our wedding story

Ryan and I have been married for almost 9 months now, and although it may be far beyond our wedding day, we're still newlyweds for at least 3 more!! So... before ANY more time flies by, I'm dedicating this particular blog post to our wedding.

Let me start with our engagement, and oh man, do I have a story for you. It all started when I received an offer to work for Mark Hampton, a very prominent design firm in Manhattan, the summer before my last year in college. Being a self proclaimed home body, I was very indecisive on accepting this amazing offer. Even though it would only be a one month-long internship, I found myself worried that I would get home sick and be way out of my league in such a city! Ryan, being an opportunist, was so supportive and encouraging of this incredible offer and said that if I ever wanted to be a serious designer that I couldn't pass up working for Alexa Hampton herself! (Little did I know the plans he had in store!)

Alexa Hampton

{side note: I will definitely be blogging about my internship experience. Alexa was so amazing to intern for, and I learned a wealth of knowledge during my short time there}

After much encouragement from my mom & Ryan, I accepted the offer and headed to New York City with visions of Reese Witherspoon from Sweet Home Alamaba in my head :)

So I take the plunge and head to New York. Unfortunately my interior design friends received internships else where so my amazing mom went with me to "supervise". We sublet an apartment from MR. BIG himself. I swear. This guy was foreign and straight out of a movie....navy sports coat, jeans, & prada shoes....not my type, but certainly easy on the eyes! The internship was going 100% as planned and my mom and I were fitting right in. The city was amazing and the possibilities were endless. My mom stayed for 2 weeks and decided it was time to head out. Luckily Ryan was coming to visit the next day.

my mom and I in front of the

office building where I interned

Ryan arrived on a Friday evening just as I got off work. I met him at my apartment and we headed out to a really quaint dinner on the Upper East. Saturday we woke up and went for a nice jog in central park. The day was going to great... we went for frozen hot chocolate at the acclaimed Serendipity and continued to peruse around New York. I took Ryan to store after store and never heard ANY complaints (looking back that should have been my first clue that something was up.) Finally at about 4:00 Ryan mentioned that we may want to go home and get ready for dinner. He mentioned this place that he had heard of called "the 21 club" that he thought would be nice for dinner. He said that it was mainly a bar but that they had a small dining area that would seat 21 people (should have been my 2nd clue.) I had been there before and knew that it was no casual dining...I put on a black dress, he a suit, and we headed on our way. As we passed Central Park he had the taxi driver drop us off. We were early for our reservations so he though it would be a great chance to take a carriage ride. (my 3rd clue.) Unfortunately, the city was experiencing an unusual heat wave and the horses were not permitted to be out in the sun. Ryan became unusually flustered and I could tell he was in panic mode... No more clues! Now I knew, something was up.

Living in the moment, Ryan asked if I wanted to go for a walk. My heart sank and I knew what was coming!!!! I played along and hiked through Central Park in my black dress and 4" pumps. We dodged marathoners as we headed to a quaint little grove with a creek inside the park. Luckily the crowd was starting to thin a little and I could feel him slowing down... looking for the perfect spot. Just when the sweat started rolling down the back of my legs and my feet couldn't take it any longer, he stopped- got on one knee-

and asked me to marry him!!

We were so in the moment that we didn't even acknowledge the small crowd that had gathered and started applauding when he dropped his knee!! I mean I felt like I had fallen straight into a jewelry commercial!

I couldn't have dreamt it any better!

So we head to dinner and of course I try to call my mom straight from the taxi (the most important call of a girl's life, and my own mother didn't answer!!) I called my dad...no answer...

surely they were expecting this!! Where were they? Ryan told me not to worry about it that we would touch base later. He said that he had champagne waiting for us at dinner.

We get to the restaurant and follow the hostess up a small elevator to the private dining room. He opens the door, and BOTH OF OUR FAMILIES WERE THERE TO SURPRISE ME!! I thought I might faint.

so shocked

amazed by his planning

the ring

our wonderful family

It was the most exciting moment of my life and to think that someone I love had planned the whole thing out, just for me, was indescribable! We had an amazing meal, then went to The Marquee to celebrate!! Our families stayed in New York and celebrated together for a few more days. New York was the perfect backdrop, to what I felt like, the perfect engagement! My mom and I decided to take advantage of our last week in New York to do some serious wedding planning!

I tried on dress after dress, even going into the very high dollar places that I knew I couldn't afford, but just to say I did! Being two peas in a pod, my mom and I had the most fun time brainstorming about all the meticulous wedding details we had to look forward to.

my beautiful mom- isn't she cute?

