A Vintage Rustic Wedding at the Gallery in Houston, Texas

rn "The two of us did not exactly meet under the most romantic of circumstances," Allison West (23 and a middle school Latin teacher) says of the moment Francisco Plaza (26 and a doctoral student in philosophy) came into her life. "In fact, we first saw each other at the University of St. Thomas in a class called Philosophical Latin, which was essentially a crash course for graduate students in translating and analyzing the works of medieval philosophers." An admittedly "unlikely couple"—he often dresses in all black and frequents heavy metal concerts, while she's the kind of girl who loves animals and art—they were inexplicably drawn to each other and quickly fell in love. Unlike their humble beginnings, Francisco's proposal was very elaborate and romantic. In fact, the whole process spanned two days. The day after celebrating Valentine's Day by taking her to all their favorite date spots, plus dinner and a movie, Francisco surprised her during a lakeside picnic at Houston's Hermann Park. "What happened next is a blur, but I remember that I cried a lot, that he held me, and that he put the ring on my finger," Allison says. "I didn’t calm down enough to speak until we were back in the car. He held my hand and said jokingly, 'So, is that a yes? I laughed and said 'Did I forget to answer? Of course it’s a yes!' " When it came time to plan their wedding, Allison and Francisco brought things full circle, choosing the Gallery of Houston for their reception venue because its Mediterranean style reminded them of Greco-Roman architecture—a subtle nod to their first meeting in Latin class. "We didn’t have a theme for our wedding per se, but we generally wanted it to be romantic with a feel somewhere between vintage and rustic," Allison says. Soft mint and blush with cream accents tied it all together and created a fun vibe for the reception. "The most important aspect for us both was to come before our friends, family and God, promising ourselves to each other fully, totally and faithfully. This was our cornerstone, and everything else we chose was meant to flow from it in one way or another," she says. "That being said, it was also very important to us that our guests have a wonderful time, so we made an effort to balance the gravity of our vows with an entertaining evening reception. The last thing we wanted was for the serious aspects to stifle the fun, or worse, for the party to undermine the beautiful change that had just taken place in us both!" —Meghan Overdeep