An Al Fresco Wedding at Villa Richter That Kept the Beauty of Prague as the Focal Point
We met while I was studying abroad in Prague during our junior year of college! We both went to school at UT Austin, but weirdly enough, he met me by chance halfway across the world. We ultimately decided to return to the special place we met for our wedding. When we decided to get married in Prague, we knew we wanted to have a venue that showcased the beauty of Prague for all of our guests to experience. I had remembered Villa Richter from my time in Prague and how it had the most amazing view. The rest of the wedding was designed to keep the view and Prague as the focal point. Our planner, Andrea, worked with the Villa to set up an al fresco style outdoor dinner overlooking the Prague skyline with long tables, colorful flowers, and taper candles. I wanted it to feel like a fun dinner party.
We got engaged in February 2023 in Austin at our favorite music venue. Ander and friends had convinced me that we were all going to dinner on a Friday for my best friend's birthday, which was on Saturday. We had some friends coming into town, so it seemed like a logical scenario, although I must admit I had been suspicious of the looming proposal for a few months. In the Uber on the way to “dinner,” I noticed we weren’t headed to the restaurant and immediately started crying, knowing what was about to happen. Ander began to get choked up, but tried to keep the bit going by asking if I wanted to split the fajitas at dinner - I died laughing. We arrived at ACL Live Moody Theater downtown and were guided inside, then a big screen began playing a video slideshow Ander had made to one of our favorite songs. I was a complete puddle by the time he asked me to marry him, it was so special. We then headed to Kitty Cohen's, a local cocktail lounge on the east side, for a surprise party with all of our closest friends and our parents. Some of our friends even flew from all over the US to be there. It was the most fun night ever (second to our wedding!)
Martina Liana Style 1458 with the matching cape - Brandy Davis at “Sew in Love” added custom straps and more embroidery detailing. Maddie's Martina Liana gown was detailed over every inch with beading and embroidery. In addition, the cape she wore at the ceremony was a perfect fit for the grandeur and classic beauty of the Cathedral.
One of our favorite things to do is to have dinner with family friends, whether it's going out for a nice meal or hosting dinner at our house. We wanted our wedding dinner to feel like another dinner party with friends with an elevated touch, so we had long tables under string lights with family-style appetizers and bottles of wine on the table. We also served martinis and aperol spritzes, some of our favorite cocktails! We had a saxophone player playing during dinner, which kept the vibe alive and everyone dancing in their chairs. All of the food was cooked by Villa Richter, and our menu was designed custom for our al fresco outdoor dinner. The menu included a feast of beef filet, porchetta, and prawn skewers, with au gratin potatoes and roasted vegetables.
We worked with our planner and florist to create the most beautiful, unique arrangements in bright colors.
We had a four tiered cake with two different unique flavors, and we had our florist adorn the cake with beautiful orchids. We served espresso martinis with our wedding cake, which really got the party started!
We had our ceremony at St. Thomas Catholic Church in Prague, a church that was built in the 1200s! Ander’s family priest came from Houston to perform our ceremony. The wedding party walked down the aisle to a string quartet playing classical music, and I walked down the aisle to Canon in D playing on the in-house organ. There were so many moments throughout the wedding that were truly incredible. One of my favorites has to be the grand entrance where we walked into the saxophone portion of “Midnight City” by M83. The energy from our guests was wild, with everyone cheering and waving their napkins. Our dance floor was right in front of the long tables, looking over the beautiful Prague skyline, and it was absolutely beautiful. We went right into our first dance, which was an upbeat song, “We stayed up all night” by Tourist, one of our favorite artists. The dance felt different and just like us - we were singing the words and just being ourselves. Another favorite was the saxophone player - he brought the energy and made dinner feel like such a party. One of my favorite moments was when the DJ called the guests to the dance floor, and everyone immediately jumped up and rushed to the dance floor - it was unlike anything I had ever seen before!
After the outdoor dancing and the sparklers, we headed inside the villa to the glass hall for a couple more hours of dancing and some late-night snacks. Ander, who is also an electronic music producer, was able to hop on the stand and DJ with some friends. We danced the night away!
Within our escort cards, we wrote handwritten notes to all of our guests! We wanted to thank them all for travelling to Prague for our special day.