The life leading up to one's wedding is actually quite morphed. You put unyielding emphasis on "life changing" decisions such as satin or lace, Vera or Pricilla, formal or semi-formal... When inside the wedding bubble that society has so conveniently created, one feels these topics are perfectly normal. Flowers, food and wedding fundamentals become daily jargon inside your already hectic head, to the point where you actually start believing that your napkin design could quite possibly determine the future of your marriage.

Luckily I had my wonderful mom to conquer all the meticulous wedding decisions....Being the polished city girl from Houston that she is, she faced each step of the wedding process with creativity and class. We had so much fun together as we made our day trips to Dallas- squeezing any time we had to shop details between work and school! It was such a busy and stressful time (working, graduating, & wedding planning) but my mom always found a way to put things in perspective and lend a helping hand. She has always been my go-to-girl and planning the wedding was no different. Haha- I wish I had recorded the countless late night phone calls we had when designing the graphics for the save the dates- no one would have believed us.

bridal portraits.

So the planning continued and our mother-daughter team seemed unstoppable...Nothing could get past us...."flowers: check. band: check. specialty lighting: check check."- we had this thing beat....Two computer crashes and one forgotten garter later, we can now look back and laugh, cry, and celebrate the amazing wedding that it was.

Picture credits go to Kristin Bednarz. She is the most amazing wedding photographer and she captured every moment perfectly! Check our her blog and book her for your next big event!

the ceremony

the reception

our toast

yummy cake

amazing party

our first dance

our best friends

the most incredible parents

that made it all possible

the wedding.

The wedding was simply amazing. It was everything I had ever hoped for and more. We were so grateful to have had all of our friends and family with us to share in such a memorable time.

So here we are...

So here we are- married -the new Mr. & Mrs. Rowland- sitting around pondering what to do next. Painting our house is definitely on the list- but requires physical effort (taping, priming, rolling, etc). Changing out our kitchen hardware sounds enticing- but requires online shopping at anthropologie with money we don't have....and the endless stack of laundry to be washed certainly can't keep my attention for more than a couple loads.With this being said- I've decided that to keep myself on the forefront of popular culture and avoid getting stir crazy that I will manage our own "family" blog.

I've always ignored those commercials that say "life comes at you fast", until I recently decided that it does. I woke up today to realize that I'd graduated, gotten married, been catapulted into the working world, and summoned to jury duty all in a matter of months! What is this?! All jokes aside- I have to say married life is amazing. I can sometimes come off as a cynic when it comes to everyday topics- but truth is I'm a hopeless romantic who has found exactly what I want in a husband.

Meet Ryan:

My adorable, smart, loving husband. Ryan and I met when I was a Freshman at UT. Needless to say we hit it off and I ended up back here in my hometown.

He continues to surprise me with his patience and logic. Let's face it- being married to me has to be similar to a roller coaster ride. Fun at times and scary at others... ha- well at least I'm honest. He's my best friend and 7 months in- I couldn't be happier.

He is currently a second year medical student at Texas Tech University. Being married to a med student has made me want to write a sitcom. The random and somewhat useless facts I have learned in the past two years could possibly be a topic worth blogging about in the future.

Meet Emma:

My sweet, now one-eyed chocolate lab pup who destroys an average of two socks a day. This is Emma in her prime- two eyes and all. (back in her glory days she was quite the looker). She lost her eye in an intense game of chicken with a Lexus. She did it in style though and now gets lots of extra table scraps at her left eye's expense. We decided to use the upsetting loss of her left eye to our Halloween party's advantage by dressing her up as a pirate! No patch was necessary, she was very believable :)

With one eye or two, she's a very smart girl.

She even knows how to shut the door!

Emma shutting the door, we're very proud :)

Meet Heather:

I am a fresh graduate of Texas Tech University. I work for a very prominent builder in town designing upscale residential homes and absolutely love my job. Although I often feel under-qualified (yes your read it right- I said under) I truly love the risk and reward that comes with the job. Most people think that since I went to school for Interior Design that I'm really good at picking colors and hot glueing boas onto lamps or something of that sort. Truth

is I am what some might call an "un-glorified architect". My job entails drafting floor plans, electrical plans, dimension plans, roof plans, interior millwork elevations, and exterior elevations. I do actually get to pick out furniture and finish specifications for some jobs which is always fun.... Lately I have been busier than ever at work as I have taken over all of our marketing. I created and manage both of our company websites and create all the graphics for our advertising publications. I have loved the new responsibly I've been given and sadly, thrive on being stressed! So just know that being an "interior designer" is not always as glamorous as it sounds. Truth is, designing houses is extremely challenging and luckily that's what keeps me coming back!!

Well I have successfully still not finished all of our laundry or made any home improvements for the day- but hopefully have kicked off a fun, new, and exciting hobby that will keep me entertained in this new chapter of our lives! Until next time.