Dallas Wedding at Hickory Street Annex

I love color. It makes my heart happy, and this Dallas wedding by Ben Q. Photography gave my heart it’s daily dose of color-loving joy. I mean, seriously, how much do you love the seemingly million of lanterns and the orange chairs? How can you not be giddy looking at that fabulousness? I, for one, cannot be, and I have a sneaking suspicion you might have a smile on your face too. Click here for even more!

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From the Bride… When we began planning our wedding, I can honestly say we had no idea what we wanted to do.  I’m not the kind of girl who has had her wedding planned out since she was twelve; in all honesty, I had only the vaguest idea of what direction to head in.  We began brainstorming and scouring websites for ideas, and still we weren’t quite sure in what direction we wanted to head -something more traditional, or something modern and fun.  We discovered Hickory Street Annex and thought it would be an awesome place to have the reception, but we couldn’t decide on whether or not to have a formal church wedding. Without checking a calendar, we made our decision unwittingly -we chose March 12, which is right at the beginning of Lent, and we couldn’t get married in our church.  But it all worked out well, because we had a lot of guests coming in from out of town, and we liked the idea of having the wedding and the reception in one place to minimize travel, etc for our guests.

After that decision was made, things started to fall into place rather quickly.  My sister, who is a wonderful seamstress, offered to make our centerpieces (all hand-sewn), and I began collecting aqua mason jars, hunting them down on Ebay and at flea markets.  Ideas really began to flow when we settled on our invitations.  We chose a design that we found on Etsy that we absolutely adored, because it was FUN, and at the end of the day, we just wanted to throw a good party for our friends and family! The best part was that we were able to use Jamie, the graphic designer, to make our programs as well, so we were able to keep the theme going.  We even ended up asking her to design a guestbook poster for everyone to sign, and it turned out beautifully.  My sister, who was my matron of honor, was so helpful not only in designing the centerpieces, but also in helping me put together our wedding favors.  We own a coffee shop, and we decided to do chocolate-covered espresso beans as favors.  She spent quite a few hours on the Thursday before the wedding packaging them all up and tying 140 ribbons while I stamped the tags and hand wrote thank-yous on each of them.

Our photographers did an amazing job corralling my very large family, and in capturing all of the tiny details that made our wedding special, from our vintage typewriter and radio set, to our exquisite flowers, to the magic of our meeting before the ceremony.  I’m very glad we took a few moments to see and be with each other before the ceremony started, because it certainly was a whirlwind after that.

Our cupcakes were magnificent (pecan pie with salted caramel filling was just ONE of the flavors!) and in general, I can’t say enough about what a great job our vendors did.  April did a magnificentjob with the flowers.  I knew I wanted Gerber daisies, my favorite flower, but I wasn’t sure if they would be elegant enough on their own.  Her idea to add circus roses and dahlias gave just enough class to the bouquets to dress them up, but she maintained the carefree and colorful look that I wanted. All of our vendors (especially our wedding planner) were flexible enough to work with us as our ideas developed, and part of what made all of this so fun was that we were both excited and energetic about bringing ideas to life once they occurred to us. For example – we’re both musicians, and we loved the idea of a very relaxed, laid-back atmosphere, but we weren’t sure how to create it until my fiance (who used to do theater) had the wonderful idea of designing a “set” or backdrop for our altar area. Since we were getting married in a very open-modern-loft space, we wanted to bring some character on board that would help decorate it in a homey way. On the day of the wedding, my fiance and his best man (plus some other wonderful friends) transferred most of our living room – the rug, the chairs, a desk, and some other furniture – out of our house and up the Annex. They hung curtains and completely outdid themselves, transforming the room into a warm, inviting, and familiar space- it really was as though we were getting married in our house with 120 of our closest friends and family present.

Even more wonderful was that we had our brother-in-law (my sister’s husband) as our officiant.  He gave an absolutely lovely homily that incorporated touching stories about watching us grow together as a couple, stories about how I was the matchmaker between him and my sister, and a wonderful interpretation of our favorite Bible verses, as well as the wedding vows from the Book of Common Prayer.   It was one of the sweetest ceremonies I have ever heard, and I am so glad it was ours.

Wedding Photography: Ben Q. Photography / Wedding Planning: Jennifer Ashford of Altar Ego / Hair & Makeup: Tiffany Petry of Paper Dolls Makeup / Flowers: April McNosky of AprilMayJune Designs / Cupcakes: Le Gateau Cakery / Wedding Venue: Hickory Street Annex / Music: Serenata Strings / Wedding Invitations, Programs & Poster: Jamie Konet of JK Design / Wedding Dress: Casablanca via Mockingbird Bridal / Bridesmaid Dresses: Alfred Angelo / Jewelry: Dillard’s / Bridesmaid Hair Bands: J.Crew / Bride’s Hair Accessories: Etsy / Groomsmen Attire: Al’s Formal Wear / Groom’s Attire: Nordstrom / Ties: The Tie Bar / Bride’s Shoes: Isotoner