A Romantic Restaurant Wedding at Tiny Boxwoods in Houston, Texas

 Leslie Gemarino ( 31 and an eighth grade English teacher)and Zachary Schwarz, (31 and a history teacher and soccer coach)  drew wedding design inspiration from their venue and crafted a charming garden wedding with soft hues and homespun details.Looking to set a relaxed tone for their day, the couple nixed a traditional invitation suite and instead went for something more whimsical. “We loved that we could incorporate personal elements, like our dog, Abby, and glimpses of the venue,” Leslie says. “Guests from Houston knew right away that the setting on the invitations was Tiny Boxwoods. For our out-of-town guests, it gave them a little preview of what was to come.”
Leslie asked her three bridesmaids to choose a blush dress style, but one of them picked out a pewter gray gown. “It actually turned out to be a great addition to our palette,” she says. Similar breezy hues of blooms filled the low centerpieces scattered throughout the reception space and adorned the petite cake. The ceremony included a “tying of the cords” as a nod to Leslie’s Filipino roots. Their venue was full of chalkboards, and Leslie and Zach made good use of them all. Fresh pink peonies and blue thistle topped the naked wedding cake.
“It felt like us—a natural and effortless location that oozed intimacy, like an elegant backyard party,” Leslie says of Tiny Boxwoods. “We also really loved the idea that it was at a restaurant, a place that we can come back to on an anniversary or any other random night. We could eat, have a glass of wine and stare out on the lawn, remembering our wedding day whenever we wanted to.”