An English Garden Party Fête in River Oaks, Houston

Olivia + Stuart | May 2022

For their venue, The River Oaks Garden Club in Houston was an easy choice. Built in the 1910, with the River Oaks Garden Club owning it in 1942, this building holds plenty of character and charm (did I mention this building is listed in the National Register of Historic Places?) The grounds are masked by greenery and shrubs, and in such a way that you would drive down the block and never realize there is a wedding venue there! But it is not a traditional venue in the sense that it was built for that sole purpose — one of the things I love most about it. When planning your event here, there is plenty to consider when it comes to the flow of the evening. Between the many courtyards and gardens (which are all maintained impeccably!) and the indoor Forum spaces, you have plenty of options for your ceremony, dinner, and dancing spaces — and will likely utilize many of them.

For Olivia & Stuart, we played up a color palette of pale pinks, mauves, and dark greens, which was a fun take for a May wedding (the time of year when you’re starting to see wedding color palettes become so light overall.) The goal was for the design to feel whimsical yet sophisticated, and above all, intimate for their 75-person guest count. Some of my favorite details were the watercolor invitation suite, the hand-lettered cloches for table numbers and the seating chart, and of course, the stunning bouquets of blooms. We pulled in a kaleidoscope of natural color here, with plenty of varying textures and shapes to achieve a garden-picked feel (huge shoutout to Piney Rose in The Woodlands!)