As originally seen on Let’s Bee Together

modern rustic hill country wedding – stacey & aaron

Stacey and Aaron actually lived 4 doors down from each other for almost a year before meeting. It wasn’t until a rainy day that they met outside on the sidewalk while Stacey was walking her dog and Aaron was walking back from the gym. They said the polite hello’s and before you know it, they realized they had a few things in common – work, friends, etc. He took her out on their first date the very next night!

When it came to the proposal, they were on a weekend getaway in Fredericksburg, Texas with some friends. When they woke up Saturday morning to go hike Enchanted Rock, the temperature dropped from 80 to 29 degrees outside! Stacey was worried it was way too cold and windy to go hike so she was trying to talk her way out of going. Aaron was not having any of it and was determined to get her out there. They put some extra layers on and started to hike up the mountain. When they got to the top, it was so windy that the air felt like needles hitting their skin. They took a quick picture and headed back down the rock. About half way down, Aaron asked to take a photo with Stacey and the next new thing she knew, he was on one knee proposing. Stacey says that she was extremely surprised, cried some happy tears, and of course, said YES!

They wanted their wedding to be outdoors and have a feeling of bohemian romance. They chose Vista West Ranch as their wedding venue because it’s absolutely beautiful and in the Texas hill country. They love the hill country and venture there often. Stacey wanted to keep a neutral color palate, while also bringing in the greens for the floral.

For her dress, Stacey tried on a decent amount of beautiful dresses but none of them felt natural to her. After going to Unbridaled Houston and trying on the Claire Pettibone dress (Bordeaux), she knew it was the one. She says “the dress was perfect in every way – it was so light, allowed me to dance around while still hugging me in all the right places. Honestly, I wasn’t quite sure how it was all going to look until wedding day! I let the bridesmaids pick the two different dress styles and they helped me choose the pewter color. I prefer neutral colors so the pewter was perfect and looked great with the blue suits the guys wore. We chose Nordstrom’s Black Tux service for the suits because it was easy and effortless. Plus, they are one of the only places who offers blue suits vs a blue tux. We didn’t want tuxes – we wanted a more casual look.”

When asked what the most important thing to the two of them while planning, or if there was anything that they chose to splurge on or skip, Stacey answered, “flowers, photographer and videographer. I love the look of wild and over-sized flowers. It gives of such a unique and romantic feel. Photographer and videographer were a must! We wanted to have the day captured/documented so that we always have pictures/videos to look back. This was not something we wanted to cheap on. Plus, we got the best sunset photos that I just love! We skipped on cake cutting photos – we didn’t do traditional cakes and it just wasn’t that important for us.”

The wedding flowers were simply dreamy. Stacey says “I still can’t get over my flowers! I knew I didn’t want traditional roses & what Petal Pushers made exceeded all my expectations. The flowers were overflowing and wild – all with a touch of softness. The pampas grass and the greenery from the eucalyptus were just gorgeous. I sent photos and a Pinterest board to the florist but had no idea just how magical she was until I saw the bouquets. When I showed up for my bridal pictures bouquet, I cried happy tears at how beautiful they were. The wedding day was nothing short of that – even the bridesmaid’s bouquets were unbelievable. I still get compliments on the flowers!”

This happy couple didn’t have a wedding cake and instead opted for a Dessert Table! They had mini cupcakes (four  different flavors), oatmeal cookies, three small round cakes (all different flavours) and a two tiered Rice Krispie treat cake! The theme – treat yo’ self! We LOVE that!!

As a special touch to the day, Stacey had her lace clutch made out of extra fabric from her dress. It matches perfectly and is the perfect item to become a special heirloom. She had a lucky penny from her maternal grandmother and a six pence from her mother that she put in her shoe (a part of the something old, something new poem that people often forget about). She put an old brooch from her husband’s late grandmother on her bouquet. She also wore one of her late paternal grandmothers diamond rings on her right hand. This day was full of little touches that make such a big difference to the overall feel of their wedding.

For the music they had an “Anniversary Dance” – they played music and when the final couple was left (Stacey’s maternal grandparents who have been married for 72 years!!), they had them stay on the dance floor for a special solo dance to their wedding song, Some Sunday Morning by Doris Day. That is SUCH a sweet idea! Stacey’s grandpa sang to her grandma while happy tears streamed down their faces. “There wasn’t a dry eye in the house.”

See the full blog on Stacey and Aaron’s wedding HERE!