1. Real Weddings

An Alfresco Southwestern Wedding at McNay Art Museum in San Antonio, Texas

Taking inspiration from the Spanish architecture of McNay Art Museum in San Antonio, Texas, Alicia Lovett (29 and a lawyer) and Ian McNab (29) threw a

Taking inspiration from the Spanish architecture of McNay Art Museum in San Antonio, Texas, Alicia Lovett (29 and a lawyer) and Ian McNab (29) threw a vibrant Southwestern wedding. “We absolutely love San Antonio’s Tex-Mex culture—the food, the mariachi, the artwork, the decor, the colors,” Alicia says. “We wanted everything to feel fun and comfortable for us on our big day, and there’s nothing better than the feeling of being home, so it was a no-brainer for us.” The couple exchanged vows on the Spanish mansion’s lawn. The ceremony site was decorated with romantic string lights, stone planters and vases filled with flowers and succulents, and at the end of the aisle, a floral arch covered in greenery and pink blooms. “I wrote the entire ceremony and my brother-in-law, the officiant, added personal notes and jokes,” Alicia says. “Ian and I wrote our own vows, and it was the most important and probably the most memorable part of the wedding experience.” With the couple’s first kiss as husband and wife, a mariachi band started playing, signaling the beginning of their celebration. “Mariachi [bands] are so joyous and fun that we wanted our exit to be the kick-off to the party,” she says. During cocktail hour, guests were escorted on a private tour of the museum's art collection, which featured original works by Monet, Degas and Picasso. Guests enjoyed dinner outside under the stars. “Before we had a venue or a date, we knew we were having Don Strange Ranch cater our wedding,” Alicia says. The caterer, which specializes in Tex-Mex and Southern cuisine, served up fried quail with jalapeno gravy, hand-pressed gorditas, avocado halves stuffed with shrimp and ceviche. During the dinner reception, long wooden tables were embellished with blue and white geometric table runners, pretty pink flower arrangements and gold decor. The couple enjoyed their first dance to “Bring It on Home to Me” by Eddie Floyd and spent the rest of the evening celebrating to music played by the Royal Dukes. —Marissa Hermanson

Alicia’s artist friend Sogoal Zolgadri of Sogi’s Honey Bakeshop created the artwork for their save-the-date—a bullfighting jacket and a Mexican embroidered dress under a flowered banner with the couple’s names. “She blew us away with the fabulous watercolor image she painted,” Alicia says. “We loved her painting so much, we used the image throughout almost every aspect of the wedding.”
“I wanted my bouquet to have the full range of pinks with only a few deeper blush flowers and subtle cactus and succulent greens,” says Alicia, who carried a bouquet of garden roses, peonies, ranunculus, anemones, succulents and tillandsia tied together with ivory raw silk.
Ian and his groomsmen embellished their suits with pink ranunculus blossoms and greenery.
Alicia and Ian said “I do” under an arch covered in greenery and pink garden roses.
“We wanted mariachi to play throughout the ceremony, then start playing as soon as we kissed,” Alicia says. “Mariachi [bands] are so joyous and fun that we wanted our exit to be the kick-off to the party.”
“I wrote the entire ceremony and my brother-in-law, the officiant, added personal notes and jokes,” Alicia says. “Ian and I wrote our own vows and it was the most important and probably the most memorable part of the wedding experience.”
“We wanted to have a sort-of Southwestern palette for our flowers and wanted them to be fresh and bright but also soft,” Alicia says of their arrangements, which included cacti, succulents and an array of romantic blooms. “Our wedding flowers were out of this world.”
During cocktail hour, guests mingled while enjoying margaritas, art and mariachi music.
Alicia and Ian outfitted their alfresco dinner reception with long wooden tables and romantic bistro lights.
“Before we had a venue or a date, we knew we were having Don Strange Ranch cater our wedding,” Alicia says. “Ian and I have salivated at every party we’ve attended where they have catered.” The caterer, which specializes in Tex-Mex meets Southern cuisine, perfectly captured the couple’s wedding theme bite by bite from the fried quail with jalapeno gravy and hand-pressed gorditas to the avocado halves stuffed with shrimp and delicious ceviche.
Alicia and Ian kept their dinner reception look casual by forgoing linens and topping tables with runners and blooms.
Tables were embellished with blue and white geometric table runners, pretty pink flower arrangements and gold decor.
Tables were topped with arrangements of peonies, roses, dahlias and ranunculus in shades of pink.
The couple’s three-tier vanilla and caramel-filing wedding cake was topped with succulents and pink blooms.
Instead of one groom’s cake, the Alicia and Ian served a collection of 15 chocolate cakes that were decorated to look like cacti.
After celebrating with dinner and dancing, San Antonio natives Alicia and Ian and their friends boarded a trolley and headed to an after-party.