from the photographer: “Chandler and Greg’s Classy and Colorful wedding WOWed guests from the moment their custom toile patterned invitations landed in their mailboxes! Their wedding celebration started the Night Before at the iconic Hotel Drive in the Stockyards of Fort Worth. Wedding vows were exchanged at TCU’s Robert Carr Chapel, and cocktails and dancing ensued at the ever classic Colonial Country Club. Selecting bright colored florals, classy monogrammed ribbons adorning every area of the wedding, and adding touches of Fort Worth truly made this event stand out!”
How did you both meet?
Greg and I both attended Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas. While we didn’t know each other during college, we often reflect back on the same date parties and mixers we both attended and laugh how we probably bumped into each other.
Greg and I met shortly after college when we were both living in Dallas. Greg was living with his good friend who was dating my friend from TCU.We met in March of 2020, so many of our first dates together consisted of walks on the Katy Trail in Dallas or take out picnics. We often say if we were able to survive pandemic time together we can survive anything!
What is your proposal story?
Greg proposed on Christmas Eve when we were visiting his family for the holidays in Newport Beach, CA while on a walk around Balboa Island. He chose the perfect spot on the street, Diamond Avenue, overlooking the bay. We spent the rest of the day on his family’s sailboat celebrating with his family.
Tell us what inspired your wedding design?
As we began to plan our wedding, I knew I wanted a design that was classic and timeless, but I also wanted to include touches that were personal and very “us.” I wanted elegance while incorporating pops of color and still being fun! We also wanted to tie in our Texas roots and love of Fort Worth throughout the wedding. I was born and raised in Austin, Texas and even though my husband is a native So-Cal boy, he is a Texas cowboy at heart. We immediately knew a Texas wedding was the obvious choice but being graduates of Texas Christian University, a Fort Worth wedding was the perfect fit. As proud TCU Horned Frogs, we share many memories of attending football games together and our love for this special school runs deep. Our decision to hold our wedding ceremony at the Robert Carr Chapel on TCU’s campus was an easy one. This decision was made even more special when we found out our wedding date of September 2nd would be the home opener for TCU’s football season after coming off a winning season playing in the National Championship Game. We knew the energy on campus would be electric! We worked hard to select venues that were special to us and that would compliment our elegant and timeless vision, so choosing Colonial Country Club for our reception was also a no-brainer. It’s an iconic Fort Worth location and by our wedding date they had completed a redesign of their ballroom and golf course.
What inspired your attire?
My wedding dress was the last wedding dress I tried on during my appointment at Neiman Marcus. I absolutely loved the timeless elegance of it, as well as the stunning shape. What really made me sure it was my dream dress was the unique bow on the back. I fell in love with the modern take on a traditional bow. My wedding dress was complete with my mom’s pearl studded veil from her wedding nearly 30 years ago.
As soon as I saw this one-shouldered, satin dress of the Dessy Group from Bella Bridesmaids, I knew that was the dress for my girls! The light blue color (called mist) complimented the blue in our color scheme and the bow was a sweet nod to the bow on my own wedding gown.
Having a lot of personal touches was what was most important to us, so those are the areas where we splurged. We were continuously looking for ways to tie in our Fort Worth theme to our stylish but timeless wedding, and I think we achieved that in all of the details, big and small! When designing the invitation suite, I dreamed of a custom, Fort Worth-inspired toile print for the envelope liner to give guests a peek into the wedding theme which included the iconic Stockyards sign (the location of the rehearsal dinner), cowboy boots and hats, ginger jar floral arrangements which guests would see at the reception, Robert Carr Chapel and the TCU Horned Frog mascot which were both odes to the ceremony taking place on the college campus we attended, and our signature cocktails. Along with our custom monogram, that custom print was an element we incorporated into the rest of the wedding design from the stage and bar facades to table numbers and drink stirrers.
Other personalized touches included our signature cocktails to represent my Texas roots (Ranch Water) and his California roots (Mai Tai), custom-made cowboy boot ornaments that doubled as escort cards and wedding favors made by my uncle, and our late night snack, which was also a splurge for us! In Newport Beach, California where my husband is from, they are well-known for their chocolate-dipped frozen bananas. Dad’s Doughnuts serves up tasty frozen bananas coated in chocolate and dipped in a variety of toppings (our favorite is rainbow sprinkles) on a picturesque and charming island. My husband and I have many fond memories enjoying bananas and walking around Balboa Island. We even took our engagement photos there! We knew we had to bring this tasty treat to our wedding guests, so we transformed one of the bars into a “frozen banana stand” to serve our favorite dessert to our favorite people!
From day one in the planning process, my husband and I wanted to make sure all of our guests had a fun time at our wedding. We transported our wedding party from the chapel using a classic white trolley. Some of my favorite moments of our wedding day were riding to and from the chapel on the trolley with our best friends, some music and a couple bottles of Veuve. The fun of our reception started when guests stepped off the trolley and were greeted by two beer burros covered in flowers and welcoming our family and friends with a nice cold beer or Topo Chico.
