Emily and Aaron

Today's real Tennessee wedding was brought to us by Overbay Photography. Emily and Aaron were married October 24, 2009 at First Broad Street United Methodist Church followed by a reception at Banq. Aaron and Emily met in college, at Rice University in Houston. They both joined the Rice Water Polo Club their freshman year and got to know one another during practices at the pool and long car trips to water polo tournaments in Texas and Louisiana. Emily ended up moving to Dallas after graduation, but they continued their friendship and started dating long-distance in 2005.

Emily and Aaron had a crest specially designed for them, to use on their invitation and placecards, was made up of a Spear (Emily's last name) and a Hammer (the groom's last name).

Tell us your proposal story: Aaron is super outdoorsy and planned a really romantic and special proposal involving the outdoors. He took me out to a nice Sunday brunch and then we walked around the beautiful Houston Arboretum, where he got down on one knee at a scenic overlook and proposed. It was perfect! In hindsight, he was acting really nervous and fidgety all day!  The proposal was a total surprise, but I should have seen it coming. He’s not very good at keeping secrets!

What traditions did you follow?
We worked really hard to incorporate things that are meaningful to us as a couple. There were some traditional elements, but we wanted our wedding to be different, too.  

What was the most important thing to you about your wedding?
We wanted our guests have a great time!  Since a lot of our friends and family traveled from a long distance, we wanted to make sure everyone really enjoyed their time in East Tennessee!  We are big foodies, so of course we wanted the food to be awesome.  Main Street catering did a fantastic job!

What was your favorite part about planning your wedding?
My mom and I have always loved weddings, so it was so much fun for us to plan my wedding together.  We talked on the phone every day, sometimes for hours!  My mom is a wedding planner, so she was such a big help and we did tons of fun projects together to make all of the details special.

If you could do anything different, what would it be?
Nothing!  No regrets!

Photographer Overbay Photography

Wedding Planner Denise Spears Weddings (my mom is a planner!)

Caterer and Cake Main Street Catering

Florist and Invitations Denise Spears Weddings

Bridal Shop Houston Bridal and Formal Gallery (Houston, TX)

Ceremony Location First Broad Street United Methodist Church

Reception Location Banq

Transportation Fantasy Limo

Ceremony Music Sophisticated Strings

Reception Music DJ Express

Formalwear Moon Tuxedo

Rentals Action Rentals