Weddingbee Blog

So, remember when I told you that Mr. Caterpillar and I were off to Texas for a wedding? I probably forgot to mention that we drove. To Texas! With the feather dress in the back and a roadfood guide up front. We survived! And actually had such a good time, we continued on to California. More on that later.

How gorgeous is this room?

Darling Cousin Eugenie is from Louisiana — can you tell from the moonlight southern garden centerpiece? Wrought iron fences topped with fleur de lys and those gorgeous ferns. Total genius.

And how gorgeous is this couple?

And how gorgeous is this cake?

It was dense chocolate layer cake with fluffy creamy peanutbutter filling. I ate three slices. Then I went to the sundae bar. Then I went to the sundae bar again. Did I mention how happy I was that the dress I chose was empire style?

The photographer responsible for capturing all the gorgeousness is Stacy Cross of Austin. Oh how I wish Stacy had been the photographer at my wedding! Stacy is really sweet and REALLY REALLY GOOD. Check out her blog at http://cross-blog.blogspot.com/.

Austin was pretty fantastic in general. We stayed at the Driskill Hotel near the center of town, which someone kept referring to as the Cowboy Hotel.

I think it’s more Cattle Baron than cowboy. We stayed in the “historic” part of the hotel, where the rooms are all different. Our room was teeny tiny, but it had 20 foot ceilings and a black marble tri-level bathroom. The shower had 7 heads and waterfall. For real, 7 heads and waterfall.

Weddingbee reader and Austin resident, Tali, kindly directed me to Jackson Ruiz salon when I was having a hair emergency. (Thanks Tali!) Seven days on the road can leave you looking pretty raggedy, so a salon visit was a must. I would have paid anything at that time to get rid of the raggedyness, but Jackson Ruiz was very reasonable. For $55 (gratuity free salon!), I got a whole new exciting do — big curls and a low side ponytail. Kind of cattle baronness style.

The feather dress, for those of you who honored it with your interest, held up pretty well. It was easy to wear, but required occasional adjustment before sitting. Okay, it required a lot of adjustment before sitting, but it was totally worth it. I would share the one picture I have of me in it, but it was taken when I was telling a story about a diamond tiara in New Orleans and . . . well, I just didn’t know that I could look that feral.