Bride Katie shares the details of her Texas Hill Country wedding!
We sure love to see a couple relaxing and soaking up their wedding day around here in the Southern Weddings office (just search #SWWeddingDayJoy on Instagram!), and Katie and Cameron just exude joy. Katie’s memories from their beautiful day go back to celebrating and not sweating the small stuff again and again. “We loved being out on the dance floor with our family and friends! Dancing is one of our favorite things in the whole world, so seeing all the faces of people we love around us jamming out and having a great time, was a memorable highlight!”
With that heart for hospitality, it should come as no surprise that Katie notes, “It was important to Cameron and me that our first act of marriage was serving others, so we served communion to our immediate family and wedding party.” This is such a beautiful reminder to look for ways to take the focus off yourself and serve your guests through your wedding. Those moments will likely become your favorite highlights!
And if you need another example for inspiration, I personally would feel very loved by their donut wall. (Friends planning weddings, please make this a trend!)
When did y’all get married? June 30, 2017
How many friends, family members, and loved ones attended your wedding? 250
What was your favorite detail from your wedding? My favorite detail from our wedding was our flowers. The Heirloom Table stole the show with stunning bouquets and table centerpieces, the most beautiful blooms, and touches of greenery. Mercedez was incredible to work with and she went above and beyond my expectations with her floral creations!
My favorite participant in the ceremony is our flower girl, Tre’yah. Tre’yah is a very close friend of ours that we met while we were at Texas A&M through Younglife Capernaum, a ministry whose target audience is people with special needs. She is 20 years old and has Down Syndrome. Tre’yah is full of joy, so sweet and caring, and has the best dance moves!
We had communion at our ceremony for everyone. It was important to Cameron and me that our first act of marriage was serving others, so we served communion to our immediate family and wedding party. Communion was also served to the wedding guests. It made the ceremony so intimate and beautiful. We loved sharing that moment with our friends and family.
Tell us the highlights of finding your wedding dress. My family lives in Fort Worth, and I teach kindergarten in San Antonio, so the highlight of finding my dress was that my mother and both of my grandmothers drove down to spend the day with me. My mother-in-law and sister-in-law were there too! It was unanimous, and my dress was the first one I tried on!
Cameron and I wrote our vows together. My favorite line in our vows is, “asking that you be no one other than yourself, loving what I know of you, trusting what I do not yet know, praying that our marriage is a living testimony to God’s love and grace.”
What made you choose your ceremony and reception venues? I had always wanted to get married in the Texas Hill Country. Cameron and I did a lot of Googling and found Canyonwood Ridge (along with some other awesome venues in Dripping Springs). We booked it without even seeing it in person, because we both knew it was perfect for us and the wedding we had envisioned.
What was one way you saved money or cut costs at your wedding? I used Etsy for all our signs and table numbers. There are so many calligraphy fonts to choose from! I was able to find exactly what I wanted, and it was so easy to use the templates to create simple, classic decorations.
Cameron and I both love the movie, “A Walk to Remember” (with Mandy Moore, who is apparently my celebrity look-alike). One of our favorite songs is from the movie called, “Only Hope.” Cameron likes to play it on the piano, and we listen to it a lot together. It’s a special song for us! I surprised him with it as I walked down the aisle. We had two musicians (piano and violin) with incredible voices and it was so beautiful. The look on his face was priceless! Our song walking back up was “This Will Be (An Everlasting Love)” by Natalie Cole because its such a happy song and we love singing and dancing to it in the car! Our first dance song was “Ain’t No Mountain.” Cameron and I love to dance, so we wanted something fun and upbeat. Our band made it so fun to dance to, and it helped set up the lively party atmosphere we wanted!
My wedding cake had three tiers! I chose wedding white with raspberry filling. It was simply iced with white buttercream and had some of our bright colorful flowers on it! Cameron doesn’t care for sweets, but he loves pies and donuts! We decided to do a donut wall with chocolate, glazed, strawberry, and vanilla donuts. It was so unique and fun. Plus, Cameron made both of the donut walls himself, so it was a great project for him leading up to the wedding!
What was Southern about your wedding? Our wedding was traditional and classic, the way a good Southern wedding should be! My favorite Southern detail was the Aggie War Hymn! In the middle of the dancing, it came on and all the Aggies circled up and sang and swayed and whooped. It was awesome and so memorable!
Tell us your love story in one sentence. Cameron and I started out as friends, then became best friends, then flirty best friends, and then we fell in love.
Tell us all about the proposal! Cameron was about to start medical school and had started hinting to me about proposing…four years from then after he finished! I believed him, so when he got down on one knee, I was caught completely off guard. We had started planning a surprise birthday weekend for his dad in Fredericksburg, TX months before. Little did I know his dad knew about everything about it, and I was helping plan my own proposal. Before we met up with the family to kick off the weekend, Cameron suggested that we visit a winery. It was October 14th. Before we left, he asked if I wanted to walk down near the vines. I turned a corner and there was a huge oak tree strung with lights and pictures of us. He had made a rocking chair for me with our new monogram, and there was a huge bouquet of colorful flowers (which you’ll see later are my favorite)!! It was a picture-perfect proposal.
Did you decide to do a first look? Cameron and I are old souls and more traditional when it came to the first look. We chose not to do a first look, and I am so happy with our decision, because I will never forget the doors opening and seeing Cameron’s face when he first saw me!
What was your favorite thing about wedding planning? I loved talking to our vendors and watching my vision slowly come to life! It was like a wedding puzzle that was being put together piece by piece! I also loved that Cameron had opinions about things and helped me make a lot of the decisions.
What was the hardest part about planning your wedding? For me, the hardest part of wedding planning was delegating the work. I had so many resources and people there who wanted to help me! In the end, I learned to ask for help when I needed it and to not try to do everything by myself.
If you are comfortable responding, what range did your wedding budget fall into? $50,000-$75,000
What advice would you give to someone currently planning a wedding? Don’t sweat the small stuff! All those tiny details you’re worrying about and obsessing over? No one notices! Save yourself the stress and enjoy the planning process. At the end of the day, you’re marrying your best friend and you won’t remember how the table numbers looked or what kind of pen was used for the guestbook.
Photographer: Hannah Mayson | Videographer: byDesign Films | Wedding Coordinator: Stephanie Middleton at Canyonwood Ridge | Ceremony and Reception Venue: Canyonwood Ridge | Florist: The Heirloom Table | Wedding Cake Baker: Sweet Treets Bakery | Caterer: Austin Catering | Band: Icehouse Band | Paper Products: Tag and Company | Bride’s Gown: “Style MD205” by Eddy K Milano from Bridal Galleria of Texas | Hair Stylist and Makeup Artist: Lola Beauty | Bride’s Shoes: J. Crew | Bridesmaids’ Dresses: “Louise” Tulle Skirt in “Sea Glass” and “Cleo” Top in “Harbor Mist” by BHLDN | Menswear: The Black Tux | Bar: Bar Divas of Austin
Beautiful wedding. Gown is perfection! The bride looks perfectly stunning. Great photography
Congratulations!