Wedding Wednesday: Garen and Barrett

This is a wedding near and dear to our hearts!  Garen Glasscock Brown is one of Hayley’s best friends.  We had the honor of helping Garen create her dream wedding this past fall.  We were so excited to hear that Garen and Barrett were finally engaged, and we’d be getting to work with the Glasscock family once again!

Garen wanted to have a classic wedding with neutral metallic.  HH Design House created a beautiful white invitation with black calligraphy accents and matching RSVP set.  Each invitation had a black shimmer backing fused to the back for extra weight and pizzazz.  Metallic Vellum was placed on top of the invitation and secured with a champagne foil-stamped bellyband.  Garen and Barrett’s names were written on the bellyband with a flourished B representing “Brown”.  The invitations were mailed in a white cotton envelope with champagne liner, and were hand-calligraphied by Hayley.  On the back flap, the return address was printed in black letterpress.  “HH Design House custom designed 400 invitations down to the smallest detail to compliment the feel of our dream wedding,” says Garen.

Garen and Barrett decided to have their ceremony in Midland, Texas where Garen grew up. They were married at the Golf Course Road Church of Christ which  “played a huge role in my life and in the formation of my faith. This is the church I grew up in, was baptized in and introduced Barrett to after he moved to Midland. It was the most idyllic place for Barrett and me to pledge our commitment to one another and also to God.”

Barrett’s favorite moment of the whole day was watching Garen walk down the aisle.  “I will never forget how breathtaking you were in that dress,” shared Barrett.  “We shared the same feeling, I never took my eyes off him. What a moment!” exclaimed Garen.

On September 22, 2012, guests traveled to Midland, Texas to celebrate the union of Garen and Barrett.  During the ceremony guests held programs created by HH Design House.  The programs featured Hayley’s calligraphy and a logo with the couple’s names and a flourished “B”. 

Garen made sure every detail was elegant and beautiful.  “The front of the church was creatively transformed by a 30 foot by 25 foot curtain of beautiful white satin.  The elegant fabric provided a whimsical and romantic mood to the church auditorium. This was the perfect setting for the wedding ceremony.”

Garen had a wedding party full of friends and family, including our own Hayley!  “We had 12 bridesmaids and 12 groomsmen in our wedding party. My identical twin sisters were my two matrons of honor and Barrett's brother Michael was his best man. The wedding party included family, friends from high school, roommates from college and even teammates from Merck, where we work. We were so blessed to have such amazing friends and family standing beside us!”  The couple also chose to honor those that could not be there.  “We chose to honor our grandparents who have passed away by playing "The Prayer" by Andrea Bocelli and Celine Dion prior to the wedding. This was a time of sweet reflection which set the tone for the evening.”

After the ceremony, the wedding party and guests moved to Green Tree Country Club to celebrate! Green Tree Country Club has been a part of my life since I was a baby. “We have celebrated many birthdays and special occasions there.  My twin sisters had their joint Wedding reception at this same country club.   I have always pictured myself having a reception there and dancing the first dance with my husband. This location meant so much to both of us, we knew it was our spot!”

The couple danced their first dance as husband and wife to “At Last” by Etta James.  “This was very fitting for us because we dated for several years and had a long journey together. It is our special song because it was now "our time"!”

“The reception was by far the icing on the cake! The decorating was special and unique because it was done entirely by my dad and was a total surprise! He handpicked 10 huge gold and crystal chandeliers that hung in the ballroom and throughout the country club. There were tall birdcages with love doves and detailed ice sculptures that greeted the guests as they entered the ballroom. Tables were set with gold chargers, cream satin tablecloths and accented with gold Chiavari chairs. We were seated at the bride and groom table on a white leather banquette decorated with Mr. and Mrs. pillows.  Guests enjoyed the covered patio lined with white flowing curtains and a 15-foot white leather couch. Every one of our wedding dreams came true!”

The Garen and Barrett logo was used throughout the reception. “We used Hayley's original Garen & Barrett monogram for everything including napkins, pens, wayfarer sunglasses and rally towels for all of our guests!”

The reception was a BLAST!  Garen recalls one of her favorite parts of the day, “The moment that continues to play in my mind took place during the last song before the wedding was over. The band starts to play Journey's "Don't Stop Believin’" and all of a sudden gold and silver confetti starts falling all over the dance floor. Barrett and I never stopped dancing! It was our moment to "take it all in!" I started crying overwhelmed by the excitement of it all! The best part is I look around to see my dad and brother-in-laws holding the huge confetti canon! All the guests, including us, were in awe at the magical feeling on the dance floor, what a celebration! This is the moment we will never forget, dancing under the confetti with all of our FAVORITE people in the world.”

We were so happy we could help create this day for Garen and Barrett!  Hayley loved being there with her best friend and put a lot of love into helping Garen’s dream become a reality.  Garen says, “The wedding experience would not be the same without HH Design House; Hayley made our vision come to life! Her hard work and attention to detail enhanced this special time in our lives and we will never forget everything she did!”

