A New Year's Eve Wedding in Fredericksburg, Texas

My dear people,
Let us love one another
Since love comes from God
And everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows God.
Anyone who fails to love can never have known God,
Because God is love.

New Year’s Eve has always been a special holiday for George and I. When we first started dating, we were commuting from Texas to Florida (SO many plane tickets). George’s sports schedule wouldn’t allow him to travel during the spring or fall, so New Year’s Eve was the one holiday we could count on celebrating together! Our first NYE together we popped champagne at a party in Nashville at Acme on Broadway. One year we traveled to the Windy City for a NYE bash at a swanky hotel. One quiet NYE was spent at Jack Fry’s in Louisville. We love an opportunity to celebrate new beginnings, so NYE became a perfect wedding date for us.

George popped the question on the rooftop of The Colligate Hotel in Downtown Auburn in September of 2019 (read more about it HERE). We started planning quickly after our engagement celebrations, as we had to work around Auburn Athletic’s schedule AND deployment schedules for my brother (James is a Marine!). After clearing the date with my childhood parish, Saint Mary’s Catholic Church in Fredericksburg, planning for our nuptials were full steam ahead! We were SET for December 31, 2020 in Fredericksburg, Texas.

We booked our vendors after lots of research and price comparisons. We decided on The Barn at Swallow’s Eve as our venue, as it was a short ride from downtown Fredericksburg and could accommodate our numbers and reception vision. We had meetings with our caterer, My Own Chef, about planning the menu (we LOVE Vicky and Darrell). Florals were ordered. A DJ was booked (highly recommended by a friend). Everything was rolling right along!

Until.

March 2020.

I am a COVID bride.

George is a COVID groom.

Each time I’ve thought about writing about our special day, I’ve paused. Our wedding was absolutely magical and I’m so thankful to be George’s wife. The amount of memories and emotions tied up with the day are many. The emotional spectrum that comes with being a 2020 bride is as vibrant and dark and complex as I imagine Michelangelo’s paint pallet to be. It’s overwhelming.

Every bride knows there will be some level of stress to weather when planning a wedding. However, throwing in a global pandemic, long-distance wedding planning, full-blown panic attacks and a never-ending stream of fear-mongering/sensational news headlines … and the stress is compounded by 10.

I cried so hard ~12 days before our wedding that I could hardly open my eyes the next day. No amount of frozen jade rollers could have helped.

But THIS is what I knew to be true.

I wanted to marry George. Sooner rather than later. If anything, the headlines reminded us how little time we had left on the Earth. We didn’t care about the party. Well. We DID care, but when you strip everything down to it’s core…

All we really needed was a church, a priest, and each other.

So we did all we could think to do: we put one foot in front of the other. One day at a time. And we leaned on each other for support.

New Year’s Eve was a Thursday. I was finally excited about the wedding on the Tuesday prior to our big day. Friends and family had made the journey from Kentucky, California, Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee. Relief washed over me as I gave hugs on the porch of Hoffman Haus. After five years of dating and 15 months of engagement, George and I were finally going to the do the damn thing.

We can’t thank our friends and family members enough for the support we received during our engagement. We had family members and friends send sweet notes as they celebrated from afar. Family members and friends who helped with the mental load of planning and setting up our reception decor. Family members and friends who prayed for us. Family members and friends who watched our ceremony on Facebook Live to join in as we accepted the sacrament of marriage. Family members and friends who ran through airports, transported gifts, brought us coffee, ran last-minute wedding errands and loved on us.

It took a village. And for that - we are FOREVER thankful.

Always be thankful. Let the message of Christ, in all it’s richness, find a home with you. Teach each other, and advise each other, in all wisdom. With gratitude in your hearts sing psalms and hymns and inspired songs to God; and never say or do anything except in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Colossians 3: 12-17

Now on to the fun stuff.

I woke up on our wedding day to the sound of rain hitting the roof of our B&B. A few of my bridesmaids and I had spent the night at The Evers House (formerly the Inn on Baron’s Creek). The owners renovated an old historic Fredericksburg home into a beautiful inn with multiple bedrooms, a shared kitchen & dining space, and each morning they would leave a picnic basket with breakfast goodies at your door. It was perfect for us! It allowed the hubbies to also stay in the same place.

The morning brought feelings of nervous excitement! After my bridesmaids woke me up to singing “Going to the Chapel” (TOO CUTE), the girls and I bundled up for a quick drive over to Hoffman Haus where we got ready in one of the cabin suites. My bridesmaid, Ashley, had put together a “GETTING READY TO WED” playlist, so we listened to some fun tunes while enjoying mimosas and having our hair & makeup done. Because we were having a NYE wedding, our dress code was “Texas Black Tie Optional”! The boys were wearing tuxedos and I loved the idea of having my best gals in long black gowns. After doing some “long black gown” googling, I opted to have my bridesmaids pick their own black dresses (thankfully, black is an easier color to match). Gowns are expensive, so I wanted them to be able to re-wear the dresses! And GOODNESS my gals looked gorgeous!!

Our wedding ceremony was set for 2pm at Saint Mary’s Church, which is the parish where I grew up. Pre-ceremony, I did a “reveal” with my father and brother. Seeing their reactions was so special (James shed a tear - so sweet!).

Moments before walking down the aisle, my best friend and maid of honor (Carla) asked how I was feeling.

My response: “LET’S F**KING DO THIS!!” * cue giggles

I was about ready to run down the aisle to marry George.

“For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” Ephesians 5:31

The ceremony was beautiful - the homily given by a family friend. As soon as George and I were pronounced man & wife, we walked down the aisle, out of the church into a flurry of snowflakes. It was magical. It was a miracle.

Then. THEN. It was time to party. Our signature cocktails were bourbon with a splash of water (his) and a paloma (hers). My favorite food is Mexican, so we designed our menu around latin cuisine with chips & queso, a taco bar and all of the sides. There were first dances, toasts and heartfelt hugs. George opted to bash a champagne piñata while blindfolded for his garter toss. My maid of honor caught the bouquet (and she was, indeed, the next person to get married!). George and I changed into light-up dance shoes and burned at least 1,000 calories on the dance floor.

Perhaps the wedding was a way for everyone to let go of all things 2020. Perhaps it was a way to usher in a new year full of joy, (better) luck and laughter. It was a NYE we will never forget!

The next day was a holiday AND a Friday. We spent our first day as a married couple with friends and family drinking wine (LOTS of wine) at a vineyard while sitting in the sunshine and 65 degree weather. It couldn’t have been more perfect.

Like the weather that weekend, our wedding had some highs and lows. But we SURELY entered 2021 with a bang.