Lauren Julius & Robert Grimmett
Join us for an exclusive Q&A with Lauren as we dive into the details of their special day!
the couple. Lauren Julius & Robert Grimmett
the venue. Chapel at Palacios
the photos. Emily Chappell Photography
The Love Story
Our story goes all the way back to 2015 at their local Chipotle. While grabbing a bite to eat after watching a Texas Rangers game, I asked my social-butterfly best friend Amanda, “Who’s that guy in the UT hat? I’ve never seen him before, and he’s really cute!” The next thing I knew, Amanda had marched up to the ‘guy in the UT hat’ and introduced herself. Later that night, after Amanda facilitated a swapping of Snapchat usernames, Robert reached out to me. He didn’t waste any time and asked me on a date the first time we saw each other at school. From there, a relationship started that probably looked like any other high school relationship from the outside, but we both knew we had each met someone incredibly special. We’ve been together through a lot of life’s craziest stages, each one making us stronger and more excited for the next. We currently live in Dallas with our black lab, Jack, and cannot wait for this exciting season of life to take off.
The Proposal
Our engagement story starts with Robert buying the ring of my dreams over a year before he popped the big question. We had many conversations about a proposal and marriage, but somehow Robert was still able to surprise me with almost every aspect of the engagement. Robert spent months planning out the perfect set-up and enlisted trusty teammates like (but not limited to) my mom, Kim, and lots of my best friends, who were later bridesmaids.
I was under the assumption that Robert would be in South Dakota for work from Thursday – Sunday, and that I would be having a girls weekend with some out-of-town friends who were conveniently in Dallas for “work!” I was completely oblivious to the possibility of this being “the weekend”, while everyone else around me had been working hard to make sure the big surprise stayed a secret. After piecing together some clues on Thursday afternoon, I started to have a faint feeling that this could maybe… just maybe… be happening. I spent the next 48 hours internally convincing myself otherwise, because the most important person in the equation (Robert) would be out of town until the end of the weekend. I had a nonstop nervous feeling in my stomach, until the moment Taylor and Tessa stopped the car on the way to “dinner” and Robert was standing there waiting to greet me. My heart instantly melted and I knew my intuition was right. Robert had flown home the night before and stayed at Alex Guthrie’s house in secret to time the perfect surprise proposal. We walked down to a beautiful and romantic set up in a park near their apartment, where Robert got down on one knee, and I said yes! Robert planned a huge surprise party at The Henry in Dallas with so many friends, family, and thoughtful details, which was a dream come true for me. We walked in and were greeted with cheers, laughs, tears, and so many hugs. Everyone wanted to keep celebrating so we headed to Harwood Arms in Uptown to continue recapping the perfect day. The night ended back at our apartment, where more friends continued to have fun and spill all the planning secrets everyone had been keeping to make the plan go off without a hitch.
The Wedding Venue
We chose Chapel at Palacios in Westlake, because of its beautiful architecture and thoughtful setup. We loved that it felt like a piece of Europe nestled conveniently in DFW!
The Vibe
The vibe I went for was classic meets springtime meets disco. The main colors are white & blue with accents of pink, orange, yellow and green. My favorite movie of all time is Mamma Mia so that’s where the disco inspiration comes in. I wanted our guests to have fun and feel energized by the bright colors!
The Photography
It was very important to us that our wedding photographer was able to capture the happiness and joy of our day. We wanted a mix of traditional, timeless photos along with natural and organic photos to document the one in a lifetime moments. Emily Chappell was the perfect choice because of her extensive experience and bright style of photography.
The Dress
My Martina Liana dress was one of my favorite details of the whole day, and one of the easiest decisions throughout the whole wedding planning process! The stunning floral appliqués, dainty square neckline, and feminine structure of the dress made me fall in love the second I put it on. It made me feel so beautiful instantly, and I felt ready to walk down the aisle once we added the veil. Patsy’s Bridal in Dallas was an incredible dress shopping experience that I would recommend to everyone!
The Accessories
I wanted my accessories to be simple since my dress had so many beautiful details. I paired my gown with a dainty gold chain link bracelet and a pair of clustered sparkly earrings from Olive + Piper.
The Bridesmaids
My bridesmaids’ dresses were one of the details of the day that I never stressed about, because I knew my girls would know exactly what to do! I sent them a “bridesmaids lookbook” with inspiration photos, and all the blue dresses I could find, with links to all! I had seen light blue dresses done before, but I wanted to make sure they felt bright and energetic. They all understood the assignment perfectly and each picked a different light blue dress that they felt beautiful in. I couldn’t have been happier with how they turned out!
The Groomsmen
Robert worked as a stylist at Men’s Wearhouse when he was in high school so he had a vision for the groomsmen to sport a classic, timeless look in black tuxes. They looked incredible and so put together!
The Wedding Rings
Our wedding rings were our Christmas gifts to each other during the year of our engagement. It was so much fun to go back to the jeweler where Robert got my engagement ring and work with the same team that designed my dream ring. I picked a band with thin emerald stones set east to west, to match my emerald cut engagement ring. Robert picked a classic silver band to match his silver watch that he wears everyday.
The Hair and Makeup
My hair & makeup team could not have done a better job! It was super important to me that all my girls felt beautiful, so after I looked through the instagram page for She is Art Beauty, I knew instantly we were in good hands! For my bridal look, I wanted to look like an enhanced version of my everyday self, glowing inside & out. My makeup was “soft glam” inspired complete with a body glow on my neck and chest. My hair was curled with lots of volume, and seamlessly tucked behind my ears so I didn’t have to worry about it all day and night! I’ve truly never felt more beautiful than I did on my wedding day and I attribute it all to Brittany and her team’s talent and hard work!
The Stationery
As a graphic designer, our wedding stationery was a passion project of mine that I’ve been dreaming about forever! I knew I wanted each piece to reflect the spring colors that would be featured on the wedding day, so my color scheme was light blue, pink, white, green and yellow. Design elements included a beautiful pairing of a fancy serif and script font, monochromic letterpress printing, and illustrations of butterflies, champagne glasses, wedding rings and disco balls. My parents came over to help stuff our invitations, which was so much fun to see all my hard work come together!
The Florals
My wedding florals were largely inspired by the flowers you see in springtime gardens and fields. I wanted a balance of classic white and green florals, along with natural, colorful blooms. My bouquet reflected my personal style which is bright and feminine. My favorite floral arrangement had to be the four beautiful installments that sat behind us at the altar in the chapel. They were the perfect backdrop for our ceremony!
The Morning Of
The morning of our wedding was everything I had dreamt of as a little girl. All my best friends running around with excitement asking how they can help, while getting their dresses hung up and getting started on hair and makeup. I got to have special moments with each person that was there for me, and I couldn’t have felt more loved and celebrated that morning. Having my mom to help me get in my dress is something I’ll cherish forever. Once we started taking photos on the third floor, both my grandmothers found their way up the elevator because they couldn’t wait to see me in my dress. It created the perfect moment for photos with each of them that I’ll love for the rest of my life!
One funny moment just before the ceremony was when my bridesmaids realized that the route we were taking to the chapel was very visible to all our guests! So they thought on their toes and all gathered around me and shielded me from the chapel windows using their bodies and bouquets. It was hilarious as we slowly inched towards the chapel doors as one big bunch. It helped calm the nerves as we all giggled together in this impromptu moment!
The Ceremony
Our wedding ceremony was inside the beautiful Chapel at Palacios, which is nestled right on the water in the Solana community. The high ceilings and huge arched windows made for the perfect setting for Robert and I to tie the knot. A violinist and guitarist played the most beautiful music to lead guests in and throughout the processional. I walked down to a violin solo of Dancing Queen, a song that I’ve always loved since I was a little girl. Walking down with my Dad was a huge honor and something I’ll never take for granted! Robert and I locked eyes throughout the entire ceremony and couldn’t believe we were finally getting married in front of all our friends and family! It was stunning and unforgettable.
