arch. White flowers and greenery arrangements adorned every other row, forming the beautiful aisle for the bride to exit the horse-drawn carriage.
From the bride: “In keeping with the land and landscape of the family pecan orchard and green pastures, I did not want anything to take away from the landscape. I decided white flowers and greenery would be simple, elegant, and tasteful without taking away from the landscape. The wedding arch was exquisite with thick white flowers and greenery that served as an amazing focal point for the ceremony. Beautiful, wooden chairs formed an aisle leading to the arch. White flowers and greenery arrangements adorned each (every other) row to form the beautiful aisle for me to exit the horse drawn carriage and make my way to the arch. “[/field]
[field title=”Wedding Cake”]The wedding cake was a five-tier traditional almond flavor with cream cheese filling. It was decorated with white flowers in between each layer. The groom’s cake was a two-tiered chocolate cake with a turtle filling with a special touch of pecans since the couple was married on the family commercial pecan orchard. The cake also includes the couple’s brand and a western topper of cowboys on horses since the groomsmen are all cowboys (i.e. bull riders and team ropers).
From the bride: “The bride's cake was a five tier traditional almond flavor with cream cheese filling. It was
decorated with white florals in between layers. The groom's cake was a two tiered
chocolate cake with turtle filling because we had to have pecans since the ceremony
took place in the family commercial pecan orchard. It included a western topper of
cowboys on horses since the groomsmen are all cowboys. (bull riders and team ropers)
It also included our brand.”[/field]
[field title=”Readings, Ceremony Music, Reception Songs”]The groom’s brother’s band played for the reception. The couple also wanted to include a DJ, so the groom’s brother could enjoy the wedding when they finished playing. DJ Green Productions provided music for the reception. [/field]
[field title=”Special Detail #1″]The event was beautiful, but it was also personal. The bride & groom personalized the groom’s cake, the cups/Koozies, and the dance floor with their own personal cattle brand. This is what they brand their cattle with – within the brand you can see a backwards C for Cole, L for Lauren, and the E (part of the L) for Echols, the couple’s last name. The brand also has steer horns at the top since they both team rope. The brand was a beautiful tribute to the couple’s unique lives & their new journey of marriage together. [/field]
[field title=”Special Detail #2″]The couple’s well-behaved dog, Jake, was included in the wedding. Jake was adorned with a customized leather collar with his name and a collar of flowers. He stayed right by the bride’s side during the wedding and reception. Some guests would say that Jake stole the show. [/field]
[field title=”Special Detail #3″]Randy Hearnsberger has a team of beautiful horses that pulled the white carriage for the bride and her dad to enter. The bride and groom also used the carriage to exit their wedding ceremony. The carriage paired with the string quartet even brought emotions to vendors at the wedding. I, the photographer, was holding back tears working the event!
From the bride, on her favorite moment from the wedding: “I had so many favorite moments it’s hard to count. My entrance to the ceremony in the horse drawn carriage and our exit with both of us riding off in the carriage had to be my favorite. I felt like Cinderella riding in the carriage down the road to the venue site. I remember seeing so many friends and family members. The venue ended up being more than I could have ever imagined thanks to my parents who finally agreed to host an outdoor wedding on the family land, and Delia Jeffcoat, my amazing wedding planner and all the people who helped to make this possible. I also had so many people come up to me and tell me how they played and spent time in this pecan grove when they were kids. It was truly a fairytale wedding.”
From the bride, on her advice to brides: “My advice to brides would be don't sweat the small stuff and hire a wedding planner. At the end of the night, you will be married and surrounded by the people you love, that’s what truly matters.”
From the bride, on “unique elements or DIY details: “My bridal portraits were taken on the family land by an amazing and talented photographer Micahla Vaughn. She not only took pictures of me, but included two of our dogs, Jake and Hero. She also included two of my favorite horses, KitKat and Grey.
Since our dog Jake listens better than most kids, I included him in the wedding. He wore
a customized leather collar with his name on it as well as a collar of flowers. He stayed
right by my side during the wedding and reception. He watched us get married and even
sat and waited patiently by the dance floor so we could complete our first dance and
father of Bride dance. Our guests are still talking about how well behaved Jake was and
that he stole the show. Randy Hearnsberger has a team of beautiful horses that pulled
a beautiful white carriage for my dad and I to enter on, and for Cole and I to exit. We
also included cake knives that my grandmother and grandfather used at their wedding
and passed down to my mom for her wedding and then to me for our wedding. It was
engraved with my grandparents names and the date of their wedding. I am planning to
engrave our names and keep passing them down through generations. We also
included, on the cake table, pictures of each bride who wore the dress to incorporate
the tradition of three generations. Cole’s brother’s band played for the reception. We
also included a DJ so Cole’s brother and the band could enjoy the wedding when they
finished playing. Cole’s very best friend passed away a few years ago, so it was special
to him that his friend’s son was able to be a part of the wedding as a junior groomsman
along side Cole’s son.”[/field]
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[board_carousel title=”Couple Portraits”]
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[board_carousel title=”Reception”]
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Photography: Micahla Vaughn | Cinematography: Arbor Films | Event Planning: Delia Jeffcoat Events | Floral Design: Eddie Colvin | Cake: Sweetie Cakes | Invitations: Designs by Kelly Avery | Ceremony Venue: Bride's Family Home | Catering: Silver Star | DJ: DJ Michael Green | Band: Clint & The Cosmic Wake | Transportation: Ishuttle | Beauty: Kali McWethy | Beauty: Beauty by Hannah L. Chevalier | Beauty: Grace Coyer - Touched by Grace | Carriage: Ashley Sanchez | Quartet: All Strings For Granted | Rentals: Lilac Lane Rentals | Rentals: BBJ La Tavola | Rentals: Pelican Tent & Events