Our bridal party was comprised of almost all our friends from TCU so both the bridesmaids and the groomsmen enjoyed getting ready to the sounds of college football. I will never forget walking into the chapel on our wedding day and hearing our beloved school’s fight song ringing from the chapel’s bells.
When I look back at our wedding day, one of my absolute favorite elements would have to be the floral. I love bright colors and I knew that I wanted the floral on our wedding day to be full of pinks, oranges and yellows. These bright vibrant colors ended up popping beautifully next to our light blue and white color palette. Our labor day weekend wedding marked the transition from summer to fall. I wanted to make sure summer was still in full bloom for our still very warm, Texas wedding. When seeking out inspiration for our floral design, I chose our florist because of her use of the blue and white ginger jars and pottery for her arrangements. I love the blue and white ginger jars and have them all throughout our home! I fell in love with the uniqueness of the look they provided for our tables and throughout the whole reception. Another special part of our floral design was the wreaths hanging on the sconces of the chapel. When guests first ascended the grand steps to the chapel on the day of our wedding, they were greeted by large wreaths full of our brightly colored flowers. This “first look” for the guests ended up being one of my favorite parts of our wedding day, so much so I wanted to find a way to bring these wreaths into our reception. Our florist elegantly displayed these wreaths as part of our band stage facade. I had never seen this done before and absolutely was stunned at how magically it turned out!
We wanted a minimal but sophisticated design for the bridal cake since we knew it would have the colorful fireplace floral installation as a backdrop. We chose a smooth, white look and tied in the rest of the wedding design elements by adding our custom monogram in white and pops of color in the cake flowers. Greg’s Yeti cooler groom’s cake design was chosen to represent his favorite hobby of fly fishing.
What did you do for favors?
I wanted a unique way to display our seating chart and finally settled on an idea that brought in our Texas theme with a personal, classic touch. We used a custom-made cowboy boot ornament with our initials. My uncle works in woodworking and made one for each of our guests! We then attached our calligraphy place cards to each of the ornaments. This doubled as a favor for our guests to take home and remember the evening by. My uncle also custom made the sign to go across the top “grab your boots and find your seat.” Our seating chart was complete with a hedge wall and our brightly colored flowers affixed to the top.
I wanted a unique way to display our seating chart and finally settled on an idea that brought in our Texas theme with a personal, classic touch. We used a custom-made cowboy boot ornament with our initials. My uncle works in woodworking and made one for each of our guests! We then attached our calligraphy place cards to each of the ornaments. This doubled as a favor for our guests to take home and remember the evening by. My uncle also custom made the sign to go across the top “grab your boots and find your seat.” Our seating chart was complete with a hedge wall and our brightly colored flowers affixed to the top.
To complete my wedding dress, I wore my mom’s veil from her wedding over 30 years ago. When looking at wedding dresses and veils, I fell in love with veils covered in pearls. At my first dress fitting, my mom brought her preserved dress for me to see and try on. Inside her preserved dress box was her pearl veil. I had no idea her veil was my exact vision! We did have to have her giant 90’s style bow removed from the top, but otherwise the veil was timeless and perfect.
Enjoy the process! Make memories with your fiancé, mom, mother in law or whoever is helping you plan your big day. Looking back to the planning process, I have so many joy-filled memories every step of the way. It goes by quick and you won’t get to tour venues, have floral meetings or make seating charts again, so try to turn all the stress into fun memories with the people you love.
Planner / Treasured Heart Events / treasuredheartevents.com / @treasuredheartevents
Church / Robert Carr Chapel / chapel.tcu.edu / @tcuchapel
Venue, Catering, Bar / Colonial Country Club / colonialfw.com / @colonialfwevents
Florist / Justine’s Flowers / justinesflowers.com / @justinesflowers
Photographer / Megan Kay / megankayphotography.com / @megankayphotography
Videographer / Reverent Wedding Films / wedding.film / @reverentweddingfilms
Band / Jordan Kahn Music Company / jordankahnmusiccompany.com / @jordankahnorchestra
Rentals / Grand Events / @grandeventstx
Beauty / Ashley McNabb Artistry / ashleymcnabbartistry.com / @ashley_mcnabb_artistry
Cake / Sugar Bee Sweets / sugarbeesweets.com / @sugarbeesweets
Officiant / Hire A Minister / hireaminister.com / @hireaminister
Beer Burros / Big City Farm / bigcityfarmtx.com/ / @bigcityfarm
Musician / Island Boogie Steel Drum Band / steeldrumtexas.com
Transportation / IGPort Limos / igportlimos.com / @igport_limos
Marquee Letters / Alphalit / alphalitletters.com / @alphalitfortworth
Photo Booth / The Photo Bus / thephotobusdfw.com / @thephotobusdfw
Dance Floor Wrap / Inkredible Dance Floors / inkrediblefloors.com / @inkredibledancefloors
Bar Facades / Stage Works / stageworksusa.com / @stage_works
Paper / Paper Planet / paperplanetdesign.com / @paperplanetdesigns
Calligraphy / Mavenette / mavenette.com / @amavenette
Welcome Sign / Loft House Designs / loft-house-designs.com / @lofthousedesigns
