Whimsical Austin Wedding

When Robin and Brian began planning their wedding, there were a few things they considered to be most important – one of which was that Sweet Sunday Events had to do the event design. We have to say the couple’s taste is impeccable, as evidenced by how fantastically Sweet Sunday pulled off their big + colorful day. Of course, thanks to Anahi Weddings for capturing all the details!

From the bride, Robin: When we started planning the wedding, we knew we wanted the venue to be Mercury Hall, that we wanted Sweet Sunday Events to be our planners and design team, and that we wanted a fun, party atmosphere for our friends and family. I fell in love Mercury Hall from my first visit — it’s a hidden gem in the heart of Austin, just a few minutes from downtown. The property has the most gorgeous Live Oak Trees, which Austin is known for, and the building is an old chapel transported from Mercury Texas, with colorful stained glass windows and a charm like no other place I had looked at. Once we set the date for November 1st, I knew I wanted to have a Dia de los Muertos theme. It was an especially meaningful theme for us, because family is so important to the both of us and the holiday actually celebrates family and friends who have passed away before us and the belief that they’re souls join the living on that day in celebration. Both Brian’s mom and dad had passed away recently, and so having a theme that we felt could include them in spirit was important to us.

Sweet Sunday Events took our vision and made it into a stunning reality. Two of my favorite design elements were the ofrenda and altar they made for us. They built a traditional “ofrenda” that is used in Dia de Los Muertos celebrations. The ofrenda showcased pictures of Brian’s parents and other close family members who had passed away, along with candles, flowers, sugar skulls, and other offerings. It was really touching to have their pictures up all night as a reminder of their presence with us. Our altar was a colorful display of flowers on one side and unforgettable stacked piñatas on the other with streamers that hung from the altar up into the grand Live Oak trees. Katy from Sweet Sunday came up with the idea for the piñatas which added a festive element to the ceremony, and my mom was able to find someone to custom make them in our colors. The piñatas were also used in other places throughout the wedding which was great, and by the end of the night a few of them even made their way onto the dance floor. Our guests LOVED them!

The first most memorable moment was walking down the aisle with my Dad and seeing Brian standing there waiting for me. The weather was AMAZING – it turned out to be the most beautiful day of the year. It was an evening ceremony, about an hour and half before sunset, and the backdrop was a combination of rays of sunlight shining through the trees down onto the gorgeous altar and our wedding party. My dad walked me down the aisle to ‘Here Comes the Sun’ by The Beatles, which was meaningful in so many ways. I grew up listening to The Beatles with my Dad, so it seemed only natural that he walk me down the aisle to a Beatles song. Also, Brian’s dad had been battling cancer for the 3 years prior to the wedding, and passed away just 2 weeks before the wedding. We had been by his side throughout his fight and his caregivers in the end. Needless to say, we had been dealing with a lot and going through so many mixed emotions throughout the planning process. ‘Here Comes the Sun’ was symbolic for both the past and what we had been going through, and the bright future we now had ahead of us. It truly reflected and gave meaning to what was taking place, and I believe it was a symbolic song for the family as well.

The second most memorable moment was our first dance. We both didn’t want the traditional slow dance and wanted to show more of our personality and love for Rock n’ Roll. We danced to ‘I’ll Be Your Man’ by The Black Keys and had a blast doing so. We both loved the song, and felt that we would just dance naturally like we do at home or out, so we didn’t practice and just went with it at the moment. We really got into it, and everyone thought we had rehearsed, but it was just us out there doing what we love to do together. I’ll never forget the smiles on everyone’s faces and the loud cheering as we cut the rug. It was awesome.

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Any advice for couples planning their weddings now? Even though most planning and decisions seem to be made by the bride, take into account the (probably very few) things that are important to your soon-to-be husband. Brian let me run with the decor, colors, and all the “girly” details, but he wanted to pick the bar selections and song we got introduced to, “Baba O’ Riley” by The Who. The excitement he felt and showed when we were introduced to that song radiated throughout the room and really got the crowd going! It’s easy to get caught up in the nitty-gritty details of planning – because there are SO MANY DETAILS – but keep in mind that the wedding is a celebration of the love you two share, and so the celebration should reflect the both of you. Everyone will have an opinion on what to do or what not to do, but stay true to yourself and it will show on your wedding day. Some of the best decisions we made that resulted in my fondest memories of our wedding were those that would be considered “non-conventional”: our song choices, choosing to celebrate the dead on our wedding day, having piñatas as wedding decor, and last but definitely not least including our beloved Shih Tzu, Maddie, as our Pup of Honor.

Wedding Location: Austin, TX / Photographer: Anahi Weddings / Rentals, Flowers, Coordinating: Sweet Sunday Events / Venue: Mercury Hall / Wedding Gown: Blush Bridal Lounge / Custom Veil: Olga Novosellova / Hair: Jenna Yates of Grapevine Salon / Makeup: Rae Cosmetics / Wedding Caterer and Bar: Pink Avocado / Wedding Cake: Coco Paloma / Ice Cream Truck: Cool Haus / DJ: Altared DJ’s / Papel Picado: Ay Mujer!