A special thank you to Garen and Barrett for helping me write this blog!  Y'all are wonderful!!!

Wedding Wednesday: April and Will

Wedding Wednesday is BACK!  We are excited to bring a wedding story to our readers on Wednesdays. We have started something new in 2013.  Our brides are helping me write their wedding story!  We hope you will “tune in” on Wednesdays to read about each bride’s unique and beautiful wedding.  Feel free to Pin, Tweet, and post our blog to Facebook.  We also love to read your comments!

One of our favorite weddings is April and Will’s. We fell in love with every detail of the Holland-Pearce wedding from the save-the-date to the reception favors.

April and Will are both from Beaumont.  They attended high school together and became friends and lab partners.  They also attended college at the University of Texas in Austin where they fell in love.  The couple decided to hold their wedding ceremony in their hometown. “We wanted all our family and friends to come together to Beaumont where our friendship and ultimately our love for each other began”. 

April planned her wedding down to every detail with help from her mother, Becky.  April chose peach and champagne as the colors for her southern style wedding.  We are so pleased she chose HH Design House to help create her wedding dream!  Our first project together was to create not one, but two monograms for the couple.  One would be designated a “pre-marriage monogram”.  “It had an H and P intertwined signifying the Holland and Pearce families coming together.  After the ceremony, we still used that same monogram, but it was slightly different in that it was our married monogram.”  The “April and Will” monogram would be used after the ceremony symbolizing their union.  It incorporated their first initials with their now shared last initial “P”.  It was used during and after the reception.

April and Will’s save-the-date cards were designed by HH Design House.  Trees were a motif used throughout the wedding. On one side the announcement included a photograph of a Live Oak draped in Spanish moss. This tree stands outside the Beaumont Country Club where April and Will’s reception was held.  The other side featured the couple’s names in Hayley’s calligraphy along with the custom pre-wedding monogram.  These were mailed to guests in a clear plastic sleeve.

Invitations to the Holland-Pearce wedding were also written in Hayley’s calligraphy in a soft black letter press on ecru cotton paper.  A layer of gold leaf patterned velum was placed on top of the invitation and secured with a champagne belly band.  The bellyband included a “pre-wedding monogram” foil stamped in peach pearl. It also held the matching RSVP card and reception card.  Inner envelopes and champagne lined outer envelopes were addressed by hand by Hayley.  Both RSVP envelopes and outer envelopes were topped with a special “pre-wedding monogram” postage stamp.

As guests arrived in Beaumont, they were greeted with a welcome bags designed by HH Design House.  The canvas bags had a champagne tree printed on the front.  Inside the bags were Texas treats, bottled water affixed with labels designed by HH Design house, and welcome packets.  The welcome packets, also designed by HH Design House, included a sweet note from the couple along with itineraries for the guests during their stay in Beaumont.

After much much MUCH planning and preparation, the big day arrived!  Will met April at her parent’s home before the wedding to see his beautiful bride.  “We decided to do a first look. As I was coming down the stairs at my childhood home, Will’s back was towards me. I tapped him on the shoulder and when he turned around, the sweet look he had on his face is something I will never forget.”

The wedding party included friends and family of the bride and groom.  The maid of honor was Ms. Carline Squires who went to law school with April.  The best man was his father, Mr. Dennis Pearce.

“Will and I wanted our ceremony to not only be special, but also a reflection of us as a couple. We wanted our ceremony not only to be a celebration of us coming together, but also acknowledging and praising God for the countless blessings that He has provided to us as a couple. We had my music minister from my home church and his wife, who was my church choir teacher as a child as well as a family friend sing my favorite hymns that my mom used to sing to me as a child and that I grew up singing. My brother played the piano and sang a rendition of Great is Thy Faithfulness. My cousin from my mom’s side and aunt from my dad’s side both gave scripture readings. Will and I also had our first communion as husband and wife, which is something my parents did when they were married. My pastor from my home church officiated the ceremony. My “something old” was a locket that my dad had given my mom when they were dating in high school, which was attached to my bouquet with a picture of my mom, dad, and brother.”

Each guest held a program designed by HH Design House with the “pre-wedding” foil-stamped peach monogram signifying the unity of the Holland and Pearce families.  April and Will’s names were written in hand calligraphy.  The program was ecru with a champagne backer.

