Elegant Fall-Colors Hill Country Wedding at King River Ranch

This week, as all of us take shelter, rebuild and regroup from the unprecedented deluge of Hurricane Harvey, and take stock of everything that is dear and precious to us, we will be sharing some of our favorite weddings of the last few years. If you need an escape, a moment of peace, a reminder of the importance of family, friends and, above all, love, please settle in, snuggle down and join us. And once the storm clouds clear, and the water recedes, let us know what we can do to help you. We are all in this together. #BeStrongHouston #LoveConquersAll

“It was Jill’s smile, full of life and joy, that captivated me in her profile picture on Match.com,” Marina says. “We met for the first time at the Memorial Park running trails in Houston. She was so radiant, sweet, funny and smart. I was immediately besotted with her. The more time I spent with her, the more I saw that what most people would think are flaws are actually her perfections, just reaffirming over and over again that she truly was the one for me. I was most certainly going to marry this woman. And what a woman she is.”

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As for Jill, well, “I had given up on love,” she says, “and then came Marina. She was so certain all along that we were meant to be. I was skeptical… could this be the real thing? Could love endure and grow into a lasting relationship? Marina’s love opened my eyes and kindled a fire in my heart. And she was right…we were in fact, meant to be. She’s beautiful, smart, funny, with a heart full of love. I am caught…forever.” And so are we. Join us in celebrating Houston couple Marina and Jill’s beautiful destination wedding at breathtaking King River Ranch, one of our absolute favorite Hill Country wedding venues.

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With its “French country theme” and incorporation of the fall season’s colorful splendor into magnificent bouquets and floral arrangements by King River Ranch’s in-house floral design firm, Willem-Aiden, “Everything was rustic and elegant at the same time,” the couple tells us. And the joy this couple shares, well–it shines through every aspect of their celebration. Congratulations, Marina & Jill!

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Photos: Pamela Hults Photography | Venue: King River Ranch | Planner: Eventfully Yours, LLC

8 Destination Wedding Spots Tailor-Made for Houston Couples

The escape from city crowds, the beautiful natural settings, the promise of abundant R&R with beloved family and friends—what’s not to love about a destination wedding? While the experience of a destination celebration is all about leisure, narrowing down the choices for your destination-wedding location can be, well…a lot of work. So allow us to assist you, with a peek into some of our favorite settings for the nuptial celebration of a lifetime—one that will let you and your guests enjoy life to the fullest!

NAPA VALLEY VISTAS

St. Helena

Special events at The Culinary Institute of America Greystone.

Photo: Courtesy of Culinary Institute of America at Greystone

In the center of Northern California’s world-renowned Napa Valley sits charming St. Helena—home of legendary hot-air-ballooning, diverse art galleries and vibrant family wineries. Known as “Napa Valley’s main street,” St. Helena also is home to the Culinary Institute of America’s magnificent Greystone campus, where regal 19th-century architecture meets spectacular vineyard views…and where every wedding is an unforgettable celebration of food, wine, family and friends.

Texas-based couples love hosting guests at this iconic venue—and with good reason. Where else but at CIA-Greystone, former site of the historic Christian Brothers winery, can you find a 90-foot-tall atrium, a stunning barrel room, and some of the world’s most exciting cuisine and wines, all in one place?

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Venue: CIA-Copia | Photo: Victor M. Samuel

For a Napa Valley food-focused wedding in a more contemporary setting, set your sights on the Culinary Institute of America’s newest facility: Copia. Located in the city of Napa itself, CIA-Copia is a food-lover’s playground, and a perfect place for lovers to celebrate the bond of marriage with those they love most.

Copia’s sophisticated mezzanine deck, overlooking the glass-walled atrium, modern amphitheater and the Napa River in the background, is among the venue’s most coveted spaces for sipping fine wine and craft cocktails, and feasting on custom menu items created in collaboration with CIA chefs.

You and your wedding guests also will get to take advantage of Copia’s many options for foodie fun. Located adjacent to the lively Oxbow Public Market in downtown Napa, Copia offers culinary classes and demonstrations, tastings, and a fabulous on-site store where you’ll find everything from local wild mushrooms to luxurious French cookware.

HEAD FOR THE HILL COUNTRY

Wimberley

Old Glory Ranch

Venue: Old Glory Ranch | Photo: Anthology Photography

Historic Texas mill town Wimberley, located 45 miles southwest of Austin, is a haven for weekend antiquers, art-lovers and outdoors-enthusiasts. It’s also a picture-perfect location for your riverfront destination celebration.

For a wedding that takes full advantage of the natural beauty of this beloved Hill Country locale—but also allows for an on-site chapel ceremony and elegant ballroom-style reception—be sure to check out Old Glory Ranch, situated on 2,200 acres of Hill Country range along 1.5 miles of dazzling Blanco River frontage.