The Reception
The wedding reception was truly the best of both worlds. Dinner was perfectly set up in the gorgeous ballroom with springtime floral arrangements, lit candles and a delicious dinner while we all listened to a playlist I created with my favorite songs about love. It was so special to socialize with all our guests over dinner and drinks, until it was time for speeches. My two best friends, Robert’s best man, and my Dad gave unforgettable and tear jerking speeches, to lead us into dancing. It was important to me for the dance floor to feel like the most fun party anyone has ever been to! Once the lights went down and the pink up lighting came on, the party had begun! Our DJ, DJ Dani, blew us out of the water. She took all my song suggestions and seamlessly blended them together to create the most upbeat dance floor environment! When it was time for the grand exit, no one wanted to leave because we were having so much fun. It was a dream come true!
The Planning
We luckily had around 14 months to plan our big day. As a type A planner, I had the very best time brainstorming, planning, and then experiencing each detail. I had a huge to do in a google doc, with each action item broken down by month. I knew I had to tackle one thing at a time so I didn’t get too overwhelmed! It was so satisfying to highlight and turn the to-do list item blue, to show it was completed! Even with a couple stressful moments, it was so much fun to curate our perfect day.
The Cake
A three tier white cake with a classic white ribbon! We both only had one bite while we cut the cake, but we agreed it was the best cake we’ve ever had. Luckily we have some saved for our first anniversary!
The Food
We wanted to make sure our guests had their choice of an entree for dinner, so we offered a grilled filet mignon and a Brie & spinach stuffed chicken breast. Our sides were asparagus & Mac and cheese, because those are our two favorite sides to make at home!
The Favorite Moment
My favorite moment was of course Robert and I’s first look. It was an incredible rush of emotions to see my husband for the first time on our wedding day, while I got to see his reaction to my dress up close! He looked more handsome than he ever has, and seeing him brought all my nerves to rest. It was incredibly special to then read our vows privately and cry together about how excited we were! This moment calmed both our spirits and made the ceremony even more special, since we were able to be completely present.
The Unexpected
I expected to have fun at our reception, but I didn’t realize how much fun I was in for. On top of our incredible DJ, my mom had a brilliant idea to coordinate a surprise flash mob to my favorite song, Dancing Queen, during the reception. She sent everyone a YouTube video with choreography and encouraged everyone to learn if they wanted to participate! It was the happiest moment which ended in me being pulled into the middle of the dance floor to finish the dance with my Nan, who showed me Mamma Mia and introduced me to “Dancing Queen” when I was 8 years old. It was the perfect surprise moment!
The Honeymoon
We split our honeymoon between the beautiful Caribbean islands of St. Martin & Anguilla. We can’t wait to go back!
The Advice
My advice would be to cherish the wedding planning process, not just the wedding day. It is a privilege to plan a wedding, especially alongside the people you love! I would encourage any newly engaged couples to take their time wedding planning, because once it’s over, it’s over for good! It’s such a cool and special experience that is much more enjoyable when you give yourself plenty of time. My mom and I created so many memories during our wedding planning meetings and phone calls, and we both miss it now that it’s over. My biggest piece of advice is to document everything, so you can revisit each part of the process and reminisce on all the fun.
The Vendors
Wedding Vendors
VENUE CHAPEL AT PALACIOS
PHOTOGRAPHER EMILY CHAPPELL PHOTOGRAPHY
CONTENT CREATOR GATHER + VOW
FLORAL THE DESIGN HAUS
BRIDAL SALON PATSY’S BRIDAL BOUTIQUE
BRIDAL GOWN DESIGNER MARTINA LIANA
CAKE THE JENNY LAYNE BAKERY
RENTALS BIG D PARTY RENTALS
ENTERTAINMENT COHOST ENTERTAINMENT
HAIR + MAKEUP SHE IS ART BEAUTY
SIGNAGE SINCERELY, ADDISON
TRANSPORTATION COHOST LUXURY COLLECTION