“My taste is traditional and all things southern. I initially wanted our reception to be at my childhood home that my parents designed and built. My dad simply had a huge grin on his face and said, “your mom and I are flattered, but do you see how many trees we have in our yard?! How are we going to tent that?” I immediately got a dose of reality and realized maybe not so much.” Instead, the couple held their reception at the Beaumont Country Club where April had spent countless summers as a kid.  April still wanted to incorporate a part of her home into the reception. “My mom and I found some 20+ year-old molding in our attic that was used in the house when it was built. We had it painted and had slits put in. This served as our place card holder for our guests to find their names and tables.”  The escort cards were hand written in calligraphy by Hayley.  “Our tables were named after Texas trees. The reason being is that before my dad went to Texas Tech for college he gave my mom a pecan tree. That same pecan tree is in our backyard at my childhood home right down from the magnolia tree Will gave me before he went to medical school.”

“I also loved when Will and I got to see the reception space for the first time. All our guests were downstairs for cocktail hour. Will and I arrived upstairs and got to see everything and share a special moment overlooking the golf course before joining our guests downstairs.”  The couple danced to “Love Me Tender” sung by Madelyn, one of April’s bridesmaids. “It was priceless and meant the world to us.”   Guests danced the night away.  April and Will even provided peach flip flops for tired dancing feet!

The guested dined on Chopped Hearts of Romaine Salad, Summer Peach Sorbet (of course!), Beef Tenderloin, Spinach Madeline, A&W’s Favorite Potatoes, and a bouquet of asparagus.  Wedding cakes were served as dessert.  The wedding cake topper was purchased by April’s mother when April was a little girl.  April hopes to pass it on to her future daughter.  The groom’s cake was a surprise! “ It was the UT Tower (we both went to college there) with an orange P in the windows. Usually when UT wins a national championship the tower is lit up orange with a 1 lit in the windows. I decided to do a P for Pearce.  He had no clue and the look on his face was incredible!”

As the couple left for their honeymoon, guests tossed flower petals in the air from petal boxes designed by HH Design House.  The guests received warm cookies and milk in favor boxes.  Cookies and milk are Will’s favorite snack.  Each box was monogramed with April and Will’s “Pearce Monogram”,the wedding date, and a simple statement “Sweet Dreams”.

“It definitely took a team to pull off our dream wedding and I couldn’t be more thankful to my mom for her countless hours of planning, arranging, meeting, brainstorming, and most importantly her love and support. And, my dad for making it all happen and being the patient, supportive, and loving dad that he is. This wedding definitely could not be pulled off without our amazing vendors and friends: Hayley Hardcastle, Ashley Garmon Photography, Vanessa McKellar, Jonathan Andrew Sage, Bryan Gilbert, Nicole Saba, Debbie Bando, Kay Palumbo, Something Special Bakery, and The Griffins." 

We loved working with April and Will to contribute in making their wedding day a Sweet Dream come true!

Wedding Wednesday: The "Marry" Month of May

It's no surprise to us Texans that May is a wonderful month to get hitched. The flowers are blooming, spring has sprung, and it's not too hot yet. It's just right! In May 2010, Kristen and James were married in Wimberley, Texas in the heart of Hill Country at Old Glory Ranch. Instead of using lots of colors, Kristen decided to use neutrals and textures to create a rustic elegance we love.

HH Design House created these beautiful save-the-date cards with a magnet reminder enclosed so guests could be reminded of the wedding every day.

These simple, yet elegant invitations, set the tone for the beautiful day with taupe letterpress and blind debossing on a Pearl White Crane's Card. The names and scripture were hand calligraphed by Hayley and then typeset for the details.



A closeup of the debossed scripture.

Here are Kristen and James infront of the chapel where they were married.

No, this wasn't their ring-bearer!

The bride's Christian Louboutins were something we had to add to this post. We love them!

The ring-bearer and flower girl were given Build-a-Bears dressed as a bride and groom for their wedding party favors.

Flowers added beauty to rustic furniture. What a neat idea to do tons of clusters of smaller arrangements than one larger one.

Candles were placed everywhere during the ceremony for soft, elegant lighting.

HH Design House designed the programs used in the ceremony.

We love the use of flowers and candles the bride chose!

The happy newlyweds leaving the church.

Reserved signs for the family tables.

The first dance as man and wife.

Monogrammed napkins and koozies were used by the guests at the reception with the logo we created to carry throughout.

Boxes with Kettle Corn inside were given as favors to the wedding guests.

Cigars were rolled to celebrate!

An old timey photo both was set up for the guests to have their own photos of the reception. How fun!

Here are some photos from the photo booth of the bride with her flower girl and ring bearer. Hayley designed the template that all the photos were printed on.

This cake is almost too pretty to eat!

I'm sure the kids loved the donkeys at the reception.

What's Texas without cowboy boots?

Happily married, the bride and groom leave the reception. The well-wishers hold sparklers and cheer as the couple say good-bye and head to their honeymoon. Thanks to Kristen and James for letting us be a part of their Big Day, and to Kristen White at Frills Consulting in Austin for coordintating such a beautiful event! What a fun, beautiful wedding!

Be sure to add us on Facebook, check out the website, visit our store in Galveston, and tell your friends about us! Have a great day!