Whether you choose to say your vows in Old Glory’s enchanting Oak Grove, on a patio overlooking the emerald-green Blanco, or inside the venue’s climate-controlled Chapel Hall (built from repurposed homes and churches from the turn of the 20th century), you’ll know that your event will be given the full attention of Old Glory’s experienced staff—some of whom have been with the venue for more than a decade.

And make sure to inquire about the venue’s beloved miniature donkeys—which, when saddled with vibrant flower baskets, elicit “ooh’s” and “ahh’s” from guests young and old, and are a favorite for newlywed photo ops.

Dripping Springs

Terrace Club

Venue: The Terrace Club | Photo: George Street Photography

Known as the “Gateway to the Hill Country,” picturesque Dripping Springs is located just 25 miles west of downtown Austin, but feels like a million miles away from the big city. A visit to Dripping Springs might find you gobbling down Texas barbecue, plunging into the jade-green waters of famed Hamilton Pool, or two-stepping at a historic Texas dancehall.

A destination-venue-hunting trip to Dripping Springs must take you to The Terrace Club, where you’ll find yourself on top of the highest ridge in the region, overlooking acre upon acre of spectacular Hill Country scenery.

Terrace Club couples love to descend the stone walkway, and say their vows in the venue’s garden space, beneath a flower-bedecked arbor (and, more often than not, in front of a majestic Hill Country sunset), before making their way with their guests to the 7,000-square-foot ballroom, for dining and dancing. Since everything, from catering to rentals to centerpieces, is included in their wedding package, couples need focus only on the festivities, which means they have way more energy to enjoy a Dripping Springs wedding weekend of lawn games, local lake adventures, and celebratory hijinks at the acclaimed Deep Eddy Vodka distillery, located adjacent to the venue.

Johnson City

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Venue: King River Ranch | Photo:Bonnie & Lauren Weddings

In picturesque Blanco County, along the Pedernales River, lies the “Crossroads of the Hill Country”: Johnson City. Home to the “Texas White House”—aka the childhood home of President Lyndon Johnson—this charming Hill Country enclave, located just under 50 miles west of Austin, boasts countless nearby wineries, plus local hiking, fishing, horseback riding and hot-air-ballooning.

It also boasts beautiful King River Ranch, a stunning wedding spot set on a private ¼-mile stretch of the Pedernales, where horses, miniature donkeys and St. Croix sheep graze in expansive pastures…and where in-house wedding design services are provided by Willem-Aiden, a former fixture on Hollywood’s lavish event-design scene.

In love with the Hill Country, but got your sights set on a big, beautiful wedding, with all the whistles and bells of an in-town bash? King River Ranch’s King Barn can accommodate 250 for a seated dinner and dancing, while the venue’s spectacular River Terrace, built directly into dramatic rocky riverbank, provides an unparalleled backdrop for relaxed (but ultra-elegant) revelry.

GO WEST, YOUNG TO-BE-WEDS

New Ulm

The Vine

Venue: The Vine | Photo: Smith House Photography

Just west of Houston, set on 23 rolling acres filled with gently swaying trees and sunset views for miles, The Vine started as a rough sketch and a dream…and is now a regal private event venue that makes wedding-couples’ dreams come true.

The Vine’s capacious Barrel Barn may have “barn” in its name and customized sliding reclaimed barn doors at its entrance—but the nod to a rustic farm structure stops there. This remarkable 500-guest-capacity reception space features floor-to-ceiling flagstone fireplaces, gleaming wood surfaces and state-of-the-art lighting and sound capabilities, plus the ability to slide back those big ol’ barn doors and let nature in when the weather allows.

For a destination wedding ceremony with a contemporary chapel feel, The Vine’s on-site Union Bell Chapel is true to its name, with a working bell that newlywed couples can ring as they exit the chapel and make their way to the party of a lifetime.

Future weddings at The Vine will get to enjoy the fruits of this venue’s labors—literally—as the property’s young grapevines will be ready for harvest in the next couple of years, and eventually will be featured at the venue’s planned tasting room.

Columbus

Big Easy Ranch

Venue: Big Easy Ranch | Photo: Joey T. Photography

Situated 70 miles west of Houston and 80 miles southwest of Austin, Big Easy Ranch has everything a weekend wedding group could want, all on one magnificent 1,300-acre property.

Tour the grounds of this true-Texas-style destination resort, and you’re likely to stumble on sparkling lakes, picture-perfect ponds, cascading waterfalls and stands of centuries-old oak—any of which might strike you as a perfect spot for your al-fresco “I do’s.”

Dining, dancing and revelry typically take place in the 10,000-square-foot Lodge, where celebrants can feast on farm-to-table cuisine prepared by the ranch’s award-winning chef (gourmet game, and seafood with a Southern twist, are just a couple of his specialties).

