It didn’t take long before we fell head over heels for Hannah & Timothy’s breathtaking intimate Texas affair. With the sweet DIY touches, bohemian flowers, “woodsy whimsical” theme, and an incredible heartwarming love story, it’s pure perfection from start to finish. The plethora of pretty was captured beautifully by Feather & Twine Photography.  Join us as we share this amazing wedding story below.

 

 

The first encounter

From the Bride (Hannah): I met Timothy in October of 2011. I was a young, ambitious and extremely focused 17-year-old, and he was a well educated, handsome young man of 20. He took my breath away at first glance.

You have to know me, I did NOT believe in love at first sight, in fact it goes against everything I believed. But ladies and gents, this man is stubbornly handsome and from the first time he spoke, calling me Norah Jones much to my delight, he was a purely unadulterated mystery.

We spoke to each other like old friends, never with delay or caution. Sure, we played hard to get like any young couple would but after months of hanging with friends, and talking on the phone he came to my house and asked my parents for permission to take me on a date, such a chivalrous-romantic prince.

 

 

Our first date

Hannah: Our first date was at Bella Roma – a “Lady and The Tramp” kind of Italian Restaurant in Clute, Texas. He stole my heart almost instantly with his talk of Mission Trips, his completely unbelievable adoration and love for his family, and most of all his excessive charm and good looks.

Our next date was at my favorite park where we ate Gelato on his tailgate while watching the sun set.  We told each other all our past and stories.  He truly listened to every word I spoke, and that’s actually one of the first things I fell in love with, the way that he hung on my every word as if they were each a precious gem.

 

 

Love story

Hannah: Fast forward a few months, I graduated from High School and he got a promotion at work. That summer the true romance started. My feelings for him grew stronger after I met his incredible family.  He had so much devotion for his family.

Over the summer he said “I love you” and on our two-month anniversary, we talked about getting married. Much to my surprise and delight it was his idea, and I will never forget what he said: “Hannah Rae, if I had met you sooner we would already be married”. What a great feeling to know that you are both on the same page and completely in it together. That July he gave me a promise ring on the roof of The J W Marriott In Houston, Texas on July 4th while we watched the fireworks.  He kissed me and told me that I was the greatest thing that had ever happened to him. I still wear the ring every day.

The day I moved to College Station to attend Texas A & M University, Timothy called me after he had dropped me off along with my parents and said that he couldn’t do it, he had to be with me. My strong and capable boyfriend needed me, simply put that is life’s greatest treasures – being needed. He came up every Tuesday and sometimes Thursday, and we flip flopped weekends for a whole semester.

 

 

The proposal

Hannah: November of 2012, on our seven-month anniversary I was due to make one of our trips back and forth and this time I was told to dress up for a special date. This was of no surprise or anything suspicious, because Timothy always plans romantic “Mega Dates” as we called them.

I put on my white dress (irony at its best) and headed home excited for a date with the love of my life. We headed out to the Museum District for our first stop on our big date. Once we came inside the Sculpture Garden we start looking around, laughing, taking selfies, etc, then around the corner I saw this lady taking pictures with a professional camera. When I got closer I recognized the photographer was actually a mutual friend of ours, and then I noticed a Santa Clause whom I further recognized to be her husband, and lastly their daughter who was filming the whole thing! Finally I was catching on!

All of a sudden a stool and a bunch of boxes came from nowhere. Each box was a different point in our relationship. First was a McDonalds toy, which was where we first met, the Pizza Box from our first date at Bella Roma.  Next, a menu from La Casona, which was where he asked me to be his girlfriend. Next was a Play Bill from “Sweeney Todd”, the musical where he kissed me on my back steps for the first time, and last was a little ornament that said “Wishes Do Come True” and on the inside was a little piece of paper that said “Me More”. When I looked back up, he was on his knee asking me to be his wife, with my grandmother’s ring box and the most beautiful ring I had ever seen!

Our Engagement Party was immediately followed where we met up with all of our family and our waitress sang us a song!

Our love story has been a whirlwind of changes, moving, and lots of growing up but the best part is that we are doing it together.

 

 

Planning Priorities

From the couple (Hannah & Timothy): Our main goal from the beginning was always to keep the wedding a celebration, not an event.  Too many people get so caught up in all the details that they miss all the fun and the real reason for the day!

