Sofia & James’s Wedding Day at The Dallas Arboretum

This wedding took place at The Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Gardens in Dallas, Texas.

The Dallas Arboretum

The Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden is a wedding venue in Dallas Texas. Scroll along to hear from the couple and see more inspiration from their wedding day! But first a review from the bride;

I cannot recommend Emily enough! She made me and my very camera shy now husband feel so incredibly comfortable in front of the camera, which was so important for us so that we didn’t look awkwardly posed in our photos. Our engagement pictures were a perfect run through session, and we both got very comfortable with her. We laughed a ton and everything was so easy and fun! On our wedding day, she was incredibly professional and made sure that we stayed right on schedule without making us feel rushed. She made me feel like so beautiful and comfortable, and was able to manage our large bridal party with ease. We had so much fun with her, and her energy was high the entire time. She knew our venue, the Dallas Arboretum, really well, and when she pushed us to get photos in a specific location after our ceremony, I was hesitant because I was so tired. However, the photos here are some of our favorites from the entire day, so I’m so glad I trusted her! She captured our day SO perfectly, and I can’t imagine better pictures! Our photos truly look straight out of a fairytale. We are still in awe every time we look at our pictures, and EVERYONE cannot stop giving us compliments on all of our pictures.

– Sofia C.

featured vendors:

photographer : Emily Nicole Photo | Venue The Dallas Arboretum | Planner & Florist @MAYFIELD_EVENTS | HAMU @THE_STYLING_STEWARDESS | Bridal Shop @BBLEWISVILLE | Bridesmaid Dresses @Show Me Your Mumu | Videographer @TAKE4FILMS | Officiant @MARTYYOUNKIN | Rabbi @LNTERFAITH_WEDDING_RABBI | Cake @ELENASCAKESDALLAS | Band Downtown Fever

James and I first met when we were going to take the MCAT in Dallas, TX right after finishing our junior years at the University of Texas. We were later re-introduced the following spring at our favorite college bar, Cain & Abel’s. We chatted there and then again the next week while out on 6th Street on a Thursday night. We had a ton in common, both being from Dallas and about to start medical school, so we talked for awhile. At that time, James was going to UT Houston for medical school, and I hadn’t been accepted yet. James mentioned wanting to go elsewhere for medical school, but that if his good friend Brady or I got into UT Houston, he would love to go there. Oddly enough, both Brady and I were accepted to UT Houston a few weeks later.

James and I became great friends who liked to joke around and have a ton of fun together. A couple months into our first year. my friend Chaiss pointed out that James definitely had a crush on me. This was something I was completely oblivious of, but once she pointed it out, I couldn’t ignore it. His beautiful blue eyes and sense of humor were hard to resist. Our joking around soon turned into flirting, and sparks flew very quickly. 

I always pictured my wedding as classic, traditional, and romantic, with nothing too trendy or loud. I wanted to be able to look back at my photos for years to come without feeling like everything had gone completely out of style. 

Since our wedding was in the spring, I wanted bridesmaids dresses that were also light colors, but in the blue color hue to match my husband’s blue eyes. I picked 3 different shades from Show Me Your Mumu, and I let my bridesmaids decide on their style. 

My dress was the brand Essence of Australia, and I got it from Bridal Boutique in Lewisville. I went to pick it out with my mom, sister, grandmother, mother-in-law, sister-in-law, and my two best friends, Colleen and Olivia. I went in thinking that I wanted a form-fitting fully lace dress. However, when I tried these styles on, I wasn’t “wow”ed by any. My stylist had me try on an A-line dress with a full skirt that was fully lace, and I finally felt like a bride. Once we realized I liked this style, my stylist brought me the dress I ended up picking, which was a Mikado fabric with lace flower appliqués on the skirt. When I walked out, everyone’s jaws dropped and I had tears in my eyes. This dress was so different than the dress I had pictured myself in, but it felt perfect. I’m so glad I picked this dress and it photographed beautifully. 

My favorite memory from my wedding day was walking down the aisle to James. When I say the weather was perfect, I mean it was actual perfection. Like 70 degrees and sunny with a few clouds in the sky, beautiful April afternoon type of perfect. So when I heard Canon in D start playing and my dad and stepdad began walking me down the aisle of bright green grass contrasted against the sun setting over White Rock Lake, it was the most surreal moment of my life. Getting to see all of our friends and family smiling back at me with tears in their eyes as I walked down the aisle made me start bawling my eyes out. I can still picture a few of my best friends with tears streaming down their faces, which brings me so much joy. Then of course when I saw James standing in front of me with tears in his eyes, my tears just kept on coming. I have never felt so many big emotions all at once.

Emily had shot at the Arboretum several times before and new how amazing the pictures in this location would look, so after our post-ceremony family pictures, she encouraged us to take a few photos in this spot. It was our first set of solo pictures as husband and wife, and we were still living off of the high of our excitement from our ceremony. We were so happy, giddy, relieved, and still in disbelief that we were finally married.

Advice for future brides:

First, hire a month of wedding planner at the minimum. When that final month comes around there are so many small details that you would never even think of, so having someone handling all of those little things and organizing all of the vendors takes a huge responsibility off of your plate. Next, when you start planning your wedding, I recommend picking a couple things that are most important to you so that when it comes to your budget, those are the things you won’t be willing to compromise on. For us, that was a beautiful outdoor ceremony venue, a photographer whose style we loved, and a live band. And let me say, I cannot recommend a live band enough. We had Downtown Fever and we were absolutely blown away, and so were all of our guests. So if you can swing it, I highly recommend! But anyways, we chose to put a majority of our budget towards our venue, photographer and the band, which meant that we spent less on flowers and food. While I wish I could have had grand florals in our reception, we definitely don’t regret putting that money towards our guests having a blast with us at our reception and having pictures to fawn over for the rest of our lives. These priorities totally depend on the couple, but make sure you and your partner are on the same page for these priorities as soon as your budget is set so that y’all have the same expectations and don’t end up disappointed when it’s too late. Last, enjoy every second of your wedding day and just live in the moment. Don’t waste energy stressing about the details that literally nobody else will notice!