Today's guest blog post comes to us from Austin's own Lauren Petrowski, local morning reporter for Fox 7 Good Day Austin. Lauren is a planning bride set to get married in October at beautiful Laguna Gloria.
There’s a Lyle Lovett song that says, “That’s right you’re not from Texas, but Texas wants you anyway.” I am not from Texas. However, after living here for more than seven years now, I have come to call this home. While I’m not a true Texan, my fiancé is, and that welcoming Texas mentality has been woven in to several aspects of the wedding planning.
Although my family and many of my friends are from Arizona, and my fiancé’s are in south Texas and Louisiana, I had no doubt about wanting to have my wedding in Austin. It meant asking the majority of our guests to travel, take time off work and book hotel rooms, but it also meant they had found a great excuse to spend a week in our amazing city.
When we started planning the wedding, it turned into planning a weekend. We’re kicking everything off by hosting a BBQ at our house. The next day is packed with lunch plans, a UT football game watch party and the rehearsal dinner at a fun, downtown restaurant. The wedding is on Sunday and the following morning we’re hosting a light breakfast for our guests before they head back home. We’ve convinced our families and friends to come here for us, so why not thank them by keeping them entertained while they’re in town?
With help from my amazing mom, we’ve put together “out of town bags” for all our guests traveling to Austin. We wanted to fill them with Austin-related items and snacks for the hotel rooms. We bought inexpensive cellophane bags and filled them with treats like gummy bears and crackers. Then we made these really simple sticker labels for each baggy. We replaced candy bar labels with labels we made, and did the same with water bottle labels. We’re also making Longhorn shaped cookies and including maps of downtown Austin with lists of fun things to do. We’re stuffing everything in reusable canvas bags. I’ve included some pictures so you could get a better idea of what’s inside them.
We really wanted our out of town guests to get a taste of why we love Austin. Although it required some time and work, a lot of the things we’ve planned are fairly simple and didn’t cost too much. What’s been important to us is that they feel welcomed and that they go home feeling like although they may not be from here, Texas wants them anyway.
Although my family and many of my friends are from Arizona, and my fiancé’s are in south Texas and Louisiana, I had no doubt about wanting to have my wedding in Austin. It meant asking the majority of our guests to travel, take time off work and book hotel rooms, but it also meant they had found a great excuse to spend a week in our amazing city.
When we started planning the wedding, it turned into planning a weekend. We’re kicking everything off by hosting a BBQ at our house. The next day is packed with lunch plans, a UT football game watch party and the rehearsal dinner at a fun, downtown restaurant. The wedding is on Sunday and the following morning we’re hosting a light breakfast for our guests before they head back home. We’ve convinced our families and friends to come here for us, so why not thank them by keeping them entertained while they’re in town?
With help from my amazing mom, we’ve put together “out of town bags” for all our guests traveling to Austin. We wanted to fill them with Austin-related items and snacks for the hotel rooms. We bought inexpensive cellophane bags and filled them with treats like gummy bears and crackers. Then we made these really simple sticker labels for each baggy. We replaced candy bar labels with labels we made, and did the same with water bottle labels. We’re also making Longhorn shaped cookies and including maps of downtown Austin with lists of fun things to do. We’re stuffing everything in reusable canvas bags. I’ve included some pictures so you could get a better idea of what’s inside them.
We really wanted our out of town guests to get a taste of why we love Austin. Although it required some time and work, a lot of the things we’ve planned are fairly simple and didn’t cost too much. What’s been important to us is that they feel welcomed and that they go home feeling like although they may not be from here, Texas wants them anyway.
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