Southern Weddings

Any time I spot wedding details inspired by the great state of Texas, it never fails to make me smile! Even though Julia and David’s love story started in Minnesota where they grew up, they chose to invite their loved ones to their new home city of Dallas for their wedding. From the Lone Star State flag pin Julia attached to her bouquet to the tables named after roads in Texas, it’s clear that these Northern cuties have embraced their Southern locale wholeheartedly. Kristyn Hall of Event Elements helped them pull every sweet detail together so that Julia and David could focus on saying the vows they wrote, enjoying their abundant dessert table, and soaking in every one of their first moments as husband and wife!

Thanks so much to Elisabeth Carol for sharing this lovely day with us!

Did you have something borrowed, blue, old, and new? If so, do tell! I did! I borrowed diamond earrings from one of my bridesmaids; they were a gift from her parents on her wedding day. My something new was my wedding dress and shoes. For something blue, I had a navy blue ribbon that matched David’s suit tied around my bouquet. Lastly, my mother surprised me with my something olds on our wedding day: a handkerchief that was handmade by my great-grandmother.

Did you decide to do a first look? Why or why not? From David: I’ll go ahead and answer this one. We did a first look mostly for my benefit. I come from a family (mostly on my mother’s side) of emotional people, and I knew that seeing my beautiful wife-to-be for the first time would be a joyous and emotional moment for me. Not that I’m afraid of shedding a tear in front of our family and friends, but I didn’t want to make everyone sit out in the Texas heat for too long while I tried to get myself back together.Our photographer, Elisabeth Carol, set me up on the front porch and had Julia come up from behind to surprise me. It was a good thing we did a first look–Julia was absolutely stunning and I’ll cherish that moment forever.

We both thought it was important to express our love for each other in our own words, and ended up writing both separate vows and joint vows. Our personal vows were more of a story of what our love means to us. In our joint vows, we thought carefully about the things we wanted to promise to each other and what we wanted our marriage to become. Our favorite line was, “I promise to take you as my only love from this day forward and to join you on our journey of adventure and wonder. I promise to challenge you and myself to every day become a better person and spouse.”

Our favorite detail of the wedding was: Our favorite detail was having my grandfather, Larry, marry us. It was so special to hear my grandfather say the words “I now pronounce you husband and wife.” We will never forgot that special part of the day!

I have a serious sweet tooth and couldn’t decide on just one cake, so we went with a whole dessert table. It featured five different cakes and a variety of bite-sized desserts–everything was so delicious and beautiful. I almost didn’t want anyone to eat them!

How did y’all meet? Tell us your love story. David and I met and became very close friends during high school in Minneapolis, Minnesota. We never dated in high school, but we remained in touch when we both went away to college–David to Southern Methodist University in Dallas, and I to Boston University in Boston. David and I continued to spend time together as friends over the summer back in Minneapolis until one magical night at David’s family summer cottage, when he finally worked up the courage to kiss me. We have been together ever since!
Tell us all about the proposal! A few days before Christmas, I was sitting on the couch in my pajamas when David went downstairs to get my Christmas present. David can be pretty last-minute when it comes to buying gifts, so I thought he was joking when he said he already had a gift for me. When he came upstairs, he was hiding something behind his back, and then he got down on one knee and proposed to me in our living room. We ended up keeping our engagement a secret for a few days, as we were heading home to Minnesota to be with our families for Christmas, and we wanted to tell everyone in person at once. We enlisted the help of David’s brother-in-law to gather everyone together, and when we arrived in Minnesota after a 14-hour drive through the night, we shared our news and celebrated with our families!
When did y’all get married? April 18, 2015
How many friends, family members, and loved ones attended your wedding? 120
Tell us about finding your wedding dress. My parents live in Minnesota, so my mom came to Dallas for a weekend of wedding dress shopping. I knew exactly what style I wanted: lace, straps, and something somewhat modest. We shopped at a few stores, but I kept going back to the same beautiful Mori Lee dress–one of the first I had tried on. After sleeping on it, we went back the next day and tried it on again. That time, my mom and I both knew it was the perfect dress for the wedding.
Tell us about some of the songs you used throughout your wedding and why you chose them. For our recessional, we chose “The Jurassic Park Theme Song.” This song selection was really just for the fun of it–the song and movie are a little inside joke between David and I. It was a special moment for us and definitely intrigued our guests quite a bit. We got a lot of, “Was that the Jurassic Park theme song?” during the reception.
What was your most memorable moment about your wedding day? From Julia: After the ceremony, David and I were able to spend time just the two of us. It was so special to have those first few moments as husband and wife together to celebrate our love, our marriage, and our future. From David: By far the first look. A close second would be having everyone that means the most to us together for one fun night.

Photographer: Elisabeth Carol Photography / Planner: Kristyn Hall of Event Elements / Ceremony Venue: Texas Discovery Gardens / Reception Venue and Catering: The Belo Mansion / Florist: Raquel Lovern of RLove Floral Designs / Dessert Baker: Emily Allen of Cakewalk Bake Shop / Lighting: Brian Prescott of Simply Music / Band: Astounding Sounds / Calligraphy: Polished Pen Calligraphy / Paper Products: Wedding Paper Divas / Bride’s Gown: Mori Lee / Hair and Makeup: Tracy Melton Artistry / Bride’s Shoes: Badgley Mischka / Bridesmaids’ Dresses: Jim Hjelm / Menswear: Tommy Hilfiger

Written with love by Lisa