 

Advice for other couples

Hannah & Timothy: Above all, enjoy every little moment! People tell you your whole life to “take each moment at a time, it goes by so fast,” and yet it is still so hard to do. Taking each little moment as a blessing and using it to further your plans and to make the event come together is the best thing you can do.

Furthermore, pick a photographer that will capture your day exactly the way you imagine in your head. This will be a piece of your wedding that you will continuously look at and use to preserve the day.

Make a timeline to keep up with all of the dates and payments. Weddings have so many details that it is impossible to remember everything on your own, so having a day-of coordinator is always a huge help.

 

Favorite wedding moment

Hannah: If I had to pick out my favorite wedding moment it would have to be when Timothy and I read our own vows.

Our wedding ceremony was picture perfect, the sun was shining, Timothy shed a tear when he saw me, I cried like a baby while reading my vows, and everyone in the congregation was going through all the emotions with us. Such a special way to celebrate a new life together, with everyone you love lifting you up in song, prayers, and smiles.

 

 

Wedding design details

Hannah: I wanted the wedding theme to match Timothy as much as it matched myself, so our theme became “Woodsy Whimsical.” I am very bohemian with a scoop or two of “classic girly” and Timothy is very much the laid back and outdoorsy one.

The décor included flower crowns, feather boutonnieres, and mismatched dresses to make it as casual and refined as possible. We had live music sang by Tim’s brothers, antique plates hand-picked by myself and my mother, wood slices on the tables with individual vignettes accompanied by names of our guests instead of table numbers, and food cooked by my aunt served on antique silver ware.

We had a strict budget to stick to and we did a lot of DIY to keep our wedding at our designated budget. Another way we ensured the wedding would be an intimate celebration was the guest list. We kept the list to family and close friends only, and it ended up being right at 100 people. We actually own our own event company, Loose Ends Event Design, so it was absolutely thrilling getting to design our own wedding

Feather and Twine, our wedding photographers, were always a dream of mine, I just needed a reason to use them! Once I got engaged I knew exactly whom I wanted to hire! From the beginning Kelsey and Talon were kind, great listeners, and helped make all of our ideas come alive! From Kelsey wiping my own tears to our absolutely perfect wedding photos that truly captured our big day and our love story.

My favorite wedding detail would be my flowers; English Garden In Brazoria did such a wonderful job helping me with my bohemian flower design and choices. All of my favorite flowers loosely bound to look as if they were just freshly picked from a field, especially the flower swag above our heads during the ceremony; it added the perfect Woodsy Whimsy detail to our celebration.

 

 

Thoughts from the photographer

Feather & Twine Photography: Hannah and Tim, from the beginning, made it very clear that they wanted their wedding to be really personal and intimate – which is what immediately drew us to them.

Not only do they have the most complimentary personalities, they also wanted all of their guests to feel loved and cared for during the wedding. They originally had an outdoor ceremony and reception planned and the rain held off long enough for a beautiful outdoor ceremony, where they exchanged handwritten vows for one another (there wasn’t a dry eye among any of the guests) and planted a rose bush together, with their parents, to symbolize the unity of their growing lives.

After the ceremony, it started to rain, in which all of the wedding guests retreated in to the victorian style home on the property. The whole wedding had such a comfortable atmosphere, everyone was genuinely happy to be in attendance; with the rain tapping on the old windows, it was truly romantic.

The night ended with the groom serenading and playing a song for his beautiful bride on the piano, and the day could not have been more beautiful.

 

About Feather & Twine Photography

We are Kelsey & Talon, a photography duo that truly enjoys weddings and all of the wonderful people we get to meet. Kelsey’s a cat-loving, book reading, self-proclaimed interior designer and Talon’s an adventuring, video game playing, science nerd.

Outdoor weddings are our specialty, come rain or shine, because nothing is more inspiring to us. We love unique weddings with thoughtful details and people full of love & laughter.

We love each other completely and can personally identify your “shout it from the rooftops” kind of love, which makes us that much better at photographing those special looks between the two of you.

 

 

Find the photographer:

Feather & Twine Photography Website   |   Facebook

 

Other vendors:

Venue: Hodge Podge Lodge   |   Event Design: Loose Ends Event Design   |   Rental & Day-of-decoration: Sweet Tea and Linen   |  Day-of coordinator: Treasured Spaces   |   Flowers: English Garden