mrsjohnny

BEST VIEWED ON A FULL SCREEN

After 11 months of planning, Johnny and I were married on March 17, 2006! The week leading up to it was not without its mishaps - through delayed flights, lost bagage, a mild case of food poisoning and the threat of bad weather. However, our wedding day was absolutely amazing! It came and went so fast that my memory of it is just a blur, and I can't wait to get the DVD from the videographer.

Here is the link to our sample video
I love it! Our Videographer used the music from our reception band (that's why you can hear a bit of background noise).

Because my planning bio got too big, I decided to make a 'wedding bio' with all of the professional pictures. If you would like to use any of these pictures could you please ask me first: amberlina1st@hotmail.com and credit my photographer
Heather with Eclectic Images.

This is the link to my planning bio: johnny&amber

If you have any questions feel free to email me.

Thank You Card



The Anticipation









 



I was starting to get a little nervious, especially when people kept knocking on the door.









My 'something old' was my late Grandmother's rings and my 'something borrowed' was a four leaf clover from one of my bridesmaids - I did get married on St. Patrick's Day after all.




I had a mini portrait session before the ceremony.





















Going to get married ...





The Boys









Reservoir Dogs.











I love this picture of Johnny with his father and brother (BM).

The Ceremony















I was trying not to cry the whole time.







I made a mistake with one of my lines. I couldn't remember if I had already said it - I guess I practiced too much : )







A nice breeze.
Towards the end of the ceremony, my MOH had to put her foot on my veil to stop from being blown away.











Right after we walked down the aisle the wind blew my veil right off.

Portraits









Both of our immediate families.
My SIL, niece, big bro, dad, mum, me, DH, MIL, FIL, BIL.







 
















The Reception





Mr. and Mrs. Johnny















I was trying not to cry the whole time during all of the speeches.



Our First Dance.



The Father-Daughter Dance.









We displayed pictures of Johnny and I growing up, our parents and grandparents wedding pictures as well as some of our engagement pictures.



We had a wish bowl and a signature mat for our guest book. We are going to wait until our first year anniversary to read what people wrote. I cant wait to read them - apparently by the end of the night everyone just started writing random drunken thoughts.








Each table was named after a city in the world that we have visited and included a picture from our trip and a few short anecdotes.



The Band - Blind Date. They were amazing!



My Dad with my niece (FG) and my big bro and SIL.



She is the cutest little girl!













One of my best friends and BMs cought the bouquet. As you can see, she was very excited.







My BIL (the BM) cought the garter left-handed.



Johnny's cousin's 3-year-old son gave us each a rock from the garden and said "congratulations". It was so cute.



I gave my real bouquet to my MIL for all of her help during the planning process. We planned the whole wedding from overseas so she was our only real connect in the US to help us.













VENDORS REVIEW

Location: Barr Mansion - A

The gardens looked beautiful! It was the perfect time of the year to get married. We had so many compliments about how beautiful and unique the venue was. The ballroom looked amazing at night with the full glass walls. The food was beautiful and the cakes were to die for. We had an Italian pecan cream cake with a lemon cream cheese filling for the bride's cake and a chocolate mocha torte with a mocha French butter cream for the Groom's cake.

I have no regrets using Barr Mansion by any means - however if I could do it again I would have hired my own 'day of' coordinator' rather than using the person from Barr Mansion. We had quite a few problems with him - very unresponsive to emails, not thorough with details or our requests. I'm not going to say anything more but if you have any questions feel free to email me.



Minister: Rev. Michael Boles - A

Rev. Michael was great. He suited our needs perfectly - a non-denominational minister. We invited him to both the rehearsal dinner and the reception and I think that he felt genuinly honoured to be involved in our wedding. He was friendly, interesting and funny and got along well with all of our guests. He was very professional and smoothed over a few mishaps that happened during the ceremony - like me stuffing up one of my lines : )

Photographer:
Heather with Eclectic Images - A++

Heather was incredible! Both Heather and her assistant were amazing to work with. They were there to capture every moment but remained unintrusive. She photographed all of the portriats we wanted - I had sent her a list with pictures that we wanted and she crossed them off as we went along. I am so glad that we spent the money to get an amzing photographer. I would highly recommend her to anyone.

Album Layout

































Engagement Pictures:
Vanessa Escobedo Barba: Photography by Vanessa - A++

If you would like to use any of these pictures please credit our photographer.

Vanessa was amazing to work with! Although we have booked Heather with Eclectic Images for our wedding day photographer, I love Vanessa's style. She was really able to capture the urban look we wanted and has a keen eye for detail. I would highly recommend her to anyone. A+





Videographer:
Bob with Wild Parrot - A

We hadly noticed Bob the whole day, which was great. Although we haven't seen the full length video - what we have seen of the short clip was amazing. Leading up to the wedding he was very responsive to all of our emails.

