Sometimes it only takes a second to fall in love with someone or in this case, some place. These two fell in love with 800 Congress in Austin, Texas and they knew that this was the place that they wanted to start their forever at. This couple had the most dreamy evening filled with lights, laughter, and love as they danced the night away here in the city. The red flowers were contrasted with dim lighting around the wooden candlelit tables. The surrounding brick and tree lit walkway seemed to add a sort of romantic ambiance that carried the night to a beautiful finish. Two beautiful humans, forever onto the next exciting and beautiful chapter.
Q.How did you choose your venue: 800 Congress
I have always loved the venue…. brick walls and garage doors with covered outdoor space! And I knew with the date we were looking at the trees on Congress would have the Christmas lights on them and I loved that added ambiance! It just took a ten minute tour for Gabe to fall in love too.
Q.Describe your decor and how you chose it?
I wanted our wedding to feel romantic and moody! I knew everything that was available to me so I just thought of all my favorite pieces and edited the look, a bit, to all be cohesive. Mirrored tables, teal velvet linens, ghost chairs, candlelight, berry colored floral… I mean…. gorg!
Q.Tell me about your attire – who designed your dress and where did you buy it?
Bought my dress at Serendipity Bridal! It’s a Paloma Blanca dress! @palomablancabridal I chose my dress based on how much my mom loved it! Her face lit up when I put it on! She made me fall in love when she said she knew how much Gabe would love it and that our photos would be timeless in that dress.
Q.What shoes did you choose and what jewelry did you wear?
My shoes were LK Bennett! (Kate Middleton’s favorite shoe) Gabe and I went on an AMAZING two week European vacation in April (when Gabe originally wanted to propose… but couldn’t wait and popped the question in February) and I made it my mission in London to find my wedding shoes! We popped into many different street side boutiques but nothing was quite right. We traveled to Paris and Barcelona and still nothing that was perfect!
We were ((finally)) visiting Selfridges – only the most amazing department store ever – on our last day in London and i was bound and determined to find my wedding shoes. With an entire department store floor dedicated to shoes I was destined to find these! My first step off the escalator I spotted them! Even though I knew they were the ones….I browsed the rest of the floor for 45 minutes while Gabe sat in the first chair he could find waiting for me ; )
My jewelry is all from Nordstrom. My mom and I went the day after we found my dress and we picked out my earrings and bracelet!
Q.And your groom – tell me about his look – who was his suit designer? Any other significant accessories?
Gabe’s Tux was from The Black Tux. The hanky I had made with our new married monogram was purchased on Etsy… and now belongs to the black Tux too because we were in such a hurry to make it to the airport for our honeymoon the next morning that we packed up his tux to mail back with the hanky still in his pant pocket. : (
The watch Gabe wore was my wedding present to him! A Baume & Mercier timepiece.
Q.Why did you choose me, Jenny, to be your wedding photographer?
Because I’ve loved loved loved you forever!!! I love the way you edit photos and I knew Gabe would be comfortable with you!
Q.What was one of your favorite moments from your wedding day?
I’ll never forget how overjoyed I felt when Jeff Wood started singing ‘marry me,’ our wedding processional song. My eyes instantly filled with tears and it was the moment I realized that my wedding day, a day I had dreamed about my whole life, was finally here and I was about to marry my best friend and soulmate.
Q.What was your favorite image from your wedding day?
I can’t pick just one. These are my top picks – The black and white image of Gabe looking out the window, the black and white image of my dad seeing me in my dress on the big day, the two of Gabe and me smiling by the lake before the ceremony, the aerial shot of our first dance, and the black and white image of our first dance where you can see Gabe smiling!
Q.Did any of your other vendors go above and beyond for?
Honestly everyone did!!! I can’t thank all my vendors enough for doing so much to make Gabe and my wedding the most special day of both of our lives. Rich killed it and kept our guest dancing all night. Howard killed it and set the mood perfectly with the lighting. Wendee executed my vision so perfectly! Caplan Miller oversaw the set up and event logistics all day and night so I knew everything would run smoothly – they helped me keep my mariachi surprise from Gabe, they worked with me through out the process to streamline everything and make my day flawless. 800 Congress was so flexible with my timeline and gave me such a sweet friends and family venue discount! Whim Hospitality, Marquee, and La Tavola all offered me an industry discount from three of my all time favorite sales reps! Meldeen gifted me a portion of my invites which were so perfect! And the list goes on. We could have never had such an amazing wedding without the help of my industry family and it’s something Gabe and I will forever be thankful for. Each of you are a part of our story forever! ??
Q.Do you have any tips to share with other couples?
Hire a videographer.
We could have never imagined our wedding would be SO amazing and now we wish so badly that we had a video to remember every detail for years to come! Photos are amazing but unfortunately we’ll never see our first dance, hear our vows, hear Jeff Wood sing acoustically during dinner or experience the pure joy among everyone in the room as vividly as we did then.
EVENT PRODUCTION/DESIGN, Caplan Miller Events
VENUE/BAR, 800 Congress, Justin Mead, Lisa Thompson
CATERING, Kurant Events, Carrie Konarik
LATE NIGHT, Via 313
CAKE, Polkadots Cupcake Factory, Olga
PHOTOGRAPHY, Jenny Demarco Photography, Jenny, Lindsey Thorne
PHOTOBOOTH, Capture Photobooth
FLORAL, Botanical No. 9 Wendee
CEREMONY/DINNER MUSIC – Jeff Wood
COCKTAIL HOUR MUSIC – DJ Rich, Mariachi Amor, Alex Ramirez
RECEPTION MUSIC – DJ Rich
LINENS – LaTavola Linens
LIGHTING – FILO Productions, Howard
RENTALS Birch and Brass
Marquee Rents, Ann Evans
RENTALS, Whim Laura
OFFICIANT, Sarah de la Fuente
HAIR AND MAKEUP, Lola Beauty – Lorena