Wedding | Erica & Winston

Tell us a little about yourselves!

We are Erica and Winston! Both from Texas - Erica from Austin and Winston from Houston. We met at UT Austin and have been together for 10 years this year! While Texas is home, we have lived in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and now call New York City home - I think it’s safe to say we gravitate towards bigger cities. We both love music, good restaurants, good coffee, and generally make a point to always make the most of each day exploring our city, spending time with our loved ones as much as possible, and enjoying life - we’re always trying to have a good time and make life feel a little less serious

Why did you decide to get married where you did?

South Congress Hotel has always been very special to us in our relationship. Early on in dating, we would often stay there and see couples getting married - we always joked about getting married there one day! Fast forward almost ten years to wedding planning, it was one of our top choices for those sentimental reasons and we were so happy that we could make it work. SCH is also in the heart of Austin, which is not only where I (Erica) am from but where we met in college and started our journey together, so it felt very fitting!

How many guests did you have?

We had about 110 guests. 

What was your budget? 

We were aiming for around $50,000.

Tell us about your outfits.

I absolutely loved my dress from Jenny Yoo. I knew it was the one I wanted to wear the second I put it on. It just simply felt like “me” and checked all of my boxes. It felt both modern but romantic, which was the balance I was trying to strike not only for my dress but for our entire wedding! I was really torn on whether to have a blusher or not for my veil. I ended up having my mom make the veil I always envisioned I would wear and I wore that for our first look. I then switched to a longer veil with a lace trim and blusher for the ceremony, which I kept as a surprise for Winston! 

What was the most important aspect for you, in terms of planning your wedding?

I really wanted the ceremony to be very intentional and special, and for the party following to feel natural and authentic to us. I didn’t want the day to feel overly structured or like an event with a strict schedule, but a relaxed and fun evening just celebrating with family and friends. Winston and I love to have a good time and I wanted to make sure that aspect of our relationship came through. We really cared about the atmosphere - the music choices feeling authentic to us and the food and drinks being delicious. We trusted everything else would flow by choosing the vendors we trusted and felt comfortable with! - Erica

Were there any elements that were important for you to incorporate?

I really wanted to equally honor my mom and dad throughout the wedding, which is why I had both of them walk me down the aisle. Winston and I both had our moms bring up our rings when it was time to exchange them. I also made sure to have a dance with not only my dad but my mom, too! It was important to me to have details throughout that while no one else might realize, Winston and I and our families would understand the significance. We incorporated a lot of roses to honor both my grandmothers and we had matchboxes made to look like playing cards to honor my grandpa. I really wanted to wear something handmade by my mom, which was the first veil I wore for the first look. We also had a traditional Chinese tea ceremony and incorporated a lot of red for good luck into all of our decor.

Any tips for couples getting married?

Realize that it goes by extremely fast (cliche but now that I’ve been through it I realize how true it is) and that there will be a lot of attention on you. Work on anticipating and preparing for that beforehand and making peace with it. I really focused on making sure we were focused on each other the whole night and that above all else we had fun together and didn’t let anything get us down, and I was so glad I went in with that intention. 

I would also say finding moments to be alone through the day. We read letters to each other over breakfast which was one of my favorite parts of the day. We also spent 10 minutes alone immediately after the ceremony which was so special. Anything you can do to ground yourself in why you’re there and what is important!

Are there any vendors that you would like to tell us a little more about?

Ruthie Martin, our photographer, was such a calming, enjoyable presence to have around us. I felt she did an amazing job and simply captured the essence, feeling, and candid moments of the night without making anything feel posed or unnatural. I felt transported back to that day and every feeling came rushing back when I saw her photos, which is a sign that she captured those moments in time so perfectly. Her photos were gorgeous and so special. 

Our DJ, Dart Collective, did an amazing job with our music and was so patient with our requests and specific preferences - which were a lot. He really curated the atmosphere and party we wanted!

We loved working with South Congress Hotel - they were always very attentive and responsive and we had a great time getting to know them through the process. They made it really easy and enjoyable to go through an inherently stressful wedding planning process!

Lastly, Disco Flair Rentals was so great to work with for our disco ball installation! She even met me for a site visit to discuss options when communicating via email/text was hard and we wanted to make sure everything was perfect since we weren’t sure if the installation could be done over the dance floor or not (we had our dance floor in a non-traditional place compared to how it was usually set up at the hotel).

Photographer: Ruthie Martin Photography @ruthiemartin_photo | Planning: Events By Leslie @eventsbyleslietx | Flora: Fuun Flora @fuunflora | Ceremony & Reception Location: South Congress Hotel @southcongresshotel | Celebrant: Katie Wang | Rentals: Center Stage Floors

@centerstage_floors, Premiere Events @premiereeventstx & Disco Flair Rentals Inc. @discoflairrentals

 | Makeup: by Erica | Hair: BeautyByMaty Madeline Gilmore @beautybymaty | Catering, Cake & Beverages: South Congress Hotel  @southcongresshotel | Entertainment: Dart Collective @dartcollective | Dress: Jenny Yoo @jennyyoo from Unbridaled @unbridaled | Suit: LeMaire @lemaire | Veils: (Ceremony) Etsy & (First Look) handmade by Erica's Mother | Engagement & Wedding Ring: Family Ring | Shoes: (Erica) Gucci @gucci & (Winston) LeMaire @lemaire | Earrings & Ring: Mejuri

@mejuri