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With its ample outdoor lounge space, creative cocktail menu, intriguing people-watching possibilities, and sweeping views of Lady Bird Lake and the downtown skyline, Paggi House is the place for a swanky happy hour. But happy hour is only
Wedded Bliss
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For Austinite Mary Sledd, her wedding to Scott Owens offered the picture-perfect opportunity to be on the other side of the lens. Having photographed more than 100 weddings, this popular local photographer knew the importance of capturing her special day on film, and she gave the job to photographer friends David Hill and Jake Holt. “I, along with my friend and fellow photographer David Hill, were chosen as the ‘official’ photographers,” said Holt. “‘Official’ gets quotation marks in this case because there were enough photographers of all shapes and sizes in attendance to deliver enough photos to fill up a dump truck—or a really, really big hard drive.”
From vendors to venue, Sledd incorporated many elements into her “Texas Chic with a Whimsical Twist” themed wedding. “We wanted our out-of-town guests to get a little taste of Texas,” she said. The bride, pairing her wedding dress with her favorite cowboy boots, and the groom, carrying a lucky silver dollar in his pocket, led their bridal party and guests into the reception area with a Grand March and enjoyed their first dance to the strains of “Waltz Across Texas.”
Of course, Sledd put a lot of weight on the photography element throughout the event. “How the wedding would photograph played a big part in many of my wedding decisions,” she said. “I knew I wanted to get ready in a room with lots of pretty, natural light. We also set the ceremony time for when the light would be the best.” Although she was immensely pleased with the outcome of the shots by her photographers of choice, you can’t fight city hall, even at a wedding. “I did get out my camera and take a few snapshots,” the award-winning photographer bride admitted.
The trend of going green as the new “wedding white” fit perfectly for Monique Capanelli and Danté Dominick. The couple incorporates green practices into their everyday lives, collecting their own rainwater, driving only one car, and growing a self-proclaimed “food forest” on their property, so the same rule of thumb could easily be applied to their wedding plans.
Following the line of thought that if you want something done green you’ve got to do it yourself, Capanelli gathered locally grown succulents to create her own bouquet and made a “nest” of moss, twigs, and ribbons to hold the couple’s rings for the ring bearers. Since the bride’s parents have a background as restaurant owners, they were able to echo her eco-friendly vision by creating the menu, incorporating organic, freerange Texas Longhorn meat, making organic pasta from scratch, and using the basil from Capanelli’s own garden to make the pesto. Even the serving dishes and glassware were an eclectic mix, found on craigslist and later donated to SafePlace. Guests sipped wine from Messina Hof Winery and beer from Independence Brewery, and at the end of the evening were gifted with CDs made by the groom that contained a compilation of music from local performers.
The couple’s decision to go green made their special day that much more significant. “At the end of the night we really did see the fruits of our labor. We produced only two small bags of trash from 80 people and more than seven hours of partying,” said Capanelli. “We both wanted a celebration that really represented who we were as people every day and how we wanted to live our lives and share them with others.”
For Oliver Everette, a consummate planner, and Craig Rancourt, a free spirit with a love of vintage cowboy boots, their commitment to each other led them to secure their vows three times over. Their first wedding was an all-frills ceremony in Woodstock, Vermont, in the winter of 2001. The evening ceremony at the Unitarian Universalist Church was followed by a cocktail reception and dinner at the Jackson House, where guests donned formal attire and danced the night away to the sounds of a jazz quartet among the winter-white floral decor selected specifically by Everette. “The Vermont church wedding was the most traditional and most important event for us,” said Rancourt. “This was the event that was attended by close family and friends, 50 people total. It was also our chance to integrate our selected families of many gays and lesbians with our biological families—and to have all witness our lives and commitment to each other in a public forum.”
Their next two weddings were more low-key in terms of production, but just as significant in sentiment. In February 2004 the couple received their marriage license in San Francisco and wed on the inside steps of the city hall in front of a small group of family members and friends. Given the recent result of Proposition 8 voting, the couple has bittersweet feelings about their California nuptials that were nullified. “We were disappointed with the outcome of Proposition 8,” said Rancourt. “We were aware of how important the vote was in California, which was once considered a safe state for GLBT rights.” They decided to renew their vows for a third time later that year in Massachusetts. As commissioned by the Massachusetts State Supreme Court, proceedings to receive a marriage license began at midnight, and Rancourt and Everette, otherwise known as number 161 in a long line of license-seekers, joined the crowd for a long night’s wait.
“Massachusetts was very powerful,” said Rancourt. “We were part of a huge procession on the day it became legal to give out marriage licenses, and tens of thousands of people lined the streets cheering as couples entered city hall one by one.” They wed days later in a small local parish, in front of a few family members and their minister, who also officiated at their Vermont wedding, with the honor of being the first “gay couple” to have their names entered into the church’s wedding log.
Although the couple, recently relocated to Austin and currently soaking up an arms-wide-open reception, have no plans to wed again in the near future, they have not ruled out the possibility. “I suspect we will always feel that our Vermont ceremony will be our true marriage day,” said Rancourt. “However, we will likely be remarried in other states as we have the ability—and as they honor the marriages across the borders of other states.” ■