She
Sara was raised as a military brat with such an amazing family. After graduating from Texas A&M University in 2004, she moved to Austin to start her career with Visible Changes. Little did she know, 3 years later, she would meet the most amazing dude in the whole world. Sara has gone from being a girl who so wanted to get married and have babies, to never wanting to get married and adopt a Mandarin baby, to falling so deeply in love with Barrett and wanting to do nothing more than get married and share the rest of her life with him...and have NO babies. Being settled in her career managing her salon at Barton Creek Mall, her crazy work schedule has become a way of life and has given her so many opportunities Amazing job, amazing family, amazing dude, amazing life...who knew that she would become such a lucky lady.
Him
Barrett loves steak, sneakers, and Sara...and has the best family anyone could ever ask for.
Us
We had been around each other for years before we actually first met. Same friends, same parties, same concerts, but never actually met. Finally, the stars aligned and we met, via Match.com...and then email...and then text message...and then phone calls...and then a face to face meeting at our very much loved Mugshots. Not to say that the rest is history, but it's pretty obvious where we have ended up.
"We specialize in making truly memorable events, all the while considering our impact on the environment. We are a full-service wedding venue providing almost everything you will need for the big day--coordinating services, tables, linens, chairs, china, wait staff, bartenders, floral services, catering, wedding cakes, and on and on... We are the nation's first certified organic events facility featuring one of a kind, local, organic, fresh, gourmet catering. We have over 7 acres of beautifully manicured lawns and gardens for your wedding ceremony. For your reception, the Artisan Ballroom is the ideal location--a 40 foot glass wall, thatched roof, a trickling waterfall, and massive hand-hewn wooden beams are just some of the features. Finally, a classic Victorian mansion is available for cocktail receptions and bridal changing rooms. At Barr Mansion we strive to bring the natural beauty of the outside gardens, inside--celebrating nature in a way Mother Earth would be proud of."
"Mark and Melanie McAfee purchased the Barr Mansion as a home for their new family in 1980. The Barr Mansion--a whisper of days gone by--is a beautiful Victorian mansion with white gingerbread porches built by the Barr family in 1898. The McAfee's began the long process of renovation in 1980, as the Mansion at that time was known as more of a haunted house than anything else. But after many, many days of work about a year later, they had their first wedding. The McAfee's business grew steadily and they built their success upon doing upscale garden weddings. As the McAfee's continued doing catering, they began a deep commitment to the organic philosophy and green movement. Eventually in 2000, they built the Artisan Ballroom, a green building and an ideal place for events with special consideration taken into the design for weddings. For 29 years Barr Mansion has been Austin's premier wedding location, now doing hundreds of events each year."
10463 Sprinkle Road
Austin, TX 78754
(512) 926-6907
For accomodations, we reccomend using websites such as Hotwire.com and Priceline.com to get the best possible deal on a room. Please click any of the hotel logos for detailed information about the properties closest to our event.
By clicking on the following links you will arrive at our wedding gift registries.
December 19th, 2010
Happy almost Christmas...can't believe the end of the year is nearly here. We've had lots of responses already to our invites for the wedding and couln't be more thrilled with our song requests we have gotten back with our RSVP's. We will for sure keep people on the dance floor all night.
With the holidays always come such a busy-ness that it seems we can hardly keep up. This holiday season has felt very unholiday-like because there is so much going on between work and wedding. But I'm sure as soon as it becomes Christmas Eve, we will both be in the holiday spirit and be busting at the seams with Christmas joy.
The last few weeks have seen lots of invitations and RSVPs sent, bridal portraits taken, groomsmen outfits purchased, and bridesmaid dresses delivered. The next few weeks will be filled with final details before the big day, and we truly can't wait to start seeing all of our lovely, delicious pieces falling into place. My passport was delivered in record time, 8 days from time of application until the moment it was in my hands, which means we will be traveling the globe in about 40 days.
Can't wait to see my proofs from Caroline from my bridal shoot. In my head it was amazing, fun, and pretty great photos were taken.
