We love a bit of magic and whimsy on STG, and what could be more whimsical and delightful than a fairy princess garden theme?
Evan and Jeremy met at college where they became friends, and were later reunited when a work opportunity brought them back together.
Evan was adorned with precious family heirlooms, including her mother’s veil and jewellery from both grandmothers and her great-great grandmother, and shoe lovers who lack self control should shield their eyes now (don’t say we didn’t warn you) because you’re definitely going to want to splash out on a pair of the bride’s stunning, crystal-embellished Badgley Mischka heels. Can we say ‘bling’?
The couple had a Jew-ish wedding – an interfaith ceremony that integrated both Christian and Jewish traditions, honouring both the bride and groom’s respective backgrounds.
This gorgeous fairy princess garden themed wedding took place at idyllic venue, Old Red Museum in Texas, USA and all the details were expertly captured by AR Photography.
Let’s hand over to Evan to fill you in on every last detail!
How we met
Evan, the bride: Jeremy and I met at Texas State University in San Marcos, TX when he was a junior and I was a freshman. We became instant friends, and had a great (completely platonic) friendship for the rest of my college career. When spring rolled around my senior year, Jeremy reached out to me in regards to a job opportunity at his company.
He was living in Houston, Texas and I was targeting Austin, Texas. I got the job in his company’s Austin office. Shortly after, we began talking consistently. He then asked me to meet up with his friends and go camping one weekend. After that, the rest is history. Four months later he got a job offer in Seattle, and that is where we decided to start our lives together. A year and a half on from our move, he proposed.
A hidden gem venue at the Old Red Museum, Dallas
We got married at the Old Red Museum in Dallas, Texas. We wanted a unique venue that we had not been to for a wedding, and I wanted to feel like a princess on my wedding day. This venue is a hidden gem in the middle of a big city. It is the ‘Dallas Castle’.
A fairy princess garden theme
My mum and I were the wedding planners. My mum honestly should make wedding planning her side job. The theme was ‘fairy princess garden’. Which, in my head, went a few different ways. I wanted it to have a romantic antique princess vibe but also whimsical, like a fairy garden wedding. Our colours were dusty blue, ivory and white with a lot of greenery in the flowers.
Pearlescent invitations
I think the pearlescent glow of the invitations provided a beautiful touch. The blue and ivory shades of the wildflowers were great indicators of the theme of the wedding.
Natural shades with dewy skin
Starting our day, my bridesmaids, my mother, Jeremy’s mother and my godmother wore matching silk pyjama sets to get our hair and makeup done. It was like a mini sleep over with my best ladies.
Kreativ Beauty killed the hair and makeup game. Jenn Karsner and her associate, Xoe Hamous, came to my godmother’s Dallas skyscraper condo (where the bridal party got ready) and made all of us look glam.
I wanted to look as natural and glamorous as possible, so I asked for nude/natural shades with a dewy skin look. My hair length is past my booty, so I wanted an intricate up ‘do (medieval princess style). My hair is always down so I figured to mix it up for my wedding day. Jenn wrapped, curled and pinned every hair on my head.
A lace-finish Allure gown with champagne undertones
My dress was from downtown McKinney, Texas from LeAnn’s Bridal. The designer of the dress is Allure.
My mum and I planned on looking at dresses when I was home for the holidays and I actually thought I wanted a sleeve dress (similar to Princess Kate), but my mum sent me a picture of a dress in the window and asked if we could try that one on when I was in town.
It was the first dress I tried on and the way it sparkled all over won my heart. The champagne undertones beneath the white lace were breathtaking.
The bride’s mother’s veil
My somethong borrowed was my veil. It was my mother’s, from my parents’ wedding; a simple and elegant cathedral-length veil. We removed it from its 80s headpiece and put it on a comb to modernise it. I also wore my new sister’s crystal and pearl hair pins that she wore at her wedding. These beauties were from Nordstrom.
