Katie + Zack by Heather Thompson Photography

We really envisioned an Italian, European vibe.

Tell us a little about yourselves, what you do, what you love…

I am a Physician Assistant (PA) who does Neurosurgery! And Zack is a Loan Officer at a Mortgage Company! We both love what we do. Our professions are very different, but both are geared toward helping other people! I have been a PA since 2020, and Zack has been in the Mortgage industry since 2017. We both love our dog, getting coffee together, and working out. We are both from the East Coast. Zack moved to Texas first, and then I followed after graduating from PA school. We have been growing our lives together in Texas for the past 5, going on 6 years. Texas is our home, but we miss and love all of our family and friends on the East Coast.

How/where/when did you meet – and what were your first impressions?

We met in undergrad at Misericordia University in Pennsylvania in 2013. I can remember when I was at the opening convocation and a speaker had mentioned that college is where some of us would be meeting our future spouses. I remember feeling excited about that, but never really thought it would happen, and now we’re married. We really got to know each other in 2015. He was friends with my Matron of Honour before I knew him. I thought he was very cute and fun-spirited. And he thought, “She was way too smart for me. Zack asked me to be his girlfriend under a little white Gazebo in New Jersey, and it is a moment we will never forget. It makes me emotional to look back on those initial memories now that we are marrie,d and knowing how far we have made it together.

Tell us about the vision you had for the mood and style of your wedding. (theme, key styling elements, florals, color palettes etc.).

We really envisioned an Italian, European vibe, which is why we fell in love with the venue. They really have an effortless European vibe inside and out. They even have white horses on the property that made it into a few of our shots from Heather. We wanted it to be black tie but also cool with a fun vibe. We LOVE the black and white look. I felt really inspired by the Mackenzie Child’s black and white courtly check pattern hahaha (: We own a few of these pieces in our kitchen. But it feels really classy to us. This inspired the wedding invitation stationery, the dance floor and the customisation of our reception shoes from Golden Goose. We also loved how this tied in the black satin bridesmaid dresses and the black tuxes of the groomsmen and guests. This also made the white florals and linens pop. We had intentional hints of green: the ivy that hung above the guests’ tables in the dinner space. I really loved the simplicity of the white roses on the tables and for the ceremony piece.

What styling and visual elements worked best for you? (could be things, the florals, particular hire products or your marquee, etc., something the stylist created or simply just the scenic beauty of your location or the existing design of your venue).

The venue was pretty amazing. The face of the building is pretty incredible when driving down onto the property in terms of setting the mood. The highlights of styling for us were the black and white dance floor, the white rose ceremony piece at the altar, and white linens. Oh, I forgot to mention, I wanted to have small touches of gold, so like the gold napkin rings, the knife and server set we used to cut the cake. I also really liked a very classic-looking wedding cake. We were not into bright or bold colours or gaudy items; keeping a simple but elegant style really felt like us.

What did you enjoy most about the planning process, and do you have any tips for couples starting their wedding planning journey?

We got engaged in 2023, so we had a lot of time for planning. BUT if I have one piece of advice – GET THE WEDDING PLANNER. There is no way I could have done this alone. I felt organised, but there are many aspects that I didn’t even think about when it came to planning. It felt like we had someone guiding us the entire way. Our wedding planner gave us so many amazing recommendations in terms of vendors that I would not have found otherwise. But I will say it was so amazing to actually get to enjoy the day I spent planning for 2 years. Without the planner, I think I would have been more stressed and occupied. They really took care of everything the day of. If something went wrong, I never knew about it. They also went above and beyond for Zack and me, and we could never thank them enough. The thing I enjoyed the most was seeing everything come together the day of. I was really excited about the stationery because I felt like it set the tone for our wedding.

Tell us about your vendors. Were there any standout suppliers you would like to make special mention of?

ALL of our vendors were amazing. As previously mentioned, we had amazing planners. But, Heather, our photographer! She was so sweet and kind throughout the entire day. She also captured some of the most amazing memories of our lives with family and friends. These are truly pictures we will cherish forever and show our kids one day. And she really understood our vibe. The back and white pictures came out better than expected. We have already hung 3 20’x24” pictures on our wall! I also want to mention our DJ, Tony Pre, who works for Le Force. He helped me plan a surprise song for Zack as our private last dance. Tony made it seem like we were going to slow dance as our last song, but we totally surprised Zack with one of our favourite songs by Sammy Adams that we used to listen to in college when we first started dating.

Tell us about your main outfits, what was unique, and is there a story?

Zack’s Tux had some unique touches to it. We designed it together at SuitSupply. On the inside of his collar, we embroidered our wedding date of 5/24/25. And on the inside of his jacket were our initials- Z&K. The embroidery was included in the customisation of the tux at SuitSupply. We had our initials and wedding date engraved on the inside of our wedding rings! We do have a very special meaning for our wedding date and why we wanted it on so many things! Will discuss at the end!

Tell us about your wedding and engagement rings.

My engagement ring is 3 emerald-cut diamonds with a larger stone in the middle. I felt like this look was classy and timeless! I love simple, so I paired this with a plain 4mm gold band. I love the 3 diamonds on a skinnier band next to a thicker-looking wedding band. Zack added a touch of his own when designing the ring- he added silver prongs to make the diamonds pop! I really love this added detail. Zack loves a sleek silver look, so he added several sets of smaller diamonds around his ring. We loved shopping at Jalin Jewellers. They took such good care of us and our rings! They truly treated us like family and were very patient and understanding about what we were looking for.

What were one or two elements that were most important to you both that you were happy to spend a little more on? (food, photography, florals, the venue, your outfits?).

The photographer for sure. Literally worth every penny. I think there are many important aspects to a wedding, but the photography is what you remember your wedding by for the rest of your lives. I also want to mention videography. We were unsure if this was something we wanted to allocate money from our budget to, but let me tell you- I sure am glad we did. I felt weird with the concept of watching a video of myself, but seeing it put together in a small movie literally made me tear up! Zack and I both cried when we watched it back the first time. And we look forward to watching it every year on our anniversary. I also felt very excited about the altar piece- the white roses that were hung on the stone pergola.

Was there a favourite moment (or two) that you will treasure always?

One of our favourite things about the wedding day was the date. We had tossed around several dates prior to even being engaged. But May 24th is Zack’s grandparents’ wedding anniversary. We called them Nan and Pop. They were a huge part of the earlier days in our relationship. When Zack and I first started dating, his Nan, Barbara, stated that she just knew Zack and I were going to get married someday. She was right. We would have loved nothing more than for his Nan and Pop to be there, but they sadly passed, she in 2017 and he in 2020. I custom-made Zack’s cuff links with pictures of his grandparents on them. There is a beautiful picture of one of their pictures that Heather captured. We wanted to get married on their wedding anniversary as a way to honour them and keep their memory alive. We got engaged in 2023 but waited until 2025 in order to secure this date on a Saturday at the venue that we wanted. All in all, my favourite memory was standing next to my best friend at the end of the night and finally getting to soak in that just married feeling.