Sophisticated Garden Wedding at Barr Mansion

Madeline and Jake’s love story began in Paris, on the lively night of Fête de la Musique, where crowded streets and live music brought them together beyond their study abroad classroom. A playful comment about his style sparked a conversation that lasted until dawn, and the rest is history. A few years later, their sophisticated garden wedding would come to life at Barr Mansion.

Barr Mansion checked all of their boxes for a sophisticated, garden wedding. Madeline loves historic victorian homes, just like the iconic Barr Mansion. The pecan tree created the perfect ceremony space, and the remaining grounds seamlessly blend the indoors and outdoors. They utilized each space at Barr Mansion: ceremony on the lawn, cocktail hour on the patio, dinner in the Farmstead, and dancing in the Ballroom to tie it all together. The flow was great for guests, who transitioned seamlessly throughout the evening.

Madeline’s favorite memory was reading their vows after the first look. They sat on the stairs inside of the main house together, and cried while reading and listening to each other. “It really grounded us for the rest of the day as it became more of a whirlwind, and that moment alone was really what we needed.” – Madeline

Sophisticated, Garden Wedding Floral Design

With a sophisticated garden party wedding vision, florals were incredibly important to the couple. Madeline had a vision of whimsical, interesting, and colorful floral decor, and Lovelily Florals perfectly nailed it. With every meeting, Madeline felt more and more confident that she could absolutely trust Courtlynn with her vision.

A favorite floral feature was Madeline’s bridal bouquet. Courtlynn collected dried seed pods, strung them together and attached them as garland throughout the bouquet. Madeline was obsessed, “It was incredible and I’ve never seen anyone else with a bouquet like mine.”

The ceremony design was whimsical and romantic, featuring a lush asymmetrical arch and aisle meadows. Later, the arch accented the couples seats at the head table, framing them perfectly. The reception design was elevated, with an organic feel. Moss, fruit and bud vases were placed down each table, on floral print runners. Long tables created an intimate, dinner party vibe.

A Musical Note

The first thing that Jake and Madeline bonded over was their shared music taste, so of course it had to be incorporated into their wedding design. Madeline and Jake personally assigned a music album to each and every guest, and turned that into their escort cards. With 170 guests, this was a huge project, but it was a special experience for the couple to determine who should get which album together. They didn’t repeat any albums, and only gave out albums that they genuinely loved and listened to regularly.

The couple also included a drawing done by the groom’s incredibly talented sister, Brittany, on each place card. The drawings were of a myriad of places and things that are important to Madeline and Jake. “Our guests loved the escort cards; most of our friends and family don’t share our music taste, so many of them had never heard of the band or album we gave them. It was so much fun getting texts days and weeks later from guests telling us that they listened to their album and what they thought!” – Madeline

Knowing how important their love for music is, we designed a killer dance space. From custom draping, floral meadows and hanging greenery, and even a custom checkered dance floor. It was the perfect space to dance the night away to their absolute favorite songs.

The Little Details

Brittany’s drawings were also featured on matchboxes, cocktail napkins, menus, and bar signs. The matchboxes were particularly special. The three different designs showcased three special locations. Mont Saint-Michel in France, where they met; Laguna Gloria, where Jake proposed to Madeline; and Barr Mansion, where they got married.

Madeline and Jake also had custom bolo ties made for Jake and his groomsmen. Jake has never liked wearing traditional ties, he always opts for bolos to formal events. Steph Grani (@stephgrani), a phenomenal Austin-based artist, made incredible blown glass bolo ties for the wedding that were absolutely perfect. The groomsmen loved them, and the couple will treasure Jake’s forever.

The Cheese Cake

This sophisticated garden wedding wouldn’t have been complete without a cheese cake (not the kind you’re thinking!) While the couple both love cake, they love cheese more. Antonelli’s Cheese Shop brought their ‘cheese cake’ vision to life, assembling an amazing 4-tier cheese wheel wedding cake. The “cake” sat in a garden of flowers, arranged between stands of bite size desserts.

Advice from the Bride

“As someone whose job entails event coordination, I knew I wanted a long engagement to give myself plenty of time to do the extensive research and planning that I wanted to do. Our engagement was a year and a half, and it felt like the perfect amount of time for all of the wedding events and planning. I really enjoyed looking into every vendor option in detail, and I never felt rushed to make a decision with the amount of time that I had.

I would also recommend making the day as personalized as you have the time and energy to. People really do remember the details and they appreciate seeing your personality reflected in your wedding day. “I’m still receiving compliments from guests about the small details (especially the escort cards), and how ‘like us’ the wedding day felt.” -Madeline

Working with Bianca Nichole and Co

“I remember being so impressed with the weddings BNCO had previously designed at Barr Mansion. When scrolling Barr’s Instagram account, my favorite designs were all done by BNCO. I knew I wanted a colorful, fun wedding, and BNCO truly seemed to excel at this type of design, while still keeping it elevated and elegant. Kelly was the absolute perfect person to help me plan and design the wedding.

We selected the Design and Coordination package with BNCO, and I was thrilled to find that while determining the wedding design, Kelly arranged and coordinated all of our rental vendors and contracts. I knew that a degree of this was included in the design package, but it was so incredibly nice to not have to personally do the calculations for the number of tables or glasses needed nor arrange the contract with the rental companies. Kelly also very graciously brought all of my contract questions to the vendors and provided swift and diligent answers. The best part of working with BNCO was being able to email Kelly all of my tiny, silly questions throughout the planning process. I cannot emphasize enough how valuable it is to have someone so knowledgeable and creative in your corner during the wedding planning process.” – Madeline

Featured on Together Journal

Want to see more of Madeline and Jake’s wedding? Check out their feature on Together Journal!

Let’s get this planning party started!

Planning a wedding can be overwhelming – we get it! When it comes to designing your wedding, we want you to have fun. Click here to send us an inquiry!

Bianca Nichole and Co is a team of wedding planners in Austin, Texas and Raleigh, North Carolina, available for travel wherever love takes us.

Sophisticated Garden Wedding Vendor Team

Venue, Catering, Bar: Barr Mansion
Planning + Design: Bianca Nichole and Co
Photo: Valerie Thompson Photography
Florals: Lovelily Flowers
Rentals: Premiere Events, Loot Rentals, BBJ La Tavola
Hair + makeup: Luxe by Lexi
Content Creator: The Elly Edit
DJ: Dart Collective
Dance Floor: Mike’s Dance Floor Rentals
Photo Booth: Union Booth ATX
Get away car: ATX Classic Cars