My something blue, was my great-great grandmother’s sapphire brooch attached to my bouquet. My something old was my grandmother’s high school ring attached to my bouquet, as well as my other grandmother’s pearl ring on my right middle finger. My something new was my wedding dress.
Crystal-embellished Badgley Mischka heels
My shoes… STILL IN LOVE. They were from Badgley Mischka. They were peep toe, ivory shade and had about 5” heels. They had a crystal bling wrap from the bottom of the heel up to the side of the shoe.
For the reception, I wore bright blue TOMS flats for a something-blue touch and dancing comfort.
The handsome groom in a J. Crew tux
Jeremy’s tux was from J. Crew. He wore an ivory vest and bowtie to make him shine. Two of my gifts to him were engraved collar stays and socks that said “don’t get cold feet”. He looked like a true gentleman.
My first gift to Jeremy when we started dating was a hunting duck call made out of cocobolo wood. I had a designer from the same website, Custom Made, make Jeremy’s wedding ring. It is cocobolo wood inlaid in 14k gold.
For the wedding, I gave Jeremy personalised collar stays that say on one “always in my heart” and the other “…for my whole life.”
Bridesmaids in dusty blue
My bridesmaids wore a dusty blue shade dress, with a lace cut-out overlay. The top layer was floor length, over a nude slip that went to the mid-thigh. The sides and back were cut out. I wanted a dress they could wear again, and that was not the typical bridesmaid dress, but more of an artistic gown.
A chuppah decorated with vines and flowers
The chuppah was a natural decision based on the layout of venue. Our officiant, Cantor Tunitsky, saw the turret and said “historically, a chuppah is under a beautiful sky — representing the home and God’s creation.”
The turret was our enclosure and the beam that was already there made a perfect place for the florist to decorate with vines and flowers.
Our interfaith Christian-Jewish ceremony
We had an interfaith wedding, that mostly focused on the Jewish traditions but made sure some Christian traditions were sprinkled in to reflect me and my family.
Jeremy’s brother-in-law’s father is the cantor of the synagogue he grew up at and he also officiated Jeremy’s Bar Mitzvah. Cantor Tunitsky officiated our wedding and kept it very special for us.
There was a fireplace in the room where we had photographs of family members and grandparents that were no longer with us placed on the mantel.
My uncle and brother read scripture from the book of Ephesians to represent my Christian heritage.
On the back of our programs, we had the traditions listed out so that everyone understood what was happening. (i.e. the seven blessings, the chuppah, the scriptures from Ephesians, etc).
We had a sign before you entered the ceremony that asked for everyone not to use their cellphones. This was very important to us, because we feel when people have access to their phones/cameras it takes away from the intimacy of the event and also, can get in the way of our professional photographer’s shots.
A laser-cut mahogany ketubah
A coworker of mine is a very talented wood craftsman. We worked with him to create the design of our ketubah, which he laser cut into African mahogany. We collected the signatures from our witnesses and cantor prior to the wedding and he placed these on the wood for our piece of art. He also printed out the same design onto paper, with no signatures, for us to sign at the wedding.
I felt our ketubah signing was very special. I did not want Jeremy to see me, so our fathers held Jeremy’s grandfather’s tallis between us to shield us from seeing one another. We could both hear the other one beside us and feel each other’s presence but were not able to see each other. This is the same tallis our mother’s used at the end of the wedding to wrap us and bring us together.
Fairy garden flowers
We used The Stalk Market in Downtown McKinney, Texas. First off, I highly recommend them for a Dallas event. They are family owned and were beyond pleasant to work with.
Our flower theme was ‘fairy garden’, so we went with classic blooms as well as wildflower detail. Our main blooms were light blue delphinium, white hydrangeas and white roses and strong ivy accents.
The Stalk Market also put different types of thistle and greenery throughout our arrangements.
Our fabulous photographer and videographer
We used AR Photography. Ashley Rains Fondon did an absolutely amazing job of capturing our memories of the occasion and bringing our wedding to life in the photographs.
