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In the Sweet Tea Society, we believe that while details are nice, true love always, always wins. When the heritage and family that we value so much becomes part of a wedding day through the details, it’s incredible, and I think Amber and Patrick found that magic combination with their family wedding portrait display! I love how they not only honored their families, but also strong marriages, by sharing how long each couple had been married. I can only imagine the stories those couples could tell, and the sage advice they could give!

If you know me, you know I also can’t pass up giving Amber props for her AND her bridesmaids’ stoles–so chic!

Big hugs to The Nichols for sharing this sweet day!

Tell us all about the proposal! The night of the proposal, Patrick planned dinner for us at The Driskill, a beautiful, historic hotel in our hometown of Austin, Texas. I think Patrick knew I would say yes after he treated me to red wine and a juicy steak! After enjoying dinner, we walked around downtown until we came to a special bench near Patrick’s work building, Frost Bank Tower. The bench has special meaning because we sat there and prayed together the day before his job interview over a year ago. We prayed for a lot of things that day–obviously, that his job interview would go well the next day, but also for our future together and that God would use us and our relationship to glorify Him. We sat on the bench and started talking about how much we had grown in that year, and then Patrick got down on one knee and proposed! After the proposal, we walked to The Belmont, a really cute concert venue nearby. We saw one of our favorite local Texas country artists, Wade Bowen, and Patrick surprised me by having a bunch of our close friends at the concert waiting to celebrate with us! Later that night, we also made a stop by J.Blacks, the bar where Patrick and I first met! The next day, both of our parents came up for the University of Texas football game, and then we all went out to celebrate with some Mexican food!

Describe your wedding flowers. Our florist used large, lush, organic mixed greens and red and burgundy flowers, including dahlias and ranunculus, with a few pops of plum and fuchsia flowers for depth. The bouquets were accented with trailing burgundy velvet ribbon.

We knew we wanted our wedding to feel cozy, so we kept that in mind when we were looking at venues. It seemed right when we saw an indoor fireplace and an outdoor fire pit with rocking chairs around it at the venue we chose. It was out in the Hill Country of Austin, so there were beautiful views. Chandeliers hanging from the ceiling made the venue feel very elegant, while still maintaining the cozy feel we wanted.

Tell us about some of the songs you used throughout your wedding and why you chose them. We had a solo acoustic guitarist play the music during the ceremony. The most significant song during the ceremony was “Come Thou Fount,” which we had him play when we had communion. It meant a lot to both of us because our faith is the most important thing to us. Our first dance song was “Oh Tonight” by Josh Abbot Band. We both love Texas country music and have always loved singing this song together in the car, so it just seemed right that it was our first dance song. My father-daughter dance was to the Texas fight song, because my dad and I are both University of Texas alumni. Our whole family went to The University of Texas, so we are very big Longhorn fans, and it is a big part of our bond as a family.

What advice do you have for folks currently planning a wedding? I would advise wedding planning over wine, cheese, and especially chocolate! What helped take stress away from us was remembering that the wedding is only one night, but marriage is forever.

Our wedding cake was a four-tiered vanilla pound cake with vanilla frosting. The groom’s cake was a pecan pie from Sugar Mama’s Bakeshop. We also had chocolate cupcakes topped with salted caramel and vanilla cream cheese frosting, drizzled with salted caramel. Patrick’s favorite dessert is pecan pie, so his mom always makes one before we visit them. For Patrick’s “grooms cake,” we had a pecan pie, and his mom also made 150 mini pecan pies for the guests.

How did y’all meet? Tell us your love story. We met through mutual friends at a bar in downtown Austin, Texas. We saw each other again the next day at a church service and ended up going out the next week for our first date.
When did y’all get married? February 7, 2015
How many friends, family members, and loved ones attended your wedding? 275
How did you plan for your marriage while planning your wedding? We prepared for marriage by doing pre-marital counseling through our church. We read books and material on specific subject matters like finances, in-laws, communication, etc.
What was the biggest challenge you had to overcome while planning your wedding? I am a people pleaser and love for everyone to be happy, so when planning, telling someone I didn’t like something was very hard for me. My wedding planner, Ellen Westcott with Westcott Weddings, was very helpful with taking care of the challenges!
If you are comfortable responding, what range did your wedding budget fall into? $50,000-$75,000
What was one way you saved money or cut costs at your wedding? We kept the alcoholic beverages to beer, wine, and champagne, rather than liquor. Instead of doing a bunch of different appetizers, we did one big appetizer, and we opted for a DJ instead of a band. All of these decisions saved us a lot of money and turned out great.
What was your most memorable moment about your wedding day? Patrick and I gave a speech together after the maid of honor and best man toasts. It meant so much to stand in front of our friends and family and thank them for their love and support on this journey.
What’s next for you as a couple? What are you most looking forward to about married life? We are looking forward to learning how we can use our talents together to help serve others.