Florist:
Tina with Prive Floral - A+

Everything was perfect. Tina was able to replicate all of my ideas and helped us achieve our overall style and mood we wanted for our wedding. Tina was quick to respond to our emails and helped me to work through my different ideas and worked well within our budget. She also did a few extra things with no charge, which was extremely kind.





Ceremony and Cocktail Hour Music:
Barton Strings (string quartet) - A+

I hadly remember hearing the string quartet. I missed most of what they played during the ceremony and then again during the cocktail hour because we were having pictures taken. However from the parts I do remember they sounded amazing. They were very professional and added that extra element of elegance.

Reception Band: Blind Date - A++

They were perfect in everyway. I am so glad that we hired them. They looked and sounded very professional. We had so many compliments about this band. Natalie (one of the singers) was very responsive to our emails and requests. We asked them if they could play 'Fields of Gold' for our first dance and they said that they would learn it for us!

Dress and Alterations: Julian Gold - A+

Monique L'huillier: Monet

I bought my dress at the Julian Gold store in San Antonio however I had the alterations done in Austin. We flew into Austin from overseas a week before the wedding and I had still had to have the dress altered. I was so nervious having alterations done that close to the wedding. Barbie (the lady from the SA store) drove up to Austin to make sure I was taken care of. All the ladies at the store were so sweet and accomodating.



Veil: JJ Kelly Bridal - A

Toni Federici: Lydia

I loved my veil! The lace matched my dress perfectly. I bought it from JJ Kelly Bridal in Oklahoma City. I had originally tried on my dress at this store however bought it from Julian Gold because they were having a trunk sale with 10% off the dress.

Bridesmaids' Attire: Lynn Lugo - A

I love this vendor. I was able to email the designer directly and get advice about the various styles. Alough the dress cost more than I wanted, the quality of the material and the design was well worth the money. The website was very informative and allows you to even custom design the dresses - adding and subtracting items. Lynn was so kind and sent fabric samples to me while I was in Australia with no charge. She also had them made 4 weeks earlier with no extra charge. We also ordered a sash for the flower girl and extra material - my SIL fell pregnant after we ordered the dresses. The color is pistachio and the fabric is dupioni silk.

Flower Girl's Dress: Briar Patch - A

I had searched everywhere for a flower girl dress made from dupioni silk however I couldn't find them for less than $200. Then I stumbled across the Briar Patch - $49! 100% dupioni silk, fully lined with a petticoat. My niece loved this dress!

Groomsmen Attire: Men's Wearhouse - B+

There were a few mix-ups with the color of my father's bowtie, which we had to pay to be changed. Everything was organised via the phone so I guess we should be lucky that there weren't any more problems.

Hair: Sage Salon - B

I loved how my hair turned out. The knot at the back looked perfect and mirrored the picture of what I wanted. However, I found the hair stylist unfriendly! The atmosphere of the salon and the presentation of the stylists was unimpressive, sloppy and overall disappointing. The stylist looked like she had just rolled out of bed. They have an amzing website and for the prices they charge I expected more. The stylist made it seem like it was an effort to have a conversation with me. I left the salon feeling so aggravated.



Make-up: Vanessa with M.A.C - A++

Vanessa was a star! I had a free trial with her at the MAC counter in Dillards at the Barton Creek Mall. She was very friencly and professional. During my trial I had mentioned that I had had some problems with finding a salon to do my BM's hair. She not only recommended a great place but also called them and arranged the whole thing. On the day of she went to the salon to do the girls make-up after they had each had their hair done and then she did my make-up back at the hotel. Everyone's make-up looked incredible and she worked well with everyone's facial features. She doesn't have a website but her email address is:
vjane888@sbcglobal.net





Nails: Milk and Honey Spa - A

I would highly-recommend this spa - it has a relaxing atmosphere, friendly staff and high quality treatments. I had a manicure and pedicure and they looked perfect.

Get-Away Car: Antique Limos - B+

I loved the car! It was a beautiful touch to the end of our night. The driver arrived on time and was very accommodating. We hired it for the minimum for 2 hours however only used it for an hour. They were very difficult to get a hold of. We called them 3 or 4 times before we spoke to a person and this was after emailing them and asking them what their office hours were.

Alcohol: Grape Vine Market - A+

They were great! Great selections, great prices and great service. They had a very international selection and helped us with all of our quantities. I highly recommend them.

Wedding Night Hotel: The Driskill - A

Our room was amazing! We had a view over looking 6th street from a corner balcony, which was wild as it was during SxSW. All of the staff were friendly. My only compliant is that it was quite expensive.

Hotel Block:
Embassy Suites (Arboretum) - A-

Free cooked to order breakfast, free happy hour drinks and free wireless Internet - what more could you want? The rooms were clean and comfortable. They also give a great group discount.

Rehearsal Dinner: Iron Cactus - B+

The food was great! The members of the wait staff were very friendly and Joanna was very responsive to our emails and answered all of our requests. The one complaint I have is that we ran out of food and had to pay extra.



My Dad and I (left) and my MIL, DH and I (right).

Non-Pro Picture: