Sunlight & Synchronicity: Shannon + Ryan

The ladies who bring each of Rancho Mirando’s weddings to life love all of their brides. Getting to know each couple and sharing such an important milestone in their lives is the fuel for what this dynamic family team does tirelessly every week. Even so, every once in awhile a collaboration comes together with a spark of kismet that makes all involved feel divinely blessed.

When our April 2016 bride Shannon became engaged she immediately drug her fiancé, Ryan to tour Rancho Mirando as a possible venue for their wedding after she fell in love with it through The Knot. Upon arriving, Ryan realized that he’d been to the ranch before!

You see, Ryan’s father had come to the ranch’s rescue on some important operational business very early in the founding of the venue. He even later hosted a 50th birthday celebration for his lovely law partner and wife at Rancho Mirando. His son, Ryan of course was at that celebration.

All parties involved found serendipity in the experience of meeting again because of a magazine ad. They, of course, booked their wedding date and a collaboration like no other was born. Ryan and Shannon immediately felt like rediscovered family members.

“Our meetings were like family getting together,” says Donna. “We often met with all of both Shannon’s dogs and the Rancho Mirando dogs in attendance!”

Leslie noticed something funny about the wedding planning chemistry from the start.

“Shannon and her mother, Sally, were VERY involved with the planning and we saw a lot of similarities between their mother-daughter relationship and our mother-daughter relationship,” she says.

(Anyone who’s spent five minutes with Leslie and Donna knows exactly what she’s referring to.)

This couple and their families had a flawless vision. Shannon loved peonies and that set the bar high for the floral designs since peonies aren’t a native flower in Texas.

And all the meticulous planning paid off. On the day of the wedding the wonderful natural light at Rancho Mirando didn’t disappoint, as evident in the stunning captures by photographer Jennifer Weems. You can see what we mean both here and in more glimpses on her blog. We were so captivated by some of the light saturated portraits of the bridal couple we featured one of them on our home page slider with the caption “the light.”

For a one-of-a-kind wedding, of course the bride chose a one-of-a-kind couture dress, by Cymbeline Paris. In a heartwarming break with tradition she was escorted down the aisle by both her father and stepfather to a teary-eyed Ryan. And they were joined in marriage overlooking the magnificent views of the Bella Vista site by Ryan’s dad, Bruce!

Vows completed, after portraits the couple danced their well-rehearsed first dance.

“It was choreographed ahead of time,” explains Leslie. “I got to see them practicing in the hacienda after I bustled her up and they were both so nervous about it. But it turned out perfectly!”

To compliment the color scheme, including the bridal party’s different dresses in a similar hue, Donna used white and blush peonies, garden roses, ranunculus, hydrangeas, delphinium, orchids and trailing clematis in profusion. All gold containers and the very large and dramatic trumpet vases were featured at the reception, offset by linens of champagne crush with champagne sequin overlays. The dishes were the finest in the Rancho Mirando inventory, including square gold chargers, square beaded white plates, Horchow gold silverware and Dublin crystal glassware. Speciality lighting including pin stop lighting on the flowers was used throughout the Pavilion.

True to their vision, Shannon and her family were very thoughtful about every elegant touch and vendor selection they made….all the way down to the jeweled silk slippers they handed out to all of their female guests to dance in at the reception. Even the Rancho Mirando peacocks showed off their finery. The men even enjoyed hand-rolled cigars made right in front of them on the Pavilion patio. And nearby a table featuring photos of departed family members watched over the festivities.

Donna says, “We hope to continue to stay in touch with Shannon and Ryan in the future. Their newly joined families are very special to our family.”