I’ve said this before, but it’s true so I need to say it again. We at Keestone Events have been immensely fortunate to have planned for the most wonderful couples. Stephanie, one of our lead Dallas wedding planners, was the planner for Dianne and Chris’ rooftop wedding at The Venue at 400 North Ervay.
Here are words from the bride. I especially love when they take the time to share a bit about the day from their perspective:
Wedding planning was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done in my life. I’m an architect — I’m used to working diligently to make intensely detailed projects come together as flawlessly as possible…so I thought planning a wedding would be a piece of cake. I was wrong. Planning and coordinating this one single day of events were quite possibly more complex and time-consuming than many of my past architecture projects!
I was never that girl who knew since she was a kid what my wedding was going to look like, so I felt like I was pretty much starting with an empty canvas. However, when I got engaged, I did know I wanted an outdoor wedding with southern charm in a historic architectural setting. Christopher and I originally planned to have our wedding in Charleston, SC. But a destination wedding in the second-most popular place to get married in America deemed near impossible within the coming year. Because we had been together for five years already, we were eager to seal the deal, and we soon decided to have the wedding in our hometown, Dallas, TX, instead.
This wedding has been featured on D Weddings, Style Me Pretty and The Brides of North Texas.
At this point, four months into our engagement, I felt like I had to start all over with wedding planning. Which Dallas venue would provide that charming and historic southern feeling I envisioned? After lots of online searching, I stumbled across photos of the Venue at 400 North Ervay. It seemed to have everything I was looking for, and on top of that, the rooftop terrace had a bonus wow factor–I couldn’t wait to see the expressions on the guests’ faces when they walked off the elevator. This was it!
Once we nailed down the Venue and wedding date, the rest of the planning seemed to fall into place. Planning a wedding is like running a marathon; you’ll become overwhelmed if you think about the 70,000 steps it’s going to take to complete it. Instead, you have to take it step by step knowing that, with time, you’ll eventually get to the finish line. I spent many nights staying up after work to find the right local vendors who, all together, would be able to help complete the look and ambiance I was going for. In the end, I lucked out with just about all of the vendors too, which, I hear, isn’t always the case.
Wedding planning seemed to be going well and time was flying; next thing I knew, I checked the calendar and noticed that we were just within the 15-day forecast window of April 1st. Little did I know, the next 15 days of my life would be the most stressful there ever were. Rain, rain, rain. For two weeks straight, the forecast for my wedding day was rain.
I had always envisioned a beautiful outdoor wedding and now I was having to re-imagine it indoors. What about the party on the rooftop terrace? My biggest advice to any bride out there is to make sure that if you want an outdoor wedding, your Plan B will make you just as happy as your Plan A outdoor setting – otherwise you’re setting yourself up for a potentially huge disappointment.
It was the day before my wedding, and I woke up to check the weather like a kid on Christmas morning. I still had hope. At this point we were in the 48-hour window which allowed me to check the forecast hourly through the weekend. I thought I must have been a good kid this year because Santa had brought me “partly cloudy with a lesser chance of rain,” and I can tell you that’s the best gift I’ve ever received from Santa. Now with hope in the forecast, I was able to enjoy what turned out to be a pretty flawless wedding weekend.
All the hard work was done, and I could now sit back and enjoy the best weekend of my life.
I didn’t sleep much the night before the wedding; I remember the sun coming up and being so excited to get the day started. Every minute getting ready at the Stoneleigh with my bridesmaids and mom were so enjoyable. We moved over to the Venue, and the ceremony was to begin at 4pm. I’ll never forget the feeling of waiting behind the door with my bridesmaids and my dad before walking in down aisle. I heard the music I selected to have playing before and during the ceremony, and immediately it hit me, “This is really happening! I’m finally going to get to marry the man I’ve wanted to marry for years!”
When the door opened and all the people there to support us on our special day stood up as my dad and I walked down the aisle, I had the most amazing and overwhelming feeling of excitement and happiness run through me. At the end of the aisle stood Christopher with a big smile and a bit of shock on his face. All the joyful feelings at that moment made all the time and stress of planning the day worth every minute.
Our entrance at the reception was another unforgettable moment. I was finally going to be able to (and very lucky to be able to) see the reception as I had envisioned it for the past six months–and it was more beautiful than I had ever expected. When the elevator doors opened, Christopher and I got to experience the wow factor of the rooftop. We were greeted by all the guests and, most importantly, our parents.
One of my favorite moments of my night was getting to see all four of them, hug them, and thank them for helping this dream of a day come true. The rest of the evening flew by, and I’m so glad I have amazing photos and video footage so I can continue to relive the day now and in the future. And…the rain held off until AFTER the party on the roof top was over. I guess the only ones who were April fooled that day were us – by the weather! April 1st, 2017, will surely be a day we never forget.
Below is the review Dianne left for Stephanie:
“Under Stephanie Brouillette’s management, our wedding was flawless! 30 minutes before the ceremony we had a very unexpected glitch; Stephanie took care of it immediately so that the show could go on. Our wedding day was logistically complex (involving two venues and over a dozen vendors), and Stephanie managed it all beautifully with poise and efficiency. She is a joy to work with, professional, pleasant, super organized, and calm under pressure.”
You can view other weddings Stephanie has planned below:
Romantic Rooftop Wedding at The Venue at 400 North Ervay
