A Literary Wedding Weekend in Texas With Experiential Moments

Though they spent three overlapping years at Vanderbilt University, Ellie McDonough and Andrew Kress didn’t meet until a mutual friend introduced them over dinner in Washington, D.C., in September of 2021. The two hit it off, bonding over their shared love of reading and writing, and became an official couple a few months later.

On June 22, 2024, just a few weeks before the couple was set to move to Austin, Texas, Andrew planned a weekend trip to New York City under the guise of seeing a Broadway show and enjoying one last East Coast getaway. As it turned out, he had other plans, too: “He proposed at the Hotel Chelsea, and then we celebrated with friends and saw Six!” Ellie remembers. Andrew also presented Ellie with her dream engagement ring. “I had told Andrew from early on that I dreamed of a vintage engagement ring, particularly a target style ring with blue sapphires around the diamond,” the bride says. “When Andrew told his mom that he was planning to propose, she offered to give him a ring from her own mother but wasn’t sure if it’d be my style. Of course, it ended up being a vintage target ring with blue sapphires. We don’t know the full story of its origin, and it wasn’t his grandmother’s engagement ring, but I love it.”

The couple felt strongly about tying the knot in their new home city of Austin, so the couple made a list of their non-negotiables—for Andrew, it was a venue with outdoor space; for Ellie, it was one that was unique and easy to travel to from central Austin—and started touring properties. Barr Mansion quickly emerged as the frontrunner. “It satisfied all of those requests, with the beautiful grounds Andrew loved, a glass house sitting next to a historic one that both felt special to me, and an unexpected bonus of having a sustainability mission we both cared about: zero waste,” Ellie explains.

They set the date for February 8, 2025, and got straight to work planning their big day. The first order of business was finding a wedding planner who understood their desire to plan a wedding weekend that celebrated the couple’s family members and friends as much as it celebrated them. Enter: Taylor Betts with Betts & Co. “Taylor was our fairy godmother,” Ellie says. “We couldn’t have done it without her.”

In the end, the couple planned a wedding weekend that reflected their unique love story. On Friday, February 7, they surprised guests with a bold, colorful welcome party with major rockstar energy. Then, on Saturday, Ellie and Andrew said “I do” at Barr Mansion before inviting loved ones to their unique, texture-heavy reception with nods to their shared love of literature. Ahead, every stunning detail, as documented by Keila Bottiglieri of Abby Jiu Photography.

One of the very things Ellie and Andrew aligned on was their shared love of literature, so incorporating that shared interest into their wedding from the jump was key. Pink Champagne Designs created a multi-piece invitation suite, including a bookmark save-the-date that hinted at the subtle literary nods that would be seen on the couple’s wedding day.

Ellie says that tracking down RSVPs was one of the most stressful parts of wedding planning. “Chasing them down over the holidays was the hardest part of the planning process,” she says. “We sent our invitations in early December with a reply date of early January. We knew this could create some delays, but we underestimated just how much! Luckily we were able to track everyone down and get a reply by text when needed.”

Hotel Saint Cecilia served as the backdrop for the couple’s February 7 welcome party, so the couple wanted to embrace the venue’s “rockstar energy” and plan a unique pre-nuptial event. “We wanted the vibe for Friday to be completely different from Saturday, so we did a bold black, red, and white color palette that suited Hotel Saint Cecilia,” Ellie says.

They also selected a record escort card design. One vinyl album was selected for each table and displayed on a wall that read “Music Sounds Better With You.”

“We rented the hotel for the whole weekend, so we were able to spread out for the welcome party and host across the main lawn, the indoor bar, the pool, and one of the suite’s private yard,” Ellie notes. Guests were seated at long tables topped with modern centerpieces of roses, anthurium, gerbera daisies, ranunculus, and more in deep red hues. Black chairs, place settings, and napkins provided plenty of contrast.

The couple set an elevated casual dress code for the welcome party, and they dressed the part, too. Ellie wore a floor-length dress from BHLDN, which she paired with Larroude shoes. Andrew wore corduroys, a button down shirt, and Tecovas boots.

Guests enjoyed two signature cocktails at the welcome party: Mystic Lady, a mix of gin, lemon, chamomile, and a bergamot foam, and Paloma on Fire, a spicy twist on the classic grapefruit-based drink. “The rehearsal dinner drinks were in such fun glassware, including a rainbow grid design on one,” Ellie notes.

Attendees were also invited to enjoy their choice of beer, wine, and other spirits at the open bar, which was decorated in keeping with the rest of the evening’s décor.

Everyone found their seats at the long, communal tables, then settled in for a memorable meal of tomato and leek braised short ribs or a roasted mushroom dish. For dessert, everyone dug into chocolate panna cotta.

Ellie’s three sisters and Andrew’s three brothers all gave speeches during dinner, one of the couple’s favorite parts of the day. Another standout? The local tattoo artist they hired to offer guests tiny tattoos that held important meaning to the couple. Their options included a book, a longhorn, and an anchor. The bride had the team tattoo a tiny bow on her ankle in honor of “tying the knot” that weekend. “It was fun to see our friends’ reactions and also to see which tattoos a few of them chose to get permanently inked as a reminder of the weekend!” Ellie says.

On the wedding day, Ellie wore a strapless A-line Weilu Fresolone wedding dress with a removable cape. “The dress I chose was the third or fourth I tried on. I knew I loved it when I first put it on without the cape, but the cape is what sold me on it!” the bride remembers. “I love playing with different layers and sleeves in my daily fashion, so the ability to have that fun extra element was perfect.”

Andrew chose a classic black tuxedo from Hutson Clothing Co.

Ellie carried a simple, unfussy all-white bouquet of sweet peas. Her bridesmaids, who wore black gowns of their own choosing, all carried petite arrangements of white ranunculus.

The couple’s wedding planner, Taylor, worked with their florist, Remi + Gold, to design the ceremony décor. In the end, the couple traded vows in front of a “broken” floral arch, which was arranged beneath a massive pecan tree on the property. “We loved that the broken arch allowed the branches above to serve as an arch, too,” Ellie notes.

The arch featured a mix of different white and green flowers, including roses, lisianthus, baby’s breath, stock, and more. Similar blooms were also arranged in clusters down the aisle, giving the illusion of having just grown straight out of the property’s lush lawn.

The couple chose a Taylor Swift-heavy processional soundtrack, performed by Sienna String Quartet. The wedding party entered to “Mine” before Ellie and her dad walked down the aisle to “Enchanted.”

Ellie and Andrew opted to write their own vows, then further personalized the ceremony by selecting meaningful readings. The groom’s dad read Romans 12:9-12, then Ellie’s brother read a quote from Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice: “I cannot fix on the hour, or the spot, or the look, or the words, which laid the foundation. It is too long ago. I was int he middle before I knew that I had begun.”

As another nod to the couple’s shared love of literature, their officiant (the friend who first introduced them!) referenced a quote from Wuthering Heights (Ellie’s favorite novel); Ellie’s ring exchange also included a quote from one of Andrew’s favorite authors, J.R.R. Tolkien.

After being pronounced husband and wife, the newlyweds recessed to “The Dogs Days Are Over” by Florence and the Machine, one of their favorite songs.

Ellie and Andrew wanted their wedding to be packed with experiential moments, and one of the most important ones was their bookcase seating chart. “Taylor helped bring this to life beyond our wildest dreams,” the bride explains. Guests found their reception tables on tasseled bookmarks that were tucked inside books the bride and groom chose for each attendee.

During cocktail hour, guests were treated to a 2000s punk playlist Ellie curated herself, which was played by DJ Hype Rhythm and a live musician from Sienna Strings. They also enjoyed the couple’s three signature cocktails, a winter Old-Fashioned with a toasted marshmallow on top, an arctic mule, and an espresso martini.

The newlyweds couldn’t bring their beloved Yorkie, Pico, to the reception due to his anxiety, so they honored him via the drink stirrers served in each cocktail.

One of Ellie and Andrew’s main requests was for the reception space to feel more like a big party than a formal wedding. Taylor came up with a creative idea to achieve that feeling: Guests were seated at serpentine tables set up on Barr Mansion’s patio and lawn. “It’s an ongoing joke that Andrew loves texture, so the linens we chose have a very textured feel to them while looking natural and neutral,” Ellie explains. Place settings included scalloped chargers and dinner plates selected to complement the tables’ swirling design and green glassware.

The couple intentionally selected minimal, understated centerpieces to leave room on each table for the evening’s family-style dinner. Petite arrangements of white blooms—including ranunculus, sweet peas, lisianthus, and spray roses—and greenery were dotted at intervals down each table. Small tabletop lamps and candles were the only source of lighting during the evening. “We wanted guests to enjoyed the sunset, stars, and existing string lights at Barr Mansion,” the bride explains.

“We were passionate about the food being served family-style and about including plenty of vegetarian options amongst the more traditional meat mains,” Ellie explains. The bride was vegan for five years and is now a pescatarian, and she says that many of the couple’s family members and friends have similar dietary preferences, so serving a menu everyone could enjoy was key. The meal started with a plated potato and leek soup, then everyone chose their own meals from the platters of buttermilk roasted chicken thighs, seared beef tenderloin, cauliflower steaks, broccoli, and mashed potatoes.

The party moved indoors for dancing, where walls were draped in a rich fabric and disco balls and baby’s breath lined the ceiling. Lounge areas, complete with small circular tables, lined the perimeter of the space for guests who needed a break from dancing.

Gone to Texas performed during the reception, giving the party portion of the evening a very different feeling when compared to the dinner. “We had a line dance instructor during band breaks and it was such a hit!” Ellie says. “It kept everyone on the dance floor and made it feel more like a party, which was our goal post-ceremony!”

Wood-fired pizzas were available to guests throughout the party, fueling loved ones and keeping the night’s energy up.

Ellie changed into a strapless mini dress from Rebecca Vallance for the party portion of the evening, and she debuted the second look during the cake cutting. Barr Mansion created a single-tier heart-shaped wedding cake for the couple to slice into, which contained layers of classic carrot cake. Guests were served slices of white sheet cake.

“We completely surprised one of our closest friends, Hans, with a cake for his 30th birthday,” Ellie explains. “We loved that he chose to celebrate it with us, and we knew from the start we wanted to honor him in some way. Barr Mansion and Taylor helped us come up with a German chocolate cake, which had brought out at the end of dinner as Andrew and I wished him happy birthday and had everyone sing to him. He was truly surprised!”

“Don’t stress over achieving perfection,” Ellie tells other couples. “We took dance lessons for a choreographed dance for weeks ahead of time, and we worried so much over making it perfect, but when we performed, we ending up laughing too hard mid-dance that we lost our place and just winged the ending! It ended up being one of our favorite moments just laughing and enjoying each other, so the pursuit of perfection didn’t matter.”