This Rustic and Elegant Wedding Showcased a Vibrant Sage and Tangerine Color Palette in Austin, Texas
“Hook ’em” isn’t just Taylor Eisenberg (29, a stationery designer) and Bradley (Brad) Resh’s (28, a mechanical engineer) college slogan. It also describes their relationship: The two were hooked on each other from the start, when they bonded in psych class and never looked back.
Although they dated throughout their time at The University of Texas at Austin, their relationship became long-distance upon graduation. As challenging as it was, Taylor recalls that “being apart from each other really cemented our relationship, and we knew we wanted to be together forever. During those years, all we wanted was to simply live life together—go grocery shopping, do laundry together—things that to this day we enjoy doing together and don’t take for granted.”
After a few years of long-distance dating, Taylor moved back to Austin, and the couple soon got engaged. The proposal—which involved an heirloom pear-shape diamond that Taylor’s grandfather presented to her grandmother many decades earlier—took place on a family trip to Fire Island, New York. At the time, Taylor and Brad were in the process of getting a chocolate lab puppy named Whiskey, who was then only a few weeks old. As they waited for Whiskey to come home with them, the breeder regularly sent photos of the dog. On this particular day, Brad remarked to Taylor that a new photo of Whiskey had come through on his phone. Only this one was different—a sign reading
“Will you marry me?” accompanied the adorable lab. As Taylor took in the image, Brad dropped to one knee and proposed.
Brad is from Houston and Taylor is from New York, but Austin is where their love bloomed and the couple now calls home so the decision to wed there was an easy one. The couple selected The Addison Grove for their wedding. As a bonus, the venue has longhorn cattle on the property that were a fun callback to the couple’s college meet-cute (as longhorns are the UT Austin mascot).
For the April 14, 2024 “rustic elegant” wedding, Taylor and Brad wanted the space to feel warm and inviting, “similar to how our home feels when you walk in the door.”
The couple settled on a sage and tangerine color palette to complement the cozy aesthetic. The former is Taylor’s favorite color: She loves it so much that she named her stationery business Sage and Sea Ink. “I always knew sage green and gold or champagne would be the main colors of the palette,” says Taylor. “Since we met at UT Austin, I wanted to incorporate orange in some way, but burnt orange felt too fall-toned, and since our wedding was in the spring, we opted for peach and tangerine with pops of yellow and white to soften and round everything out. It was more beautiful in person than I ever could have imagined.”
Taylor also cleverly created a booklet, included in the invitation suite, to help guests choose outfits for the wedding weekend. “Whether the dress code indicated on an invitation is unclear or not included, nothing’s worse than not knowing what to wear to an event,” Taylor says. “This attire booklet was probably one of the first ideas I had when brainstorming the elements of our invitation suite. I worked with a watercolor artist to create portraits of us in sample outfits for each event’s requested attire, with whimsical blurbs at the bottom.” The wedding day illustration showcased Brad in a tux and Taylor in a floor-length blue dress. “Ladies: Got your eye on a fancy dress? Here’s your excuse to wear it. Gents: Dust off that tux and let’s get snazzy,” read the caption. The full suite was nestled in a sage-green envelope with a custom-printed liner. Its personalized toile-inspired pattern, which Taylor collaborated on with a friend, was made up of sketches of things meaningful to the couple: Whiskey the dog, Austin landmarks and the wedding venue. “We also used the pattern throughout our day-of signage and decor—most notably as the epic dance floor wrap,” says Taylor. Some other stationery highlights? Custom napkins that said “Taylor and Brad Got Hooked,” as a nod to UT Austin, and escort cards held up by mini gold cowboy-boot figurines.
It was a tall order for the rest of the decor to live up to Taylor’s amazing stationery. But the wedding day’s designs were just as whimsical. “We wanted an elevated Texas feel for the overall design,” says Taylor. “Something that was relaxed yet sophisticated and represented both of us.”
They say that everything’s bigger in Texas, and that was certainly the case for the couple’s wedding party. Taylor and Brad’s guest list included 150 people, 17 of whom made up the wedding party. But the real MVPs were the couple’s grandparents, who played an important role throughout the wedding. “We are both very close with our grandmothers and wanted to honor them in a special way, so we decided to have them be our flower girls,” says Taylor. “They met each other for the first time at our engagement party and have since become great friends. They are both similar in many ways: They have the same New York accent, love watching the same type of movies and, while shopping for their outfits for our wedding day, independently picked the exact same dress.”
To further honor family matriarchs, Taylor wore the same earrings her mother did on her wedding day (and that she received from her own grandmother, Taylor’s great-grandmother and namesake). Brad, meanwhile, accessorized his tux with white opal cuff links passed down from his maternal grandfather.
The couple also celebrated their bond. In Brad’s vows to Taylor, he shared: “We didn’t meet as adults, mesh perfectly, have an ‘aha’ moment where we finally found our person that was meant for us all along. Instead, we met as naive 18-year-olds, nothing like who we are today, and we grew up together. We’re not like a custom-made suit or dress, crafted perfectly to fit the other. We’re more like leather boots that maybe didn’t quite fit at first but over time are worn in and are more comfortable than any new pair of shoes could dream of.”
Taylor, in her words for Brad, said: “One of the first conversations we had, I told you that you gave great hugs. At the time, I didn’t think much of it further than that. But it’s still true: Your hugs are the best. Looking back, I can tell you now exactly what I was feeling in that very first moment. What I’ve felt every day in your arms for the past 10 years. Support, safety, peace, love, home. Two puzzle pieces fitting together. You are my perfect puzzle piece. My perfect pair, my soulmate.”