When your love story starts at a wedding, planning your own “I do’s” is just that much more special.
Rachel is a photographer and Aaron is a musician—both very familiar with the wedding biz. The two first connected when Aaron was a groomsman at a wedding Rachel was shooting. And how’s this for full circle: the couple whose wedding they met at gave a speech at Rachel + Aaron’s colorful celebration in Southtown San Antonio, Texas!
“As wedding vendors ourselves we really wanted to have a light-hearted and intimate wedding day with only a handful of our closest friends and family in attendance,” says the couple. So, with the planning help of Dina Simoneaux, Rachel + Aaron put together a small soirée at chic San Antonio restaurant Upscale in the heart of the super cool neighborhood where they had their first official date.
The pictures from Angelisa Rios Photography captured it all perfectly: with a color palette that matched dreamy pastels with rich + funky saturated hues this wedding was the perfect balance of sweet + swanky. And the amazing short hot pink wedding dress that Rachel wore embodied the non-traditional romance of the entire day.
Let’s take a peek!
How precious are these powder blue puff sleeve + ruffle flower girl dresses! Three tiny little Cinderellas!
Most memorable moment of the day for the bride: “My most memorable moment of our wedding day was seeing Aaron crying as I walked down the aisle with our daughter, Kit, on my hip. I had our DJ play his favorite heavy metal song by the band Sleep Token to surprise him! Locking eyes with him before becoming husband and wife was the most special and memorable moment ever.”
Most memorable moment of the day for the groom: “My most memorable moment was our portrait session with our photographer, Angelisa. She became our friend when she did photos for us in NYC and flew all the way down to San Antonio for us. It became quiet for a little while as we were away from the wedding chaos and I loved just having those quiet moments with my wife, Rachel, walking around one of our favorite neighborhoods.”
“Rachel’s best friend of over a decade, Olivia Caridi, flew down from Manhattan to be both a bridesmaid and our officiant,” the couple remembers. “Olivia had actually gone on The Bachelor to find love so she opened the ceremony with a joke about how she had no idea why “Rachel and Aaron chose the single reality tv star to marry them.” Truth was that she knows us both and our daughter better than anyone! She spent countless hours gathering advice from our loved ones to incorporate into a part of her ceremony officiant speech and her words truly made us both cry.”
“The final line of both of our vows, “You & Me,” is engraved on both of our wedding ring bands from Holden,” Rachel + Aaron say. “Our vows were a surprise to each other besides agreeing on our last line being the same.”
The Reception
Houston & Emily Carpenter, also known as Carpenter Carpenter, are the restaurant geniuses behind the food, drink, and decor of Upscale. The chic San Antonio eatery supplied Rachel + Aaron’s day with everything from their reception feast, to drinks, to rentals. Total modern meets retro heaven.
Roxy De Leon created this incredible cherry-adorned vintage iced wedding cake.
Grab a pair of pink mesh bow LIURUIJIA pointed toe pumps to take a walk in Rachel’s amazing wedding shoes.
Our advice for other couples planning their own wedding is to not sweat the small stuff! Try not to stress out and just remember that whoever you choose to have there loves you both so much and that is what is important! Ditch tradition or not- just make sure it’s true to you both as a couple! We also highly advise going to your own cocktail hour- it is SUCH a special time with your loved ones and we would’ve been soooo bummed had we missed it!
Don’t miss the Toris Photo Co. video below!! Such fabulous footage!
Congrats, Rachel + Aaron on your our hip + intimate San Antonio soirée! GWS wishes you nothing but the best!
photography: Angelisa Rios Photography // venue name: Upscale Restaurant and Bar, San Antonio, TEXAS, USA // planning: Dina Simoneaux // florals: Grazi Blooms // wedding dress: By Watters // bride’s ring: Holden // getting ready robes: Waverles Pajamas // hair stylist: Karlie Boyd // makeup artist: Khalil and Co // groom attire: Studio Suits // groom’s ring: Same as bride! // videography: Tori’s Photo Co // cake: Roxy De Leon // officiant: Olivia Caridi // live sketch artist: Gavi Leveaux // venue decor, rentals, catering, cocktails: The Carpenters // detail photos + getting ready photos: Tori’s Photo Co
