Jonathan and Sarah had an elevated spin on a classic wedding combining a classic church ceremony with a Texas ranch. We love how the colors tied together throughout their day and the sweet details that made it truly unique to them!
Jon and I met when both attending our alma mater, UMHB. We had several mutual friends and were even involved in an organization on campus together. Through the love of Disney, a group of our mutual friends got together to marathon several Disney movies. Our Disney crew began hanging out all the time, and it was through those get togethers that Jon and I grew closer. After just a few weeks of being friends, Jon asked me out and the rest is history! – Sarah
from the photographer: “When Sarah and Jonathan began planning their wedding, they knew they wanted to make design choices that both of them would love, rather than everything being bride-centric. From Sarah: “As soon as we started planning, I wanted to know what colors Jon would be interested in. I wanted to make sure that he was just as happy with the look, so we decided that the color blue would be a focal point that both of us would be happy with!” Both of them wanted lots of color to be a part of their design, so they landed on a mixture of berry and pink shades to compliment. Sarah said that working with a professional wedding designer was a huge help. “Working with Taylor gave me a huge insight into different looks and design choices. I found that I loved the look of a full place setting, and I decided immediately that I wanted our napkins to be tied to look like bows. Overall I tried to choose a look that included touches of our personalities while combining a little bit of elegance with playfulness.”
While they enjoyed the process, making time to plan in the midst of other life situations proved difficult. “It was a bit stressful trying to balance school, work, and planning all at the same time. I am a pretty indecisive person, so picking what food to serve and what gown to wear was a bit of a challenge for me. I tried to go with my gut and pick things that felt right and natural for us. We wanted to get our big vendors taken care of first – venue, photographer, videographer. From there we moved on to DJ, caterer, dresses/tux, and some of the smaller things. The biggest help was having Taylor as our coordinator to guide us and help me follow through on decisions.” Sarah and Jonathan didn’t just want to plan a wedding that was beautiful, they wanted people on their team who they connected with. “One of our biggest priorities was picking vendors that not only excelled at their profession, but were genuine and wonderful people to work with as well. We stayed true to that priority and it was one of the best decisions we could have made!” Being a part of Sarah and Jonathan’s day was an absolute joy and a privilege!
What’s your proposal story?
In Jon’s eyes, our proposal didn’t go exactly as planned. However, in my eyes it turned out absolutely perfect. Jon had been planning his perfect proposal for weeks, wanting to propose out on Mount Bonnell in Austin. He planned a whole set up with pictures and flowers, but the weather was not cooperating. He had already planned an engagement party and flew my sister down to be apart of the celebration so there was not an option of changing the date. He quickly decided to scrap the Mount Bonnell plan and instead proposed on the front steps of one of our favorite brunch spots, Sweet Lemon Kitchen. Sweet Lemon is a cafe located in an adorable green house with a precious front porch on the outskirts of Georgetown Square, so it was the perfect ray of sunshine on a cold and rainy day. It was the sweetest proposal and every time we return for a brunch date, I think back to that perfect day.
Tell us about your attire choices!
When deciding on all of our different aspects of attire, we opted for styles and colors that we believed would make us feel the best on our special day. When picking out my wedding dress, I knew I wanted something that made me feel beautiful but comfortable. I didn’t want to be worrying about pulling at my dress all night. I loved the lace detailing and the touches of sparkly beading at the bodice. When it came to Jon’s attire, we wanted to make sure he felt just as good in what he was wearing as I did. He knew he wanted to wear a navy tux, so we began forming our colors and bridesmaids dresses to compliment navy. I tried to chose a shade of blue for my bridesmaids that would compliment every woman’s complexion. They each got to choose their own style of dress in hopes that they would all be comfortable throughout the night.
What was the most important to you while planning?
We knew from the beginning that we wanted to allocate our money to include our must have: a great photographer. We wanted to make sure we had someone who could capture our day, knowing how important pictures are when looking back years later. Lucy did the perfect job, and we are so glad we put our trust in her. We did splurge on our venue, but decided in the end it was worth it to have such a beautiful site to get married at. Not only was it beautiful, but the owners were incredibly sweet and caring. We skipped out on doing a photo-booth in order to allocate that money elsewhere. With an amazing photographer and a beautiful venue, we felt that we could save in that area. At the end of the day, we chose to budget our money towards what we believed were the most important aspects of the day.
What was your favorite part of the day?
I am not sure if there is one specific moment that takes the cake as our favorite part of the day. I think the day was sprinkled with several little moments that made the day sweeter. Arriving with my best friends to the venue to see my family shower us with love and a delicious spread of food while we were getting ready; walking out and seeing how Taylor had transformed the space to include everything we had been planning for months; walking down the aisle with my dad towards the love of my life; dancing the night away with all of our friends and family – these were all moments that added up to making the day perfect. We drove off at the end of the night feeling blessed beyond belief, knowing that our day was shared with some of our favorite people in the world.
Tell us about your cake!
Our wedding cakes were out of this world, both in the design and in the taste. Brittany with Morgan Pearl Cakes did a phenomenal job, and I still think about our cakes to this day. She had several meetings with us in which she helped us come up with inspiration for the design of our cakes. I wanted my cake to be equal parts of elegant and fun, so Brittany created a beautiful four-tiered cake with gold accents and a cascade of flowers down the front. Jon loves Whataburger and college football, so Brittany took that idea and ran with it, creating one of the coolest cakes we have ever seen. The best part about it all was that we had cakes that looked incredible, but they tasted even better. In addition to the cake, she made delicious brownie bites and cheesecake shooters, two of our favorite desserts.
Any special heirlooms?
Although it is not a family heirloom, I did wear a special necklace the day of. My grandmother passed away several years ago, but she was such a special person in my life. She was the center of my family, but she left behind a necklace that our family now passes around to wear on special occasions. I was able to wear her necklace and have a little part of her with me on my wedding day.
Do you have any advice for couples who are planning?
Go with your gut and have fun with it. Jon and I are both pretty indecisive people, so planning could be a challenge for us at times. There were times when we just had to trust our decision and try not to overthink things too much. One of our biggest priorities became picking vendors that not only excelled at their profession, but were genuine and wonderful people to work with as well. We stayed true to that priority and it was one of the best decisions we could have made. Remember to make the day about you as a couple, so choose things that feel right and natural. But at the end of the day you will be married to the person you love most in the world, so try to let go of the little stresses and bask in that knowledge.
Photography: Lucille Photo | Ceremony Venue: Hidden River Ranch | Event Planning: Taylor Bible Weddings | Floral: Taylor Bible Weddings | Stationery: Leslie Suggs | Videography: Ladybird Studios | Wedding Cake: Morgan Pearl Cakes | Rentals: Confetti Rentals | Hair: Southern Belles Beauty | Catering: CJ’s Catering | DJ: Wall of Sound Productions | Film Lab: Goodman Film Lab | Wedding Dress: Georgio’s Bridal | Groom’s Attire: Mens Wearhouse | Bridesmaid Dresses: Azazie | Wedding Ring: Diamonds Direct | Veil: Georgio’s Bridal | Submitted via: Matchology
