Emma + Sam // DIY Austin Wedding

Weddings

Jul 25

Emma and Sam are two really amazing local artists(painter and photographer) who were referred to me by a friend of a friend from Atlanta. I love all the weird ways people find me and I love that these two found me for their wonderful DIY wedding on May 11th at Tiny T Ranch.

Tiny T Ranch is just east of Austin and is owned be a well-known officiant here, Spike Gillespie. It’s a big, beautiful piece of land with horses, chickens, a tiny chapel, a house where you can stay for the weekend, and another building for receptions.

Emma and Sam’s wedding was totally them. It was colorful, cute, and full of good humor, music, and sweet personal touches. They made all the decor for the wedding, and it was so lovely. There were lots of poms, string lights, and hand painted signage. Emma painted all the signage. She even made her own bouquet, which was a really cool ball of broaches and pins that included some family pins and photos (you’ll see it in the photos below!). This wedding is such a great example of how you can take some of the things that are traditionally outsourced and do it yourself. I’m sure it was a lot of work but the result was really cute and meaningful.

Emma and Sam and some of the wedding party stayed at the house over the weekend, and when I got there everyone was just hanging out and eating Sonic and getting their makeup done. We did a first look in the field next to the chapel and took photos inside the chapel with all the beautiful stained glass windows and great light.

Around 6 months ago, Emma, Sam, and I went out to Tiny Tree Ranch and they buried a bottle of whiskey for good luck for the weather on their wedding day. I’ve never seen anyone do that but I loved it and I think it worked because it didn’t rain on the day of wedding! Just before the ceremony, they dug up the bottle and they and the wedding party had a drink.

Their ceremony was sweet, and their reception was sweet and so fun. Her dad played a song during the reception that was so beautiful, and everyone cried.

Some of my favorite touches were Emma’s amazing embroidered boots (that she told me she got for something ridiculous like $8), the little table numbering system based on songs they love, the seating arrangement name cards on colorful library checkout slips, a queso station, and the little station with Instax camera for people to take fun photos.

I loved that the wedding party all wore different outfits and that the wedding was catered by Eldorado, one of my favorite Mexican restaurants in Austin (I actually went there yesterday).

Big thanks to these amazing vendors for helping make this day special: