I knew from the first meeting that Kelly and Ben’s wedding was going to be memorable.  The familes considered it a destination wedding because Dallas was only home to Kelly’s parents and a very small percentage of the guests.  Ben’s family was all over New England, his Marine buddies were all over the country, and Ben and Kelly had already spent time in Denver and Nashville.  The states were too numerous to list at the rehearsal dinner.

The Hilton Bella Harbor in Rockwall hosted this fun group who had never met a stranger in their lives.  The facility is incredible.  It is lakefront property so it has a fabulous view and is surrounded by shopping and entertainment, which allowed all of the out of towners to get by without a rental car.

My team added some champagne uplighting to bring the room to life.

The lovebirds sitting atop the cake.

Kelly’s family always cooks up surprises at family weddings.  For Kelly & Ben’s wedding, the surprise was for all of the guests to put on a clown nose (see photo #2) when we closed the doors for their introduction.  This was Kelly’s reaction as she walked into the room and saw 140 friends and family in clown noses.

A rehearsed first dance that looked elegant but fun.  I loved how the family, Hilton staff, and Hannah from DFW Events worked to incorporate furniture around the dance floor to create lounge space around the dance floor, and it worked out perfectly for the wedding party to sit and enjoy the first dance.

Ben is very focused on cutting the cake.  Kelly is a little more relaxed.

Check out the details on the champagne flutes.

Then it was time to party!

The Hilton Bella Harbor was kind enough to let us do a flutterfetti dance INSIDE of the ballroom.  This is something that can be added to weddings with the blessing of your catering manager (just don’t be surprised if there is a small charge for cleaning it up).

Kevin (Kelly’s dad) is flanked by Rob (Ben’s dad) and Ben.  Ben is wearing the Stetson hat that Kevin gave to Rob at the rehearsal dinner to welcome him to Texas.

The evening was capped by a sparkler send off (and then everyone headed to the hotel bar).

Special thanks to Laura Parker at Fairy Tale Photography for sharing these sneaks so quickly after the wedding.  I cannot wait to post more in a few weeks.