Photographer: The Nichols / Videographer: Moonlit Weddings / Planner: Ellen Westcott of Westcott Weddings / Venue: Ma Maison / Florist: Meredith of Brisol Lane Floral Design / Wedding Cake or Dessert Baker: Sugar Mama’s Bakeshop / Caterer: Whole Foods/ DJ: James Jumonville / Paper Products: Minted / Bride’s Gown: Lazaro / Bride’s Hairpiece, Earrings, and Sash: Sabina K W / Hair Stylist: Mandy Silver / Makeup Artist:Makenzi Laine / Bride’s Shoes: Kate Spade / Bridesmaids’ Dresses: J. Crew / Groom’s Attire: Banana Republic / Groomsmen Attire: Jos. A Bank

marissa Written with love by Marissa
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After reading that Emily and Vance met during a welcome picnic in college, when Vance used the successful pickup line “I like your pants,” I knew their wedding would be anything but ordinary! For these two actors, the Hazel Ruby McQuain Amphitheater was the perfect place to say their own vows, that included such sweet sentiments as Emily’s vow to put Vance before herself, and that it was “the greatest gift to do that so entirely organically and without hesitation.” I just love that so much! These now-New Yorkers knew they wanted to get married in their college town in West Virginia, and they felt right at home on the rooftop of the boutique Chestnut Hotel for their reception. Of course, the addition of some good ol’ Southern food always helps!

Big hugs to Veronica Varos for sending this lovely day our way!

Tell us about finding your wedding dress. My best friend was coming to town, so I googled a couple of places in NYC to go dress shopping. I’m so happy I found Saja, a small designer boutique in SOHO where everyone was lovely, and all the dresses were simple and elegant–perfect for chill, approachable brides like myself. I tried on five, and I thought, “Well, it’s for sure one of those five, and I have no interest in going anywhere else!” I narrowed it down to two, and went back a couple of weeks later with another friend. I walked out in my dress, and she said “That’s it!”

We knew we wanted to get married in our college town. Since we weren’t able to be there all the time, we enlisted the help of my sister, who was local. She was the one who suggested both the locations for the ceremony and the reception, and after visiting a couple of places, we were sold. We held our ceremony at the Hazel Ruby McQuain Amphitheater, which is on the water, has a gorgeous view, and had a stage feel, perfect for us actors. The reception was at the Rock Top Lounge at the Chestnut Hotel–a sweet little boutique hotel where we all stayed. The rooftop was PERFECT! It felt so New York-esque, and as New Yorkers now, we just fell in love with it.

Did you write your own vows? If so, what was your favorite phrase, verse or line? Yes, we did! My favorite line of mine was: “This is the greatest thing I could ever do–marry you. We’ve already started a life together, and I sincerely love living every day with two hearts. I put yours before mine, and it’s the greatest gift to do that so entirely organically and without hesitation. I will love you every day as hard as I can until I love you more than I love myself….You’re everything I could ever need to live a happy, happy life.” My favorite part of his: “Through all the changes, we just keep falling in love with each other…As human beings, we change. Life happens. And this might be weird, but I promise to continue to grow–to evolve with each other. To learn from you. And I’m so glad I have the opportunity to keep falling in love with you time and time again.”

My flowers were absolutely perfect! My florist was so patient with me. I had so many images in my head, like desert meets neon meets bohemian meets funk meets watercolors. I gave her a wide variety of color schemes and told her what kinds of flowers I liked. Then, she made magic happen! She had never seen my husband’s shirt, but somehow, she matched all the flowers to his shirt and our kooky color scheme perfectly!

What advice do you have for folks currently planning a wedding? Be true to YOU! Everyone was blown away by our wedding (so humbling to hear that!), and it’s because they had “never been to a wedding like that before!”–the highest compliment. So be creative, and put your funky stamp on all of it!

What was your most memorable moment about your wedding day? All of it was memorable, but I’d say the moment when my husband and I were up on the stage with our dream band playing our favorite song, and we were dancing like nobody was watching, was my absolute favorite! It was pure joy! I took a deep breath to try to soak up that moment, and I will never let it go!