We will soon be taking "engagement" photos, almost 1 year after we got engaged. Mainly we are doing this photo session to get comfy with lovely Sweet Caroline, and to have some super cute photos of us around our house. Also, we have waited this long, because between the both of us, we have lost 100 pounds combined We are super excited about all of our accomplishments and can't wait to continue on our weight loss journey together, post wedding.
I hope everyone has an amazing holiday with their families.
If you are traveling to Austin for our wedding, please do us a favor and send us an email letting us know which hotel you booked yourselves for. We are trying to arrange transportation to and from Barr Mansion from a central pickup location.
Have an amazing Christmas week.
Lots of love::Sara
Tuesday December 7th
Holy cow. I feel like the closer we get to the holidays, the faster time flies. Almost Christmas, and I still haven’t hardly done any Christmas shopping.
By now, I’m sure a lot of you have received our invitations. We both hope you love them as much as we love them and can’t wait to start getting everyone’s RSVP cards back. Don’t forget about the song request on the back. This is how we are building our playlist for the reception, and we want to make sure that we will keep people on the dance floor all night.
If you are coming from out of town, send us an email and let us know where you are staying. We want to know where everyone is going to be staying so we can get some shuttle buses going to and from Barr Mansion so people don’t have to worry about drinking and driving.
On to my little check list of things that have been happening.
-I will be having my bridal portraits taken on Monday, December 13th with Sweet Caroline. I’m so excited and just hope I don’t look like a crazy person in them.
-Our couples shower thrown by our most favorite friends Shane & Liz Minshew was a hit. We had a lot of fun and were so happy to be able to spend time with our lovely friends.
-We went for our tasting at Barr Mansion and TRUST us when we say, the food is going to rock your face off. They pulled out all the stops for the tasting and we had an amazing evening. We are going to have lots of delicious food to munch on all night long,
and more importantly, delicious CAKE. I think I need to convince them to let me sample more cake before I make a final decision.
-It seems as though construction is moving along swimmingly at Barr Mansion. We are still crossing our fingers and holding on to hope that we will be the first wedding in the new ballroom, so please keep sending good vibes our way that we will continue to have amazing weather and there are no major hiccups along the way.
I hope you guys are getting excited for Christmas and New Years and get everything on your Christmas wish list. I’m sure there will be many more updates between now and Christmas, since there are lots of things happening between now and then.
Wednesday, November 17
My, how quickly time flies I can’t believe that we have a mere 2 months left before this whole shin dig goes down. Things are beginning to happen very rapidly now, so here is a little run down of things going on
-Shower hosted by The Coachman’s, The Douglass’s, and The Ray’s was AWESOME. We had an amazing time with our family and friendsand most importantly, my dad came in for the weekend to surprise me. It was, hands down, amazing.
-Our invitations are currently being printed and should be delivered very soon. They look amazing and will be sent out within the next 3 weeks.
-My fittings have begun with my wedding dress. When I tried it on at the end of August when it arrived, I couldn’t get it zipped all the way up. Now, it zipped all the way up. SO exciting. I will go back tomorrow for a second fitting to see where we stand. Also, stuck my thumb with a pin, which, in turn caused me to get blood on my dresssooooo something I would do. My seamstress said not to worry, so I’m notjust seems typicalme white no longer white (other than my skin color).
-All of our photo sessions will be taking place very soon. If you haven’t done so already, go check out our amazing photographer, Sweet Caroline. She is so amazing and I can’t wait to work with her.
-Last but most certainly not least.Barr Mansion is being rebuilt..So far, everything is coming along swimmingly, and it looks like we will be the first wedding in the new ballroom. This is THE BEST news ever, and the staff, especially our Day Of Coordinator, Rick, has been so amazing by meeting with us, keeping us updated with emails, etc. Couldn’t ask for anything more. It seems weird to finally be sitting down and actually planning things and setting things in stone AT Barr Mansion because we have been talking about it for so long.
We really can’t wait to share our day with everyone. We are planning an amazing party and can’t wait to get all dressed up and dance and drink with all of our amazing friends and familyJanuary REALLY will be here before we all know it.
Lots of Love::Sara
Friday October 22, 2010
Hello friends. Lots has been happening in our worlds lately. We took a trip up to Maine to see my family, which was amazing. While we were there, my grandparents threw a wedding shower for us both. It was a lot of fun, and it was so great to be able to see all of my family in one space. We got a lot of great gifts and have just finished addressing and sending out all of our thank you cards.
We have met with our florist and hashed out exactly what we want to have for our big day. We are using Ginny in Salado, and I just know she is going to do an amazing job. She had some great ideas and I can’t wait to see how everything turns out.
As of today, we have 99 days until our great party. We both can’t wait. Lots of things are beginning to happen now, and nearly every day off is spent doing something related to our wedding. Let me tell you, I LOVE IT. I love planning, in general, but I specifically love getting to plan everything down to the last detail to make our event a fun and memorable one.
We will be ordering our invitations in the next couple of weeks, and trust me when I tell you, that you have never seen invitations like ours. We are working with a lady named Laura Nehls, and she is SO creative and amazing. She is a true talent and you can tell she loves what she does. She has paid attention to so many little details and it is truly turning our invitations into exactly what we wanted, but couldn’t quite put into words. We will be sending them out at the end of November, so check your mailboxes at the beginning of December. Can’t wait to share them with all of you.
I finally received my shoes for the wedding, after originally being sent the wrong colored ones and then being told that they didn’t have the ones I ordered in my size. They are from Irregular Choice and they are so cute and unique. I just need to break them in, but I REALLY want to be wearing them ALL the time because they are so dang cute
This weekend our dear family friends, the Coachman’s, will be throwing us a super fun stock the bar party. If you feel the desire to drive up to Salado, come on up. It is going to be so much fun, and hopefully we will have some photos we will be able to post on our next blog post.
Got to run and get our house ready for company this weekend. We will be updating more frequently now that the wedding is getting closer, so keep checking back
Thursday, September 16th
Bridesmaid dresses were ordered today. For those of you that don't know, I will be having 4 bridesmaids. My sister, Krista, is my Matron of Honor. She will be wearing this dress. My friend from college, Sarah, is my Maid of Honor. She will be wearing this dress. Liz and Kristen are my other two bridesmaids. Liz is Barrett's best friend, Shane's, wife. She has now turned into one of my best friends. Kristen is one of Barrett's very best friends from back in high school. She will be coming from the furthest distance to be in our wedding. Her and her fiance, Stu, live in London. Liz and Kristen, unknowingly decided on this same dress.
All of the dresses will be the color and material of Liz & Kristen's dress, luxe taffetta in Platinum. The girls will all be wearing red shoes of their choosing. Dresses will arrive by the beginning of December. I can't wait to see them all in person.
Thanks to Melange Bridal in Austin for being so helpful with this process.
That's all for now. Lots of Love::Sara
Monday, September 6th
So many things are coming together lately. Almost all of our save the date cards have been mailed out. My dress arrived about 3 weeks early, so I immediately went to Salado and tried it on. We are narrowing our decision down for our rehearsal dinner. Later this month we will begin designing our actual invitations so we can get them sent out shortly after Thanksgiving.
At the end of September, Barrett and I will be vacationing in Maine. While we are there, we will have a gathering with my family, and we are both so excited to get to see everyone.
At the end of October, I will try my dress on again, and cross my fingers that it will fit my chest this time. I will begin 4 weeks of boot camp here in Austin with Camp Gladiator on September 13, so I am confident that it will give my workouts a big boost AND help me to lose that 1/8th of an inch that is preventing my dress to be zipped up at the moment. My dress is absolutely amazing and I am SO in love with it...I want to wear it ALL THE TIME.
So much fun stuff coming up...time is flying, and it will be January before we all know it. That's all for now. Lots of love::Sara
Wednesday, August 4th
So it has been a little over a month since our last blog update. Not a whole lot has been going on in our little corner of the world lately, hence the lack of updates.
I had surgery on July 30th to have my gall bladder removed. Turned out that my gall bladder was the culprit to all of my attacks I had been having. I am on the mend, and feeling a bit better every day. It was a scary experience for me, but I am better off now, and I know I will continue to get better. I am very thankful for my family, Barrett, and his mom for coming and taking care of me while I was drugged up and in pain.
Today my nana bought her dress for the wedding...well 2 dresses to be exact. She looks great in both, but is having a hard time deciding which one to wear, but soon enough, she will have made a decision.
