How did you choose your venue, Hotel Ella?
We had stayed there a few weeks before we got engaged and just fell in love with it. It was a perfect mix of modern and traditional and exactly the right size for the number of guests we were going to have in attendance. We loved the idea of the hotel being only our wedding guests for the weekend.
Describe your decor and how you chose it?
Sarah was inspired by Kate Spade and preppy style: our decor was fun, preppy and bright. It started with the bridesmaids dresses, Sarah fell in love with these bright pink, one shouldered dresses. From there, we just embraced bright, bold colors. Sarah envisioned navy and white stripes, pops of bright pink and gold accents. The gold chairs at the reception were perfection. The hotel provided a perfect neutral backdrop for bright, bold colors.
Why did you choose me, Jenny, to be your wedding photographer?
We looked at a lot of wedding photographer websites and found Jenny’s to not only be great quality but also really distinctive. You could tell she really put thought into coming up with creative shots and wasn’t just running through a generic checklist of typical wedding shots.
What was one of your favorite moments from the your wedding day?
The entire day was amazing but the power going out is what really made it memorable. Our friends and the hotel staff were playing acoustic instruments and singing, we discovered a family member played the drums and it became this super fun DIY dance party. Right after the ceremony, we also had 10 minutes just the two of us to take it all in. We kept saying “OMG we’re married!”.
What was your favorite image from your wedding day?
There are SOOOO many we love that it’s hard to choose but one of favorites has us dancing in the middle of all our family and friends doing a second line as the band did an acoustic version of “When the Saints Go Marching In.” It really captured the spontaneous fun of the blackout party.
Did any of your other vendors go above and beyond for you?
(all of them?!)
The Hotel Ella staff was amazing from start to finish. When the lights went out and we weren’t sure they’d be coming back on – they were the first ones to pull out some acoustic instruments and get the party started again. They also took candles to all our guests rooms and they even literally carried our grandmother down the stairs in her wheelchair because the elevator wasn’t working.
Brock and Co. is a team of miracle workers! They took all of our random ideas and created a beautiful event that was even better than we could have possibly imagined. Sarah and I have planned a ton of events ourselves but we could never have pulled off such a magical night on our own. Brock and Co. were just such consumate professionals – they had answers to every problem and guided us through the entire process expertly.
Kaydi Bishop + Maison Yellow (full disclosure: this is the bride’s sister) did the vast majority of our invitations and paper goods. Kaydi took our random mishmash of ideas and created some absolutely gorgeous wedding invitations that people still talk to us about.
Olga at Polkadots works magic in that bakery. She incorporated a family recipe for our groom’s dessert and the brought our idea of a dessert table to life with several delicious items, including the brides favorite lavender macaroons. That dessert table was a huge hit.
Posey Floral Design did an amazing job with our flowers, incorporating everything Sarah wanted: posies and pink. The bridal bouquet was breathtaking. Sarah’s didn’t want tall, traditional table settings so the team at Posey came up with a series of monochromatic arrangements for the tables. At the ceremony, they put together the most perfect, clean and modern topiaries. Can we say perfect enough?
Do you have any tips to share with other couples?
It’s true what they say that the day flies by – which makes it all the more important that you have a great photographer so you can go back and relive the day. Going through wedding photos we saw so many things we didn’t even notice on the wedding day.
Spend a long time finding the right planner and vendors. Having the right team will make your life so much easier. Or just use the team we used because they’re AMAZING.
And remember that no matter how much you plan – there are some things that won’t go according to plan – but those might be the things that are the most memorable. It helps to just put yourself in a headspace where you accept that things won’t all go as planned and determine ahead of time that you’re going to have a great time no matter what.
You might want to consider keeping a power generator handy.
Vendors
Event Coordinator and Designer: Brock & Co. Events
Florist: Posey Events
Musician: Austin Party Band
Caterer: Hotel Ella
Makeup: Denise Vasquez