A Southern Vintage Wedding at the Historic Houston Fire Station in Houston, Texas

Amanda Stringer (35 and a senior marketing manager) and Billy Brown (41 and a HVAC specialist) met while tailgating before a Jimmy Buffet concert—his group of guy friends were parked next to her group of girlfriends, and Amanda asked Billy to take a picture of her party. They wound up flirting all day and attending the concert together, sitting on the grass with their friends, and went on their first official date three days later to a Houston Astros baseball game. Billy proposed about a year and a half later after the couple spent the Christmas holidays in Mississippi with Amanda’s family. Billy planned a couple’s getaway on the Gulf Coast before the couple returned to Houston, and while they were watching the Sugar Bowl, he dropped to one knee. Billy is from Texas and Amanda is from Mississippi, and they both love the South. “We wanted our wedding to be representative of us, our roots and the people and traditions we hold most dear,” says Amanda. The phrase “classic Southern vintage” inspired the wedding decor and atmosphere. The couple chose the Historic Houston Heights Fire Station in Houston, Texas for their wedding. “This historic, pristine building was the perfect venue for our wedding because of its natural, classic beauty and central location,” says Amanda. The fire fighters’ locker room proved an ideal keeping room for the bride and her attendants as they got ready, and the couple utilized the beautiful hardwood upstairs with its tall paned windows and antique tin tile ceiling for their evening ceremony. Afterwards, everyone headed downstairs for dinner and dancing in the large, open space that used to be the parking bays for the fire trucks. The weather was pleasant, so the couple opened the huge bay doors and let the celebration spill out onto the back patio. The couple self-catered a buffet of homemade Texas barbecue and comfort foods. Late night snacks were warm buttermilk biscuits served with an assortment of homemade jellies, preserves and Mississippi honey. The groom’s table featured mini Texas pies baked by a friend, and Texas-shaped tea cakes that guests could take home. Entertainment was provided by Jerry Diaz and Hanna’s Reef, the band the couple first saw together at the Jimmy Buffett tailgate concert. As the couple exited the fire station, their guests waved baseball-style pennants with Amanda and Billy’s names and wedding date and the couple hopped onto the tailgate of a vintage Chevy pickup.