Our Save the Date cards have been sent to print and we should be receiving them in the mail hopefully by the end of the week. If you haven't emailed us your address yet, would you do us a favor and drop us and email on the Contact Us page and send us your physical address? Thanks a ton.
We have less than 6 months until the big day. Hope you are all looking at flights and getting excited for the best party ever.
love you all. -Sara-
Thursday, June 24th
So here we are, almost 7 months to the day Here is a little update on what has happened so far.
Barr Mansion has kept us pretty well updated on the status of the ballroom that burnt down. They have continued with business as usual, and have had several weddings in their beautiful tent they have set up on the grounds. A lot of people keep asking what we are going to do if the new ballroom isn't ready, and to that I say, we will get married in the tent. I have said this from the beginning, but it is even more prevalent now, that our wedding is not about "the wedding", it's about Barrett and I being married and embarking on a lifelong journey together. Everything else is just "fluff"...beautiful, amazing fluff, but fluff none the less. You can check out photos of the tent Barr Mansion has set up by going to our Info tab and clicking on the link for Barr Mansion.
My dress has been ordered and will hopefullly arrive around the middle to end of September. I am so in love with this dress and can't wait to have it in my hands. It was a little anti climatic to order the dress, as you simply go in, get measured, pay a huge chunk of money and get sent on your way. I have ordered my dress in Salado at Coccinella's, and they have been amazing so far. It is for the best that the dress is being delivered to Salado, because if it were up to me, I would be watching tv in my dress and just wearing it around the house BEFORE the wedding.
Our wedding invitations will be ordered by the end of next week, so be expecting your save the dates in the mail closer to the end of summer, beginning of September.
I believe that is all for now...Barrett and I have been very busy working, working out, eating healthy, and trying to get in shape to blow everyone away on January 29th. It will be here before we all know it.
Wednesday, June 9th
Crazy news today...OUR WEDDING VENUE BURNED TO THE GROUND. It was struck by lightning early this morning. We drove by and saw the charred remains of what used to be such a beautiful building. The good news is that the owners have said they already have plans to have a new frame structure built in a couple weeks and the new building is estimated to be finished in 3 months time. Super huge bummer for those folks with summer weddings planned.
Click the following link for the full story.
Lightning Strikes Popular Wedding Venue
Until next time...Barrett
Monday, June 7th
So after lots of wedding cake samples, the fruits of our labor paid off at the Bridal Extravaganza on Sunday. I won one of the Grand Prizes, a free bridal portrait session with a 16x20 framed portrait. (He's no Sweet Caroline, but free is free.) Pretty sweet deal. I also won a free laser hair removal treatment...on my upper lip. HA% You can see a photo of me with the photographer that will be shooting the free session here: http://austin.texasweddingsltd.com/bridalextravaganza/
Look at his tuxedo%%%%% My hair looks soooo long in that picture. So obviously, we had a great day and got lots of stuff, including tons of spam emails from the vendors.
I found out today that I will be ordering my dress on Thursday, so hopefully I will have an estimated arrival date very soon.
This is all becoming so real, so fast. The next 7 months (and hopefully 20 pounds) will fly by. Updates soon.
Saturday, June 5th
Heyyyyyyyyyy. We will be updating this page with all of our fun wedding happenings. This font type doesn't allow exclamation points %$#&, so it's hard to convey excitement.
So far we have been busy bees. We have booked our venue, Barr Mansion, booked our AMAZING photographer, Sweet Caroline, chosen our invitations, and decided on my wedding dress and shoes. We have decided on our honeymoon dates and will be leaving Austin and flying into Dublin, Ireland on Monday, January 31, 2011 and returning to the states around the 15th of February. We will be jet-setting/train-setting around Europe and getting to spend some time with our good friends, Kristen & Stu. We have registered at Target and will be completing our registry at Crate & Barrel very soon. We still have quite a bit left to do, but lots of time to do it and are making great strides.
I will be going to the Austin Bridal Extravaganza this Sunday the 6th with my mom and sister...the goal is to stay until I win something...and eat LOTS of free wedding cake. Check back soon for more updates.
lots of love...Sara
