A Bohemian New Mexico Themed Wedding at Palm Door on Sabine in Austin, Texas

Kendrick Sledge (27 and a kindergarten teacher) and Ryan Torbey (27 and a computer teacher) met in Thoreau, New Mexico, a small town on the border of the Navajo Reservation. Ryan arrived to Thoreau to start the program on the same day Kendrick and the other seasoned teachers went on a hiking trip. The trip ran too long, so no one was home to greet Ryan when he arrived! When Kendrick arrived home, Ryan was sitting on her porch playing guitar. Shortly after that, the two became a couple. Ryan proposed in Kendrick’s home, the place where they first met, presenting her with her grandmother’s engagement ring. Their wedding took place at Central Presbyterian Church in Austin, Texas, an important place to the couple. “It is a great reminder of our commitment to each other when we sit in the same sanctuary where we were married each Sunday,” says Kendrick. Coral, turquoise and silver decor brought the colors of New Mexico to Texas. “We knew right away that we wanted to incorporate a lot of items from New Mexico into our wedding,” says Kendrick. They collected vintage bottles from a New Mexico flea market to use for the floral arrangements and had four Navajo rugs made my a teacher Ryan worked with framed and displayed on a wall. For wedding favors, the couple donated to an organization called Colorado Animal Rescue Express (CARE) that organizes transports of dogs from high-kill shelters to no-kill shelters or homes. They also had their guests at the hotel collect their hotel toiletries and bring them to breakfast on Sunday morning to donate to the homeless.