She owned the room. She knew exactly what she wanted and made it happen, and I appreciated her tactical business approach.
We met with Ashley and not only loved how bright and light her photography was, but clicked instantly with her personality. It just so helped that I was a maid of honour in my best friend’s wedding a few months before mine and saw Ashley’s talent at work there. That solidified our decision.
Our videographer was Oquist Productions. Jesse and his team did a fantastic job at getting the highlights and personalities of our night.
Cake, cake and more cake
My family friend and amazing cake maker, Debbie Day, made our wedding cake. The two top two tiers were strawberry flavoured with fresh strawberries and jam filling. Tier three and four were lemon cake with real lemons and lemon curd filling. The bottom layer was white almond cake with raspberry jam filling.
I met with Debbie a couple of times for us to put this cake masterpiece to life. I showed her a few photos I liked and that I wanted edible blue hydrangea dà©cor. She took the reins from there and created our gorgeous, delicious cake. Each petal was individually formed and tinted.
Our groom’s cakes were beautifully arranged chocolate brownies. Jeremy does not particularly like cake, but loves his brownies, so my mum’s friends came together and made them for him.
Jeremy’s grandfather and parents did the blessing over the challah and my godmother did a blessing/prayer over the food.
Dancing the night away
For our wedding ceremony, we had an electric violinist, Gaily Bird.
Our first dance was to Wildfire by John Mayer; sung and played acoustically by our friend and talented musician, Reed Turner. Reed was able to make the song a slower pace for us to have more of a romantic dance to it.
For our reception, DJ Junior in the Mixx from Radio DJs carried the night away with upbeat dance music, that kept everyone on the floor and a fun light show.
The mother and son dance was to My Wish by Rascal Flatts, while the father and daughter dance was to I Loved Her First by Heartland. About three minutes into the song, the DJ scratched the disc and switched the song, to We Go Together from the musical, Grease.
My dad put sunglasses on and we “fun danced” for about 45 seconds of it, then he and my mother switched places on the dancefloor and I got a first dance with my mother as well. Both my mum and dad are huge influences in my life.
Our exit was 10 ft long streamers for everyone to wave us farewell. It was a perfect ending to the night. My uncle owns a gorgeous white Rolls Royce and dressed up as our chauffeur.
A popcorn bar
We had a popcorn bar in one of the turrets. The popcorn was from Mom and Popcorn in McKinney, Texas. Which is my absolute favorite place to get popcorn.
We had three flavours and cute little white popcorn boxes for our guests to snack. In another turret, we had a photo lounge for our guests to use selfie sticks and fun props to capture the fun.
Advice to brides and grooms currently planning their wedding
Break up the tasks by weeks or months (depending on your time frame). I had exactly 12 months from the proposal to the wedding, so I broke each duty into around three-week time frames: first three weeks: find a venue; next three weeks, find DJ; next three, find a dress; next three: find a photographer, etc. It will make you feel more accomplished and less stressed!
Jeremy and I were advised this and we are so glad that we were. In the middle of your reception, while everyone is dancing, take a walk with each other. Soak in the moment. Then get to a place where you can see your dance floor. These people are here for you. These people will more than likely not all be together in a room again. All, both of your loved ones, all together, celebrating your love.
Evan & Jeremy’s little white book
Photographer – AR Photography
Videographer – Oquist Productions
Venue – Old Red Museum
Bride’s dress – Allure from LeAnn’s Bridal
Bride’s shoes – Badgley Mischka and TOMS
Bride’s accessories – Nordstrom
Groom’s attire – J. Crew
Hair + Make-up – Kreativ Beauty
Flowers – The Stalk Market
Caterer – Celebration Catering
DJ – DJ Junior in the Mixx 106.1 Kiss FM from Radio DJs
Electric Violinist – Gaily Bird
Singer – Reed Turner
Popcorn Bar – Mom and Popcorn
what a beautiful wedding !