Katie & Tyler exchanged vows on the summer evening of June 25th at Tree Haven; a modern, white barn-style venue nestled away in the woods in Simms, Texas. This Tree Haven wedding was absolutely perfect, (and we’ll get to that in a minute.) But first, let’s get some backstory.

HOW THEY MET:

These two have known each other since they were in 6th grade. They went to school together and were good friends throughout their school years. However, they officially reconnected in July of 2020 (five years after graduating high school,) at Tyler’s best friend’s house. After they started dating, they realized they’d been thinking of each other for the entire time they’d graduated!

They’d actually kept each other in the back of their minds while they were seeing other people. Their friends, family, and even significant others had brought each one of us up to the other, over those 5 years, multiple times. It’s like they couldn’t NOT think about each other. After they’d reconnected in July, it was like they’d never spent time apart.

THEIR FIRST DATE:

For their first date, Tyler picked Katie up and took her to Pecan Point for dinner. They felt so comfortable around each other, that they talked for hours and basically shared some of their deepest secrets. Katie then went to the bathroom, and in the other room, her grandparents were there for a party, and pulled her in there to introduce her to every single one of their friends for thirty minutes!

While Katie was begging her grandmother to let her get back to her “friend”, Tyler had been sitting there for half an hour waiting for her, and probably wondered if she had jumped out the window. She of course explained when she got back but said it was so awkward.

Then, Tyler took her back home and they went to a concert with Katie’s best friend and her husband the very next night. Her best friend met him that second night, and whispered to her husband, “I know her better than anyone. I’ve prayed for her and her future for literally 20 years. I met her ex, and anyone else she’s even thought of being interested in. And I’m telling you right now, she’ll marry this one.” How sweet is THAT!?

THE PROPOSAL STORY:

So… I may have quite a bit to do with the proposal story. 😉

If you didn’t know, the groom, Tyler, is actually my cousin. So prior to Tyler even thinking about proposing, I’d actually mentioned wanting to do a “styled shoot” with the two of them, where they’d model for me for my portfolio. They’re both such a beautiful couple, and Tyler has modeled for me for years. They of course were on board, however during the time I’d brought it up, my husband and I had to randomly move to San Angelo, TX where he would do some training for six months. (It really threw a curve ball in the styled shoot plan, lol!)

While I was in San Angelo, Tyler had been contemplating proposing to Katie but wasn’t sure when. Tyler’s mom, Julie, mentioned how neat it would be if we actually used the styled shoot as the proposal setup. Katie’s pretty hard to surprise, but since we’d been planning it for so long we figured she wouldn’t think twice about it. However, Clay and I wouldn’t be back from San Angelo until December and would need a couple of weeks to get settled back home. So, we decided that January would be the best time frame!

As we were planning things, Julie mentioned how neat it would be if, after the proposal, we had all of Katie’s close family and friends at my house to surprise her. That way, she could share the special moment with all of them! Amongst the Moreland family, the Cobb family, the Vickers family, and me and Clay – we all teamed up and made it happen, and it was truly the most beautiful thing ever.

We did the styled shoot (turned proposal) on New Year’s Day at Petit Jean State Park. I was so excited for Tyler to propose to Katie on top of a mountain. I mean, where else is better? It’s a mountaintop experience in your life!

THE DAY OF THE PROPOSAL:

However, the day arrived and sure enough, the forecast was thunderstorms all day long. But we had so many moving parts that we COULDN’T reschedule. It just had to happen. Thankfully, as we were driving the hour and a half trip to Petit Jean, we saw that there were areas on the map at Petit Jean where it wasn’t showing rain. Yay! Once we get there, the two of them get changed in their attire, and we drive over to the location I’d selected for them to propose.

We hop out of the car and there’s ZERO VISIBILITY. None. The fog was seriously so thick you could barely see your hand in front of you. (I’m a planner ya’ll. But that… I hadn’t planned for.)

The sun was about to set, so we were MAJOR pressed for time. Because of this, I make the quick executive decision to drive all the way back over to the main lodge area, and decide we’ll just have to do the shoot at that overlook. I remembered while they were changing into their clothes at the main lodge, there was at least some visibility at the overlook beside it.

Thank God I did, because we were actually still able to make it all happen. (In 15 minutes might I add.) Talk about PRESSURE. It all turned out beautifully though. (I’ll be blogging it soon, so keep your eyes peeled for that!)

THE WEDDING DAY:

On the day of the wedding, we had absolutely beautiful weather. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky. However, it was outdoors, on June 25th… in the south. So to say it was hot would be an understatement. But I’d take hot over rainy any day. 😉

Something unique about this wedding is not only was the bridal party in all black, but the bride requested for all of the guests to wear black as well. I always think it’s so neat when the bride and groom request a dress code for guests because it makes for the most amazing photos of guests and family formals!

Tree Haven Wedding/event venue also allowed Katie to set up her ceremony totally different than most bride’s do. And I thought that was so kind! They were super accommodating. ?

Both Tyler and Katie come from strong Christian families, so the presence of God was THICK on their wedding day. The bride’s dad, Jep Cobb, was the officiant. (He’s a pastor!) The bride’s brother, Nathan, (who was actually one of my past grooms,) also helped to officiate the wedding, and he’s a youth pastor!

With Tyler (my cousin) being the groom, there was a lot of my family involved in the wedding as well! His brother, Owen, (who’s also my cousin) was a groomsman, as well as my brother, Grant. Owen’s wife, Stephanie, (like a sister to me,) was also a bridesmaid – so this wedding held a super special place in my heart.

I could go on forever about it, but instead, I’ll just show you.

I now introduce to you, Mr. & Mrs. Tyler Moreland! ?

It truly takes a village to pull off a beautiful wedding like this, so let’s give a round of applause for the creatives! ??

THE CREATIVE TEAM FOR THIS TREE HAVEN WEDDING:

ceremony venue: tree haven wedding & event venue  •  bride’s dress: justin alexander at gracyn elizabeth bride  •  bridesmaids’ dresses: atom attire  •  hair stylist: delainea hubbard hair  •  groom & groomsmen attire: geb menswear  •  cake: robin hamnett’s cakes  •  catering: burton house catering  •  makeup artist: kimberly bearden beauty, phe michelle beauty, kayla lewis beauty  •  officiant: jep & nathan cobb  •  floral design: the hummingbird flower, gift & boutique  •  photography: jessica vickers photography  •  videographer: ellen margaret  •  dj: derek jenkins  •  stationary design: paper minx weddings

Super inspired by this Tree Haven wedding, and want to plan your own? Let’s do it! Fill out my contact form and we can get to chattin’. Click the button below! ?