A Romantic Wedding at The Springs at Mckinney

Tiffany and Chevis had their wedding planned all the way down to the napkin fold and with the help of vendor collective member; Look West Events, they were ready to say “I Do” in early June 2020. However, like many couples last year, they ultimately made the difficult decision to postpone. After many emails, calls, contract, and invitation revisions, Tiffany and Chevis were finally able to have their wedding on January 30, 2021, at The Springs Stone Hall Event Venue in McKinney, TX. Tiffany is from Baton Rouge, LA and Chevis is from Paris, TX, and their goal was to create the perfect mix of city elegance and country warmth. They chose Stone Hall as their venue because it provided a lovely rustic ambiance that could also be ‘glammed up.’ Fortunately, Tiffany’s inspiration and color palette ended up translating perfectly to a winter wedding, albeit with a few changes. Tiffany knew that she wanted to incorporate Louisiana’s state flower, the Magnolia, but the postponement from June to January presented a shift in floral seasonality. B. Marie’s flowers incorporated seasonal, lush white florals and magnolia branches which complimented the glamorous yet rustic ambiance. Deep green velvet linens, a classic white four-tier cake, and Tiffany’s sparkling, beaded bridal gown ended up shifting perfectly to a timeless, elegant winter wedding design.

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Tiffany and Chevis both come from families where food is a big part of family gatherings, and their menu was no exception. Zander’s House provided traditional celebration dishes like peking duck and ginger lobster to honor Tiffany’s Vietnamese culture, and Fig & Goat provided an abundant cheese and charcuterie display which is very on-trend at today’s Texas weddings. DJ Chris Gunn also created a perfect blend of country music to represent Chevis’s background, but plenty of pop and hip-hop to get into the Louisiana spirit! The path to their wedding day wasn’t linear, which made it rather fitting that the ceremony aisle at The Springs is long, and a bit winding. But Tiffany and Chevis navigated everything with the utmost grace and positivity, and created the most glamorous, romantic, rustic affair we’ve ever laid eyes on!

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How did you meet?

My now-husband, Chevis, and I met at a team-building event through work.  At the time, he was a new employee and our department hosted a 3-day exercise for everyone to update and review procedures for the upcoming year. I remember striking up a conversation with him almost immediately.  He’s very shy when around new people and I’m the total opposite so I tried my best to help him feel comfortable in a new work environment. After the work trip, we stayed in touch and watched as our love story started to unfold…

What is your proposal story?

Up until this point, Chevis had not met my parents yet.  Living in NE Texas, we were about 8 hours away from my family in Baton Rouge.  My mom and he planned a surprise proposal that would take place at a dinner in which our families would meet for the first time. I honestly was so nervous about my parents meeting The Springer family, I would have never imagined I’d leave with a fiancé.   Reservations were made at Texas Restaurant in Plano, TX and dinner started off great.  We were in great company, the food and drink were amazing but it came time for dessert (which I was most excited about!)  I remember ordering the crème brûlée in particular but our waitstaff instead, brought out the most amazing display.  I was so intrigued by the looks of this 8-dessert platter and sparklers, I didn’t even notice Chevis asking me to stand up.  It honestly took him a few times asking before he finally got my attention and I stood up.  Here we were, standing in front of our parents, waitstaff, and fully occupied restaurant when Chevis shared the sweetest words, got down on one knee, and asked me to marry him.  Of course, I said yes and before I knew it, everyone was in tears, clapping, and cheering for us!

Tell us a little a bit about your wedding.

Since I was a teenager, I always envisioned a glamourous wedding.  I knew I wanted royal colors and lots of floral blooms.  Our wedding color palette was actually inspired by Louisiana’s state flower, the magnolia.  Being a native, I wanted to incorporate my favorite plant so our theme was based around emerald green, pearl, and gold.    Our venue, The Springs Stone Hall Event Venue reflected the rustic country background that Chevis grew up with but the floral and décor were a reflection of my city’s elegant background.  I wanted a theme that was elegant and timeless, one that also gave off winter vibes being that our big day was in January.  We had the most amazing dark green linens in a velvet fabric and the ivory cloths were bright and almost pearlescent.  Our floral team put together a breathtaking display of white blooms with greenery and magnolia leaves while all of our accent pieces (vases, votives, candelabras, and frames) were gold.  I even ordered hand-painted wedding sides to match our color scheme and they turned out beautiful!  Our wedding ceremony was held at the venue’s outdoor location where the soft breeze took my veil perfectly as I made way down the aisle and the evening sunset lit our vows and I Do’s.  We also laid out faux-lit candles for a very romantic ambiance and our lighting stayed dim throughout the entire reception.

