We have such a pretty wedding to start the week off lovelies! Clara + Matt picked all the things they love – vintage finds, repurposed objects, and all things eco-chic – and designed their dream day in Austin, Texas. One of my favorite elements of their day is the large succulent wall Clara created for their ceremony backdrop – wait until you see it! So gorgeous. :) And really love that Clara altered a dress she found to create the dress of her dreams! Congrats to Clara + Matt and big thanks to The Nichols for the gorgeous photos!
I took a lot of printmaking classes for my fine arts degree, and really wanted to use some of those techniques to make our own invitations. Matt and I were able to rig up a way to silkscreen onto wood, and it was a really fun project for us to do together.
One of the things I was most proud of was my dress. I fell in love with a particular dress (this dress from BHLDN) but it was tea-length and had long sleeves, while I really wanted a long dress for the ceremony and short sleeves due to the Texas heat. So, I bought two dresses and used the skirt of one dress to add a layer to the bottom of the other for the ceremony. I used scraps to turn the long sleeves into short ones, and the result was even better than I envisioned!
I knew early on that I wanted lots of succulents at the wedding, so I started to grow them myself. Succulents can be easily propagated from cuttings or even leaves, so after a year-long engagement, I had quite the collection! We were able to attach them to a grid as a backdrop, and even give some out as favors. Included in the wall were some aloe vera plants (another type of succulent) which had been grown from cuttings of a plant that was given to my grandparents at their wedding over 50 years ago. After the wedding, we were able to replant everything!
The whole day was such a whirlwind, but time stood still the moment we saw each other during the ceremony. We had people coming up to us afterward saying they've never seen a couple that smiled so much. Everything after that was a blur of good times!
Our Music
Since our relationship began with a lot of movie nights, we used music from some of our favorites at the wedding. The wedding party walked in to the themes of Forrest Gump and Little Miss Sunshine. I’ve played cello for over 20 years, so it seemed pretty fitting that I walk down the aisle to “The Cello Song” by Steven Sharp Nelson, which is an 8-cello rendition of Bach’s Cello Suite No. 1, my favorite song to play. The recessional was “Extreme Ways” by Moby (one of Matt’s favorite songs), which also happens to be the ending credits to The Bourne Identity (one of Matt’s favorite movies). Our first dance was to “All I Want is You” from Juno, which Matt had to re-teach me to two-step for!
If anybody offers to help, say YES! I tend to get overly ambitious and try to do everything myself but I finally was able to let go and delegate, and *gasp!* everything turned out even better than either of us imagined it would be! We had everybody from family friends to the best man crafting at one point or another; and not only did it take a huge weight off of my shoulders, but it turned out to be really fun getting to hang out with all the people who stopped by to help out!
photography: The Nichols // venue + catering + cakes: Barr Mansion in Austin, Texas // floral design: Stem Floral Design // dress: Custom BHLDN // veil: Tessa Kim // headpiece: BHLDN // paper goods,succulent wall and chalkboard: handmade by the bride at Chirology // make-up: Maris Malone Calderon // hair: Jeni Hoover