A Regal Navy-and-Gold Military Wedding at Ivory Oak in Texas Hill Country

Though Hebron Kelecha (25 and a medical student) and Nebyou Abera (27 and a US Army Infantry Captain) met as children (“It would be an understatement to say I had a crush on Hebron when we were teens,” Nebyou says), it wasn’t until a chance social media message many years later that the two connected on a romantic level. “We found time through our compounded schedules to see each other,” Nebyou recalls, traveling between Massachusetts, New York and Kansas while dating. With travel such a mainstay in their lives, a destination wedding was perfect. “The December weather in Texas was everything we could have asked for.” The weather even inspired the “Warm December” theme, chosen, “because it describes exactly how we felt internally and externally that day.”

Hebron and Nebyou’s wedding was actually gifted to them, in honor of Nebyou’s military service. The couple’s venue, in partnership with the rest of their vendors, put together a giveaway for military couples and the two, “sent in our favorite (goofy) photo of us and a 500-word statement on why we should be chosen,” they say of entering the voting-based contest. "We realized how big our support system truly was when we were told we won! Nebyou was stationed at Fort Bliss in El Paso and getting to have our dream wedding in Texas was wonderful," Hebron says. 

Romantic gold calligraphy was a key part of the couple’s stationery, from their Lucite escort card display to navy place cards bearing the stunning script. As for the floral arrangements, white California poppies, clematis, toffee roses, dianthus, lisianthus and white spirea were used throughout the designs. To finish off the décor, silk table runners, velvet accent chairs and elegant taper candles exuded pure sophistication at the seated reception. Following cocktail hour, a barbecue dinner with mac and cheese that, “our guests to this day continue to praise,” and a simple lemon cake with vanilla buttercream rounded out the day’s menu.