Southern Weddings

After yesterday’s fairytale sweet and endlessly romantic wedding, Julie + Todd’s Texas affair from Whitney Lee Photography is modern, sleek and oh-so adorable.  Sunny yellows, chocolate browns and fresh whites came together at the Mansion at Judges Hill to express the couple’s love of nature and the outdoors.  Naturally, the SW girls love the sophisticated bird theme woven subtly into nearly every detail.  While Emily is wowed by the intricate feather detailing on the groom’s chubby owl cake and mini-owl mushroom accents on Julie +Todd’s wedding cake from Sweet Tempered Bakery, I adore the delicate bird’s nest safeguarding the couple’s rings and the elegant centerpieces of delicate twigs and branches, all arranged by the groom’s amazingly talented sister!  Julie’s airy gown is appropriately whimsical and fits perfectly with the earthy and natural feel of her big day.  Special thanks to this Texan couple for reminding us that sometimes simple and sophisticated details and personal touches make for the most stunning weddings! 

How did the two of you meet? Tell us your story. We met through mutual friends in Austin and clicked instantly, but I moved to California shortly after we were introduced. We saw each other when I came home to visit family and became closer over time. Eventually, we started dating long distance and, in order to stay in touch, both decided to carry 3X5” black moleskin notebooks to document our lives. The majority of our books were filled with letters to each other, but also included bits of daily life, like photographs, drawings, ticket stubs, music recommendations (with a mixed CD and playlist) and even question and answer sections like, “What is your earliest childhood memory?” We would mail the books back and forth to each other every couple weeks, always in the same two boxes. Two years later, when we finally moved to the same city, we had 5 full notebooks, totaling 960 pages documenting our early relationship. They are amazing to read through!

Describe the proposal: It was my birthday and we were living in Indiana at the time. Todd and I share a love for nature and would regularly hike in the Griffy Lake Nature Preserve. When we got to the top of a bluff overlooking the lake on this particular, he pulled out the ring from deep in his pocket and asked me to marry him!

Favorite design element of your big day: The invitations. My brother and his wife (Letterpress Delicacies) made the letterpress invitations and they were perfect. Bright yellow birds were pressed into heavy ivory cardstock with chocolate colored text. They also included a map with local landmarks and directions. We loved the texture and feel of the paper and envelopes.

What was the design inspiration for your wedding? We wanted the wedding to reflect our love for nature. Natural elements like birch bark were used as well as bird and owl motifs. Our colors were bright yellow and espresso brown.

Describe your wedding flowers: The bouquets (made by Heather, my brilliant sister-in-law  and matron of honor) were primarily yellow, consisting of craspedia, roses, freesias and alstroemeria. In my bouquet, we added Guinea feathers obtained through a cruelty-free farm in Texas.

Describe your wedding cake: We really wanted to have cakes that would make our guests smile. The wedding cake itself was a simple ivory fondant draped over alternating tiers of lemon and orange curd filled rosewater vanilla cake. Keeping with the nature theme, we placed locally harvested branches into the cake and little mushroom owls in the branches. The groom’s cake, an upright, chubby owl, was made from chocolate devil’s food cake and frosted with American Buttercream. The delicate feathers were made from rice paper, which had been dipped in white chocolate while the beak and talons were made of soft caramel.

The cake bases were handmade by my brother, Tim. He collected the wood in Berkeley, CA and carried it with him onto the plane to Austin where it was sawed and sanded into beautifully balanced cake stands.

Our favorite detail of the wedding was: The music. Todd’s brother, Trevor Gureckis, arranged two of our favorite songs for a string quartet. I walked down the aisle to Aphex Twin’s “Avril 14th” and we exited to “White Winter Hymnal” by Fleet Foxes, which is such a happy song of celebration. He did a phenomenal job taking modern music and adapting it to the classical sounds of violin, cello, and viola.

Three adjectives that describe the day are: Fun, sweet and whimsical.

Who was your most honored guest at the wedding? We truly honored each guest at our wedding. However, my mother, who also served as the officiant, deserves extra credit! Not only was she trying to help prepare last minute details, but she was also simultaneously memorizing her readings. 

What’s next for you as a couple? We really want to travel!

Congratulations, Julie + Todd!  Enjoy your many travels.