Tell us about your attire choices.

My bridal gown was everything I could have ever imagined.  It was a fitted mermaid shape with a front plunge, full of lace, intricate beading, and sparkles complimented by a plunge back and 10-foot veil.  My train went for days it feels like it and was the perfect dress for our special day.  Chevis wore a suit consisting of tan jacket, ivory vest and button-down shirt, ivory tie, with dark starched jeans and custom cowboy boots which were a wedding gift from me.  Our bridesmaids were in long emerald green gowns and pearl jewelry but our groomsmen were in traditional rustic attire, tan suits with dark starched jeans and cowboy boots.  The attire for our wedding ceremony and reception was semi-formal and everyone seemed to be in very royal colors as well. 

What was the most important to the two of you while planning? Was there anything that you chose to splurge on or skip?

The most important thing to the two of us while wedding planning was to make sure all aspects of our day flowed seamlessly; that everything from the dinner menu, to decor, to floral arrangements, blended perfectly.  We wanted the ceremony and reception to be one event and not appear as if our guests were going to two different events.  I think our team of vendors executed that PERFECTLY!  We’d say a few of the things we decided to splurge on were a live painter, food/drinks, and floral.  It was important to us that our guests enjoyed their time as most were traveling from out of town and even out of state.  For entertainment in addition to a DJ, we partnered with Erica Norwood who was present to paint a live portrait of our first dance.  Guests were able to see her work from start to finish and watch as she brought our wedding to a canvas.  We provided hors d’oeuvres before the 7-course dinner and even has a hefty charcuterie and dessert display.  Drinks were unlimited since we wanted everyone to have a good time and our wedding cake was enough to serve even more than our headcount.  For our florals, I didn’t want to cut any corners so long as my vision was achieved and it most definitely was!

What were your favorite parts of the day?

My favorite of the day was getting ready with my bridal party and seeing a vision I had only imagined for so long, come to life throughout the day.  I remember laughing and singing with the girls as we were getting hair and makeup done and thinking ‘ Wow, I am so lucky to have such amazing friends!’    There were several times throughout the morning that I’d take a quick walkaround the ceremony site and reception hall, seeing our linens placed on tables or our florist working on arrangements and tears of joy fell every single time.  It’s truly amazing the amount of work and dedication that goes into wedding setup.

Tell us about your wedding flowers.

Brittni with B. Marie Flowers designed our wedding ceremony arch that was fixed outside as well as another wedding arch that was displayed as a photo backdrop in our reception hall.  She used a variety of white and ivory blooms, loose greenery, and plenty of magnolia branches to bring to life what I had envisioned.  Magnolias are my absolute favorite flower and she made sure I had that inspiration in my wedding bouquet as well.  It was massive and it was exactly how I wanted it to be!    I knew I wanted a classic elegant floral setup that would always be timeless and I think the colors we chose were a perfect representation of that.  Though a neutral color palette for florals, it still made a statement against the gold accents throughout the décor.

Tell us about your wedding cake.

Sugar Bee Sweets from Arlington, TX was the master behind our wedding cake.  It was a 4-tier cake with a few different flavors (almond cake with peach amaretto filling, strawberry with pecan cream cheese, and red velvet with classic cream cheese.)  Our cake stood as tall as we did once displayed on the cake table and included a petal fondant design as well as detailed lace piping.  To go with our color palette, it was iced in ivory with a gold cake topper and white blooms + magnolia leaves for accent.

What did you do for favors?

Our party favors were custom can koozies in emerald green and black, with metallic gold font.  We created a custom monogram for lighting and used the same design on one side of the koozies in addition to the state of Texas on the other side.

Please describe any DIY, handmade, or personal details.

Simple Southern Designs out of Ft. Worth, TX hand-painted over 30 signs to be displayed to include a welcome sign, table signs, and menus.  We also placed gold-framed engagement photos throughout our reception hall to display our journey through wedding planning.

Did you include any family heirlooms or special traditions?

In my Vietnamese culture, the bride is always gifted with a pair of diamond earrings.  My parents made sure we kept that tradition alive with a stunning set to wear on my wedding day.  We also had our wedding rings/bands and vow books blessed at a church.

Do you have any advice for couples planning their weddings now?

BREATHE.  That is my first piece of advice for couples planning their weddings now.  It’s so easy to get caught up in the madness of everyone’s opinions that you can easily lose sight of making your day, YOUR DAY.  Prioritize what is most important to you and make sure those things are how you want them, before worrying about the rest.  You’ll see so much goes into planning that it can be very overwhelming but I promise that all the hard work pays off once the day comes. Cheers and congratulations!