How did y’all meet? Tell us your love story. We were both theatre majors, and we spotted each other at orientation during our first year of college. At the welcome picnic, he approached me with a really good pickup line: “I like your pants.” Well, I was hooked. We ate pizza together by a tree and giggled as I got to know the most different and charming boy I’d ever met. We went on our first date three days later. He asked me to be his girlfriend the very next day, and I freaked out a little bit because I barely knew him. It was weird for a few months, but having almost every class together, we became friends. We both dated other folks for a few years, and during our junior year, we were forced to do a love scene together and spent a lot of time together rehearsing. We realized, “What are we doing!? We’re in love!” We started dating in January 2007 and got married in 2014.
Tell us all about the proposal! It was my birthday, and Vance had planned a fun-filled day with many little surprise events that friends could join in on: dinner, the zoo, a movie…ending with a huge private room just for us and our friends at a laser tag arena (mind you, this is something we never do, but we’re adventurous, so I was up for it!). Vance and I were on the same team with a couple of our friends. I was getting super into it, and mid-match, I said, “Where should we hide!?” to Vance. He replied, “Over there! By the inflatable tank!” I army crawled over there, and once I made it, I asked him, “Now what!?” He pulled out the ring and said, “Well, how about you marry me?” I toppled over in tears and giggled with excitement as I said yes, and we had about four minutes of the most lovely private time together, even though we were surrounded by chaos. Then, we half-heartedly continued the match, until our team lost. While the other team was shoving it in our faces, I lifted my hand and was immediately met with cheers of joy. It was perfect. Silly, so us, and both private and lovely, followed by a celebration with my best friends.
When did y’all get married? September 13, 2014
How many friends, family members, and loved ones attended your wedding? A little over 200
Describe your wedding cake or dessert. I come from a huge Italian family, so as per tradition, all the moms, aunts, cousins, and grandmas baked a boatload of cookies. As if over 2000 cookies wasn’t enough, I still wanted to have a ceremonial cake to cut, so my aunt made us an Italian cream wedding cake, decorated with coconut and raspberries. It was so amazing!
What Southern details or traditions did you include in your celebration? What was Southern about your wedding? Our entire menu was Southern fare: pulled pork, BBQ chicken, corn on the cob, asparagus, biscuits, salad (with my aunt’s homemade dressing), and more.
If you are comfortable responding, what range did your wedding budget fall into? $10,000-$25,000
What was one way you saved money or cut costs at your wedding? Anywhere we could save, we did. Since our ceremony venue was at a state park, it was wonderfully cheap!
What’s next for you as a couple? What are you most looking forward to about married life? We have been together for a long time, so not much about our day-to-day has changed, but the energy has most certainly changed. My best friend described it as being “freeing”–knowing you can go forth and conquer the world, as an individual and as a couple. I feel so blessed that we earned this marriage… we went though so much together in our long relationship pre-wedding. We’re looking forward to our honeymoon to Mexico in January!

Photographer: Veronica Varos / Videographer: Pictory Productions / Ceremony Venue: Hazel Ruby McQuain Amphitheater / Reception Venue: The Chestnut Hotel / Florist: Blooms Florist / Band: Wesley Bright & the Hi-Lites / Bride’s Gown: Saja

marissa Written with love by Marissa
5 Comments
  1. avatar Olivia Fischer reply

    Colorful and Lovely photography!

  2. avatar Veronica Varos reply

    Thank you for sharing Emily + Vance’s story, SWM! <3

  3. avatar “Your Wedding, Your Life, Your Joy” | Rustic Acres Farm reply

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  4. avatar “Your Wedding, Your Life, Your Joy” » Rustic Acres reply

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    […] via Southern Weddings / Image by Veronica […]

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I think it’s safe to say that Haley and Dylan’s reception will go down in SW history as one of the most colorful, fun-looking celebrations to grace the pages of our magazine, but y’all know as well as we do, weddings are much more than just fabulous parties. Haley and Dylan put so much heart and thoughtfulness into their wedding day, especially their ceremony, which is one reason we’re so excited to share their same-day edit film by Film Anywhere Productions–it so beautifully captures some of the quiet, sweet moments leading up to Haley and Dylan’s “I do’s.” Enjoy!

From the bride:

Our videographers, Film Anywhere Productions, are a husband and wife team that go above and beyond for all of their clients. They both film all day with the bride and groom, and after the ceremony, they begin to edit the film and then play a “same day edit” during the reception. This was so magical and really let us stop for a minute and soak up every single thing that was going on–we were surrounded by everyone we love most, we had the most amazing vendors that worked their butts off for us, and most importantly, we had just committed ourselves to each other for the rest of our lives! That video is something we will watch forever, and it will always remind us of how in love we are.

You can find Haley and Dylan’s wedding on the blog here, and lots more wedding films here!

lisa Written with love by Lisa
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