A colorful spring wedding at Osage House
There will always be space in my heart for just one more Osage House wedding. Jared and I were just talking a few days ago about how we’ve still never even seen a wedding at the Reserve (the smaller venue on property at Osage) because our clients always go big, but the truth is we love when they do. From blogs about how to have the perfect Osage Wedding, to blogs about unique ways to have a wedding at Osage we’ve seen it all. Mia + Alec, Jordan + Jordan, Alie + Hunter, Hannah + Mason and so many other amazing couples have brought us out to this incredible big beautiful property tucked back in Cave Springs and yet - this one felt all together different. Kolby had this huge vision for this wedding and it required a couple who was totally trusting and also all in. The color, the layout, the vendors, even the schedule on the day of the wedding was fine tuned to come together just right and it did.
It’s the colorful weddings for me in 2024.
It’s a fine line though. Weddings with a billion colors that aren’t well curated look like - well - easter egg hunts. That’s not a huge knock on color, it’s just me pointing out that if there isn’t a fine attention to detail on where and how those colors show up it’s all that shows up and it drowns out everything else. I think the question I get asked the most from our couples is some variation of this :
“How do you design a timeless wedding?”
That’s not exactly the words of course but it’s between the lines in so many things. How a groom dresses, the design the the dress, the layout of the day, even the music plays into that timeless concept and color is one thing that can be a little too trendy a little too quickly. I use this example a ton but it was just a few years ago that every single grow as wearing a floral tie and a navy suit, only a few years before that they were wearing wooden bow ties, a few years before that the vibe was suspenders with a white shirt and tie (no jacket). Trends come and go so quickly that if you’re not careful which ones you decide to tip your hat to your wedding ends up looking more like Vacation Bible School than this elegant affair you’re probably day dreaming about. I digress.
How to add color to a wedding?
The answer is intentionally. Choose tones to those colors that aren’t too saturated, plug them in in places that don’t steal the show, and then embrace them. I loved so much the way Lexie’s bridemsaids dresses added to the tone of the day. The florals are beautiful along with the magenta color. I loved the way the guys all looked classic and crisp in tan instead of black or gray. I love the dedication to the color in the florals, the invitations, the decor and then perhaps most of all loved the way Lexie + Josh allowed color to be some of, but not all of the concept. These two have big personalities, both of them and all of the people who came from all over the country to see this day happen had to expect a big mood.
The bigger the mood, the more important the quiet moments become.
The music and the laughter and the fun built and built throughout the day but the time we spent getting Lexie + Josh moments away from all of the noise was intended to allow it all to really sink in. His first look with her was so special not because of the beautiful chapel we were standing in front of (although Osage’s chapel is pretty incredible), and not because of his tears or even her sneaking up behind him but because of - wait for it…
The silence.
If you want to have an absolutely amazing wedding day you have to find time to be quiet. It’s when the memories sink in. It’s the reason why I am such a proponent of NOT doing the fake laugh, NOT doing the made for content moments, NOT chasing every silly vain little moment. Those things are all fine in and of themselves but they add so much noise to the wedding day that the emotion, the design, and the purpose get’s drowned out. Not at this wedding though. The emotion was right under the surface during dad’s speech where he teared up (quite unexpectedly), it was right under the surface when Josh realized Lexie was standing right behind him during the first look he didn’t know was happening, it was right under the surface during the private last dance as all of the guests who had stayed to the very end lined up outside to pop confetti and streamers, and it was framed by this beautiful design filled with color and concept.
We’ve written before about the importance of hiring a wedding planner, and we’ve released all of the how to guides especially for planning a wedding in Arkansas but just in case you haven’t clicked around much let me type out the 5 best things about Lexie and Josh’s wedding specifically as well as ways any bride and groom can bring these things into their wedding day.
Lexie and Josh hired a vendor team they trusted completely. They had never even seen their venue first hand until the day before the wedding but because of the planning staff, florists, entertainment, catering, hair and makeup, bar tending, rentals, video, and yes - photography they chose they felt totally confident that this day was going to be exactly as they’d dreamed.
Lexie and Josh took time throughout the day to love on family. It’s something that get’s left behind sometimes but for all of the fun moments with bridesmaids and groomsmen that one special moment with grandma can get forgotten. These two made sure moments with their parents, siblings, and even each other were absolutely intentional.
Lexie and Josh made this wedding their own. From personal vows to letters to each other they filled this day up with all of the promises that couple’s have said to each other for generations as well as ones that were more personal.
Lexie and Josh embraced the emotions. Big laughs, big tears, big smiles. They didn’t stop and ask for posing advice or assume that any single moment was more important than any single memory and because of that these photos represent what happened, not how we tried to perfect want wasn’t happening.
Lexie and Josh stayed plugged into each other rather than worry about what came next. We mentioned to them during the first look wanting to duck back out for a quick sunset session and the response was “absolutely”. I dreamed up how we were going to do the first look moments before it happened and only Lexie knew and the response was “this is going to be fun”. We asked the girls to be full of hype and laughter and only real smiles and the response was “oh thank God”.
This was a day absolutely filled with joy, color, and laughter at a place that always seems to bring out the best in our couples. HUGE thanks to these amazing companies for coming along side us and helping bring this one to life and especially to Kolby from Amanda Reed Weddings for being in the drivers seat so that we could all truly enjoy the trip.
VENDOR LIST
● PLANNING + DESIGN - KOLBY WITH AMANDA REED WEDDINGS
● VENUE - OSAGE HOUSE
● CATERING - MARKET PLACE
● BARTENDING - BOOZIN’ + CRUISIN’
● HMU - BOUN VANG + KEELEE HUTCHINS
● PHOTOGRAPHER - MILES WITT BOYER
● RENTALS - EVENTOLOGY, BBJ/NUAGE, ALCHEMY, EVENTURES
● PHOTO BOOTH - SOCIAL PHOTO BOOTH CO
● DANCE FLOOR - THE DANCE FLOOR MAN
● LIGHTING - LIGHTWORKS
● FLORIST - DARLING BLOOMS
● CAKE - SHELBY LYNN’S
● CEREMONY/RECEPTION MUSIC - MEGA DJ
● INVITATIONS, PAPER GOODS - DAYFLOWER DESIGNS
● LATE NIGHT SNACK - SLIMS
● GETAWAY CAR - HIGH SOCIETY
