Brandy_Albert_Wedding_0367006 | Keestone Events

One of our Dallas wedding planners, Sarah had this to say about Brandy + Albert’s southern wedding at Tate Farms.
You know Brandy + Albert are pretty special people when they’ve become good friends with all their wedding vendors, and some of those vendors attended their wedding and vice versa. Yes, they also attended the wedding reception of one of their vendors in turn.

Is it also strange if I didn’t tear up seeing my own wedding album, but that I may have shed a tear or two seeing theirs? I absolutely loved seeing emotion that Allen Tsai was able to capture, especially of Al’s face when Brandy walked down the aisle. Proud doesn’t even begin to describe it!

Brandy is one talented woman with a strong vision that I connected with immediately, and Tate Farms was the perfect venue for it. Y’all. All the calligraphy you see throughout the wedding is her work. She also does woodwork and was able to build a few pieces for her big day. It’s a solid instance of how the smallest details really do make the biggest difference to your wedding.

Their big day was one that challenged us at Keestone Events logistically and if you know our company, you know we are all about finding solutions! Tate Farms encompasses over 600 acres, and is a working ranch with cattle and horses. Brandy + Al wanted their ceremony to overlook the pond which was about a mile away from the barn where their reception was to be held.

The way the farm is laid out, upon arriving at the main entrance, there is a parking lot where most (if not all) guests are expected to park. They also had two large 56 passenger shuttles drive back and forth between the hotel and venue to drop off guests. We were supposed to figure out how to herd guests from the mile from the barn to the ceremony site, but let me add four more stipulations in there:

Right before the ceremony site were two hayrides provided by the farm. Guests were expected to also sit on the hayride for a few minutes before ultimately arriving at the pond since it was too far to walk. Plus, who wants to hike in heels?
Brandy + Al did not want a first look so they couldn’t see each other at all before the ceremony.
Some members of the string quartet had a concert to play at that night, and we were on a time crunch before they had to leave.
We had to plan it so no guest was waiting for what seemed like forever before anyone showed up at the ceremony site. People typically arrive 30 minutes before the ceremony starts and we had to make sure that no one was too late otherwise they would miss it all, but not too early where they would be bored out of their minds.

This is why it pays for itself to have a month-of coordinator/wedding planner, y’all. We deal with all these terribly exciting details the day-of so the couple and their families can just show up to enjoy the day without ever knowing about what goes on behind-the-scenes.

I digress.

As guests started to arrive, we had everyone hang out at the barn first while waiting for the shuttles to arrive with others from the hotel. We also worked with the transportation company and hotel to let guests know that the shuttle would be leaving at x times so people had ample time to plan. Once the first shuttle arrived at the farm, we had guests who had driven themselves there pile on to the bus. It then headed down to the hayride check point before doubling back.

From there, they would get onto the hayrides which would slowly make the trek down to the pond. Rinse and repeat. Tate Farms provided the cutest little trailer where it was used to house lemonade, water, and snacks for guests. Once most guests were down by the pond, we had Albert and his groomsmen get on the shuttle. We then headed over to the private residence (on the farm) where Brandy and her bridesmaids were at and had the bridesmaids climb on the bus as well.

Brandy was going to be riding on a truck separately to the pond with her dad.

Upon arrival, the bridal party also exited to board the hayrides. We were then ready to start! There were so many other logistical aspects to take care of, but this has already become a rather long essay so I’ll stop here!

This wedding was featured in Wedding Sparrow.

See images of their wedding below: