Outdoor Elopement at Hotel Saint Cecilia

Before eloping at Austin’s Hotel Saint Cecilia, Cassandra and Horacio dated for eight years. They share a home on the Texas border. The two “never dreamt of a big wedding,” but after Horacio proposed they quickly “got carried away with the excitement of it all.” They realized that their wedding would be much larger than expected due to their substantial amount of family.

Then, three months into planning, Cassandra and Horacio went into lockdown. Cassandra says, “It quickly became clear that the situation would not change any time soon, and bringing our two families together would be too difficult and potentially dangerous. We knew we wanted to keep our loved ones safe. However, we also knew we wanted to get married. That’s when the idea of an elopement began. We’d always talked about getting in our car and driving across Texas. This seemed like the perfect opportunity to do that. We decided to drive up to Austin to get married, then head west to Marfa to spend a couple of days in the desert.”

On the day of their elopement, Cassandra and Horacio readied themselves together in a suite at Hotel Saint Cecilia. The room overlooked the venue’s patio and lawn for a gorgeous view. It was important to the couple that they spend the entire day together, enjoying their time as husband and wife. Additionally, it was important to them to hold their ceremony in Spanish—their first language. Their celebrant, Short and Sweet Weddings, made it happen!

Elopement at Hotel Saint Cecilia

Hotel Saint Cecilia was the perfect venue for Cassandra and Horacio’s chic elopement. While researching venues in the Austin area, both fell in love with the hotel’s vintage feel and its name, which refers to the patron saint of music and poetry. They also loved the idea of saying their vows underneath the large oak tree on the hotel’s property. It provided a secluded and romantic vibe!

When originally planning her wedding to Horacio, Cassandra intended to wear a more conventional gown for her traditional Mexican wedding. However, once the two decided that they would elope instead, she decided to break with tradition completely with a modern gown: Emilia Wickstead’s ‘Sharonella’ dress. She says, “I kept going back to an image of a dress by Emilia Wickstead that I had saved years ago. Her pieces are sharp and modern. Unfortunately, that particular dress was no longer for sale. However, when I was searching for more of her dresses I found the one. It was simple and minimal, with a dramatic open back and sleeves. I’ve always loved birdcage veils and decided to just go for it and purchase a style from Gigi Burris Millinery—because I was truly just dressing for myself! It was a lot of fun!”

I would be thrilled to photograph your wedding or elopement! You can reach me here, and we can talk about capturing your unique love story.

To see more of this sweet elopement, visit the feature on Anti Bride!

 

Vendors:

Venue: Hotel Saint Cecilia

Dress: Sharonella by Emilia Wickstead

Bird Cage Veil: Gigi Burris

Flowers: Loose Leaf Design

Officiant: Short and Sweet Weddings

Cake: Word of Mouth Bakery