When Lauren and Cullen decided on an outdoor wedding in June, the last thing in the world they expected was rain, but since this is Texas and you can never be too sure about the weather, that’s exactly what they got! Mere days before the wedding, the sunny summer forecast suddenly turned to storms and my phone started ringing off the hook. Lauren had planned for a beautiful flower-filled altar and now we were faced with the possibility that her design might not turn out quite how she’d imagined.
The vendor team and I played everything by ear and Lauren, ever hopeful and still dreaming of her outdoor ceremony, decided that no final decisions would be made until the morning of the wedding.
Thankfully, the reception space Lauren had designed was beautiful and would have worked great for an indoor ceremony. Everything was pink and gold and glittery and the room was light and bright in spite of the storms outside. If we had to do it inside, we thought, no one would ever know it was supposed to be any different.
We practiced the processional inside and outside so that we could be prepared either way, and when we finished, it was still raining. I turned to Lauren and, practically in tears, she said, “I want it to be outside.”
“Are you willing to do it outside even if it’s raining?” I asked.
She didn’t even hesitate. “Yes.”
I turned to the wedding party and the vendors who were setting up and said, “This wedding is going to be outside!”
And you know what? Fairy tales do come true, and the second guests started to arrive, the sun came out. It wasn’t forecast. It wasn’t expected. But it happened, and it was truly moving. The ceremony, needless to say, was beautiful.
I love the photos from the ceremony because you can feel the emotions that Lauren and Cullen felt: relief that, against all odds, the weather turned out perfect; happiness that their dreams were finally coming true; and above all else, love. The night was full of smiles and laughter and overwhelming joy, and I know that Lauren and Cullen’s marriage is going to be a long and happy one.
Julep Events 