Bailey Rue Rector and Nathan Loewenstein
Join us for an exclusive Q&A with Bailey as we dive into the details of their special day.
the couple. Bailey Rue Rector & Nathan Loewenstein
the venue. Bowie House
the photos. Perez Photography
The Love Story
We met back in December of 2020; He had moved here from Houston for a job after law school right before the lockdown started. We met over Bumble and messaged each other for a few weeks before deciding to meet up for a drink at Thompson’s Bookstore, downtown. I remember seeing him at the bar with his back to me when I was getting my ID checked by the bouncer. He was wearing a Canadian Tuxedo (blue jeans, and a blue jean button-down shirt) He looked incredibly handsome. We sat at the bar and spoke with the bartender about different liquors since my family and I had been making and inventing new martinis every night during lockdown. Nate was incredibly quiet, and I had a hard time hearing him. (He is not a quiet person) We ended up staying there so long that I looked at him and said I need something to eat now! So, we left Thompson’s and as we were about to cross the street I leaned over and kissed him. After that, the nerves melted away and we just had so much fun. We ended up eating dinner at the casual sushi place down the block and then headed over to Winchester’s pub around the corner before we headed home for the night.
Over the next few years, a total of 4 pets later, 2 new jobs, meeting everyone on both sides of our family, we moved in together. We have been having so much fun ever since!
The Proposal
It was Labor Day weekend and his birthday. He initially told me he did not want to do anything for his birthday, but I went out and got all his favorite foods and planned for a fun weekend at home. Then he suggested at the last minute we go out to dinner for his birthday. So, I made a reservation at the new sushi place in town, Musume. We got all dressed up on Saturday night and went downtown for dinner. We ate lots of sushi and then went to Thompson’s Bookstore. They had opened up their top-floor cigar lounge and renovated their speakeasy, so I wanted to stop by and see it. It was also a regular spot for us to go when we were downtown. We went up to the top floor and as he smoked a cigar (and I took a few puffs) he calmly taught me how to play chess. We stayed there for at least 2 hours before deciding to close out and head to Winchester (the other bar we went to on our first date). Before we headed outside, I wanted to see what they had done to the basement floor for their speakeasy. I was blissfully unaware of everything he had planned, and this detour made him so nervous. Once we had taken a look we went outside to the corner where we had our first kiss, he grabbed me and held me tight telling me how much he loved me, and asked if I remembered that this is where we had our first kiss. I said of course and that I loved him too. Then he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him as he pulled a beautiful ring out of his pocket. I was shocked! I asked him if he was serious and then said of course! It was exactly how I had pictured him proposing to go. Just the two of us and the spot where we had our first kiss, but I didn’t tell him any of that beforehand, he had planned this all himself. It was one of the happiest moments of my life, knowing I got to spend the rest of my life with my best friend. After he proposed we started walking towards Winchester but went the wrong way and walked in a big circle before realizing it was around the corner from Thompson’s. But we didn’t care, we were so happy nothing else mattered.
The Wedding Venue
We chose Bowie House for our Venue. It had not opened yet and was still under construction but was only a block away from my parents’ house. It was across the street where I went to ballet from the ages of 3 to 15, next door to the CVS where my sister and I would walk to grab a candy bar after school. It was where I grew up, it was the perfect spot to show all of Nate’s Family coming from Buffalo, NY what Fort Worth was really like. It also had these subtle touches of horse cutting in the design that tied in Nate’s childhood of going to his Grandfather’s Dairy Farm as a child. The art collection was large and beautiful which also gave a nod to Nate and I’s art degrees. Because it was so close to my parent’s house, I was able to get ready for my wedding in my childhood bedroom, which was extremely special to me and my family.
The Vibe
Our vibe was a whimsical garden party, it was formal but not black tie. It had touches of my floral paintings throughout with incredible amounts of flowers that made the whole room smell like a garden of roses. Our ceremony was special and well thought out with our reception being just a large fun party! We just wanted everyone to have fun!
The Photography
When choosing our photographer, we wanted someone who would capture the day, we did not want artsy pictures. We wanted something that we could look back on in 30 years and see exactly how we remembered it. I loved that they would have one follow us around and take pictures of us with any of the guests who wanted it. That made the guest feel special and we will be able to have a picture with most of the people there.
The Dress
I wanted a simpler gown, that was not a ball gown or A-line dress. I also wanted a more modern lace in a small section of the dress. We went to 3 different places and ended up choosing this beautiful Architectural, mermaid, halter dress with laser-cut flowers pinned to the chest and all down the back. It was whimsical with the flowers yet simple and structured. It was different from anything else I had seen.
The Accessories
I bought a pair of earrings from Japan that are golden three-tiered flowers with little white beads in the center and these beautiful handmade gold silk mules with pearls sewn on the top from Greece. My veil was a simple practically see-through veil so you could see the back of my dress and my comb was made with the left-over laser flowers from my dress. I had a jade butterfly brooch on my bouquet to represent my late Grandmother and a leather clutch I designed with my floral paintings on it and the date of our wedding.
The Bridesmaids
I bought a pair of earrings from Japan that are golden three-tiered flowers with little white beads in the center and these beautiful handmade gold silk mules with pearls sewn on the top from Greece. My veil was a simple practically see-through veil so you could see the back of my dress and my comb was made with the left-over laser flowers from my dress. I had a jade butterfly brooch on my bouquet to represent my late Grandmother and a leather clutch I designed with my floral paintings on it and the date of our wedding.
The Groomsmen
Nathan had 7 groomsmen, and they all wore blue suits with green matching ties and a pocket square. The ringbearer (our 2-year-old nephew wore a blue suit with a floral tie and pocket square) to match the groomsmen.
The Wedding Rings
Nate picked out my engagement ring from Jared’s after a bunch of research and had the diamond sent in from New York. We got both of our bands at Jared’s as well.
The Hair and Makeup
For hair and makeup, I wanted a very simple look that highlighted my natural features instead of covering them up. I wanted a low loose bun with my curls peeking through but my hair up so you could still see the back of my dress.
The Stationery
For my Save the Dates and Wedding Invitations, I worked with the Color Box in Dallas. I hand-painted all the flowers and bugs, digitized them, and sent them to Color Box. They arranged them and helped me pick out the shapes, paper, and envelopes for each Invitation. The flowers and insects I painted were used throughout the wedding.
The Florals
We had very bright vibrant colored flowers, there was no specific color scheme, but we wanted some funky unusual flowers. Specifically bright orange, yellow, purple, and blue. I wanted it to feel like a vibrant garden in full bloom and that look was 100% achieved!
The Morning Of
The morning of I woke up in my childhood bed in my childhood bedroom. I woke up at around 7 am because I was so excited I couldn’t sleep or stay in bed any longer. My sisters were in their bedrooms next to mine, so it was nice waking up with them. Since I was one of the first ones up, I walked downstairs for a quiet morning while my Godmother and Aunt set out breakfast and snacks for the morning. They made everything from scratch, I was truly spoiled.
The Ceremony
Our ceremony was incredibly special and unique. We had an interfaith wedding that was half Episcopalian and half Jewish. We wove the two ceremonies together and did not leave out or change anything to make a new ceremony but layered each tradition on top of each other. We circled each other 3 times under the Chuppah, had the traditional Episcopalian vows, the Jewish exchanging of the rings, and the 7 blessings in Hebrew, we said the Lord’s prayer and Nate stepped on the glass. We had Mother Hill from All Saints’ Episcopal Church and Rabbi Gruber as our officiants. We signed the ketubah before the ceremony surrounded by close loved ones. It was a beautiful ceremony that was well thought out and executed.
The Reception
The overall ambiance and vibe for the reception was just to have fun! We wanted it to be a party where everyone drank, danced, and enjoyed the amazing food. We had special cocktails named after two of our pets, Maggie the beagle and Strider the cat. They came with stir sticks with their paintings on them. The dance floor was open and welcoming while the DJ played awesome music that the guests all enjoyed and danced to all night long.
The Planning
The planning was difficult. The interfaith ceremony was hard to figure out and see exactly what order and everything that needed to be included. Thankfully Rabbi Gruber specializes in Interfaith weddings. Because I am an artist, I was too particular about what I wanted down to the shade of the colors of different objects. It was difficult to not just do it myself but also too much to do. Kristin, our wedding planner was amazing and made sure everything came out perfect! I believe my style and vision were different than most brides because I did not want anything white. I wanted the full volume of color, which we eventually achieved but I had to make it very known that is what I wanted. I understand some brides say they want one thing and then see it and actually hate it, but I knew what I wanted. The colors all came together so well. The entire wedding turned out beautiful.
The Cake
The cake was from the pastry chef at Bowie House. We had a champagne cake with raspberry petit four icing. It was a white iced cake with lots of little ceramic figurines that were garden party themed. For example, ceramic butterflies, dragonflies, bunnies, birds, flowers, and on top was the cake topper that has been in my family since the early 1900s. It was a lovely addition and a nod to my dad’s side of the family.
The Food
Bowie House has a wonderful menu, everything is made from scratch, we had crab cakes, and quail legs for appetizers. We had steak, chicken, mashed potatoes, salad, and green beans. For the late-night snack, we had sausage, egg and cheese biscuits instead of a groom’s cake.
The Entertainment
Our DJ was Leforce Entertainment, Nate Nelson was amazing he knew when to play the fun upbeat songs and the “background” music. We met with him before over Zoom to let him know what music we like and when we graduated from high school. He played many songs that made our guests run to the dance floor.
The Favorite Moment
My favorite moment was when it was all over and the night had ended and it was just the two of us on the dance floor dancing to Cupid by Sam Cooke. We couldn’t believe the night was over already, but we had so much fun. After we did the exit and drove around the block we were dropped back off at the front door, we all went back inside to have one more drink at the lobby bar. After the last call, a few of us walked the 2 blocks up to my parent’s house and sat in the backyard while we had a few more drinks and ate the leftover cake!
The Unexpected
One unexpected moment, but also not too unexpected was our nephew got very upset before walking down the aisle as our ring bearer. My sister-in-law was so sweet and was trying so hard to make him happy and get him down that aisle. I told her not to worry about it, but at the last moment, we found the large stash of kids snacks that my Aunt Linda brought specifically for a moment like this. My sister-in-law gave him a bag of pretzels and it was like he had been happy and fine all day! I told her not to take the pretzels away from him and let him walk down the aisle with them in his hand. So, he held his big sister’s hand (a flower girl) and his pretzels instead of the ring bearer pillow. It ended up being a favorite moment because it turned into a funny happy moment!
The Honeymoon
We have not gone on our honeymoon yet, after the wedding because we had so many guests flying in from out of town, we decided to stay and spend some time with them. A lot of them stayed until the Wednesday after the wedding. It was really nice to relax and spend some quality time with some of our family we do not get to see often. We were also super thankful we did not have to hop on a plane the morning after the wedding.
The Advice
When you get engaged you believe as the bride that the whole wedding and planning process is about you, well I hate to break it to you, but it is not. Planning a wedding is really just a big compromise. Yes, planning can be fun, but it will test your relationships. For my husband and I, we focused on a few things that were extremely important to us. That included having a DJ, I wanted to design the flower girl dresses and the interfaith ceremony being the most important part of the whole night. Outside of those few things we would try and let the little things go because this was not about a competition on who has the best wedding in town, this was about the start of our marriage and the set of our lives together.
Once the day started and you walked in to see how everything had ended up, neither one of us cared, we were just happy to be getting married and that we were surrounded by so many of our loved ones.
The Vendors
Wedding Vendors
PLANNING + DESIGN FABULOUS FÊTE
VENUE BOWIE HOUSE
ART BAILEY RUE LOWENSTEIN
PHOTOGRAPHER PEREZ PHOTOGRAPHY
FLORAL + RENTALS THREE BRANCHES FLORAL
ENTERTAINMENT LEFORCE ENTERTAINMENT + NATE NELSON
CEREMONY MUSIC CHENOWETH MUSICIANS
OFFICIANTS MOTHER HILL + RABBI DAVIS GRUBER
HAIR + MAKEUP MY FABULOUS FACES
DANCE FLOOR CENTER STAGE FLOORS
PHOTOBOOTH PROPARAZI PHOTO BOOTHS
INVITATIONS COLOR BOX DESIGN & LETTERPRESS
LIGHTING + CONFETTI CANNON STAGE 2 LIGHTING
FLOWER GIRL DRESSES RAVI RATAN
TRANSPORTATION DFW VINTAGE CARS