During their leisure hours—one of the greatest appeals of a weekend destination wedding, after all—attendees may want to avail themselves of Big Easy Ranch’s Chet William-designed championship golf course, cast a line in one of the property’s well-stocked streams or lakes, or take a chance on trophy hunting with one of the ranch’s expert guides (Big Easy Ranch happens to be one of the top-producing whitetail ranches in Texas).

However you choose to round out your Big Easy Ranch wedding weekend, you’ll enjoy a destination wedding experience, at a destination so close to home, you’ll be snuggled down in your newlywed nest almost before you know it.

MEXICO IS FOR LOVERS

Cancun & Tulum

Oasis Hotels & Resorts

Photo: Courtesy of Oasis Hotels & Resorts

For busy couples who crave an oceanfront destination wedding without the logistical and design responsibilities a destination wedding can entail, Oasis Hotels & Resorts has the ideal wedding package solution, in one of two Yucatan Peninsula destinations: Cancun, offering dazzling beaches, endless shopping and high-energy nightlife; or Tulum, where soaring cliffs and Mayan ruins meet soft sands and cavernous cenotes.

Whichever site you select, Oasis will take care of every detail, from ceremony to reception to accommodations and more, when you choose the “O Weddings” package that fits your destination-wedding dream.

Options include the O Mayan Package, which incorporates local history and culture into your nuptials, with a traditional Mayan altar setup at your beachfront location, and a ceremony performed in the Mayan language (with English or Spanish translation, of course!).

For larger, more lavish celebrations, the O Eternity Package includes exclusive ceremony and reception decor; a private poolside or beachfront dinner with open bar, DJ and custom lighting; and a rehearsal dinner in one of the resort’s acclaimed specialty restaurants.

And while your O Weddings package features may be pre-set, the service you’ll receive is completely personalized. Oasis Resorts’ U.S.-based staff will serve as your concierge throughout the planning process, and put you in touch with your own personal bilingual wedding expert, on site, to make everything simple…and superb.

Hill Country Spotlight: King River Ranch PLUS Exclusive Booking Offer

Hill Country Spotlight: King River Ranch PLUS Exclusive Booking Offer

Photos: Courtesy of King River Ranch

A private quarter mile of the rushing Pedernales River is the dramatic backdrop for ceremonies at King River Ranch. And that’s just the beginning.

From the first moment David Hahn set his eyes on the site of what would become King River Ranch, he was smitten with its spectacular natural beauty. He was also captivated with the ranch’s uniquely Texan history, first as the location of generations of thriving Comanche settlements, and more recently as a development undertaken by a former president of the Texas Rangers Foundation.

Hahn knew he had found the exact place he had been looking for—and set about creating, on the site, a wedding venue that countless couples have come to feel the same instant connection with, the moment they arrive at this stunning spot, located at the start of Hill Country’s famed 290 Wine Trail.

We, too, are smitten with King River Ranch, for more reasons than there are bluebonnets in bloom on a spring day on the venue’s sprawling acreage.

But here are just a few of our favorites:

  • The Barn, crafted from 100% Ponderosa pine, and bordered by a picturesque pond on one side, and an awe-inspiring horse pasture filled with friendly livestock out the other—a perfect spot for a rustic-elegant reception where dancing spins on late into the night.

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Photo: Courtesy of King River Ranch

  • The getting-prepped areas, with 3,000 square feet of luxurious space that includes a makeup and hair studio, a two-story fireplace, a veranda with river views, and, for the guys, plenty of diversions (large-screen TV, foosball, wet bar and more) to keep them occupied while the gals get ready for the big day.

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Photo: Courtesy of King River Ranch

  • The service offerings, which include floral and design artistry from Willem-Aiden, King River Ranch’s on-site decor firm, and a former event design provider for clients including the Screen Actor’s Guild Awards, American Idol, Cadillac and Audi (Hahn headed up Willem-Aiden in Los Angeles before setting his sights on a more easygoing Hill Country lifestyle).

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Photo: Courtesy of King River Ranch

Celebrate your nuptials at King River Ranch, and you’ll enjoy not just an incredible Texas Hill Country getaway with up to 250 of your friends and family, but you—and they—will also get a chance to enjoy nearby attractions including “countless wineries, high-end whiskey and rum distillery tours, a 20,000-square-foot brewery, a world-class children’s science museum, an Italian art center, hot air balloon rides, helicopter tours, winery tours, live music horseback riding, hiking, fishing, and of course, an endless array of some of the country’s best lodging, shopping and dining,” Hahn says.

EXCLUSIVE OFFER: Book your wedding for an off-peak date in February, August or December by Dec. 31, 2016, and you’ll receive $250 worth of Willem-Aiden decor rentals for free! Make sure to let the venue know you found them on the Houston Wedding Blog . And make one of the best planning decisions you can: a King River Ranch wedding your guests will never forget!