Elizabeth Minch and Jason Eicholz’s Outdoor Garden Austin Wedding at The Four Seasons

Elizabeth Minch and Jason Eicholz’s Outdoor Garden Austin Wedding

She found herself in one of those conundrums just about every girl has been in before. She’d lost her purse. It was the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority house formal at the University of Georgia, and Liz was desperately searching for her purse when she met a handsome guy named Jason. He offered to help her search, and the two finally found Liz’s purse after talking and laughing about the whole thing. That was spring 2009. The couple dated six years and ended right back at the campus for a very special moment in their story together.

Liz and Jason had both moved to New York after college, and the couple fell more and more in love each year. Work took Jason back to Georgia, and Liz stayed in New York. One morning, her roommate came in and handed her an iced coffee and a packing list along with a series of envelopes. Each note had a clue inside with instructions. The first note told her to pack her bags and head to the car waiting outside. There was a plane ticket in another envelope. After a slight delay due to weather, Liz’s plane finally arrived in Georgia, with a driver waiting at the airport to take her to her alma mater in Athens. Jason had everything carefully planned out and was waiting anxiously on campus. “That day was one of the most exciting and stressful days of all time. [It was] stressful in the sense that any deviation or problem in that plan would have completely thrown off the entire plan. Each step was dependent on the previous step which made it a bit stressful!” Jason remembers. With a little bit of nerves and lots of excitement, Liz pulled up to her campus and the theater where she’d met Jason at her sorority formal six years before. On the marquis outside the theater read: “where it all began.” “When I saw the ‘where it all began’ sign, I literally thought my eyes were playing tricks on me. It also all happened so fast that I didn’t have time to think. One second I saw the sign, and the next second, I was walking through the doors of the Georgia Theatre, and there he was,” Liz remembers. Inside waiting on his beautiful fiancé was Jason on stage, smiling at the girl he’d helped search far and wide for her handbag years before. It was an exhilarating moment when Jason got down on bended knee and asked Liz to spend the rest of her life with him. She was thrilled and enthusiastically said “yes.” The nostalgia didn’t end there. They celebrated their new engagement at the same restaurant where they’d had their first date in Athens in 2009.

In planning their wedding, the couple first discussed the location. Liz grew up in Austin, so ultimately they decided it would be the perfect place with its central location and beautiful options for venues. “Austin has a huge part of my heart and having the chance to get married right downtown on Town Lake was so special,” Liz says. The bride-to-be spent hours with a cup of coffee in hand perusing Pinterest boards looking for inspiration. She knew she wanted a garden party theme, and hired Becky Navarro at Pearl Events to help bring her vision to reality. Liz, a graphic designer, decided to make her wedding a “branding project.” It would be a lovely picture of the couple and their personalities. When the couple decided on the Four Seasons as the venue, they knew they wanted the greenery to be the draw. Liz loved that the hotel was right in the middle of everything in the city.

When the last week of October 2015 finally arrived, family and friends from all over the country arrived for the wedding celebration of Liz Minch and Jason Eichholz. The wedding party and families of the bride and groom met at Jacobys in Austin for the rehearsal dinner, all nervously watching the weather. There were tornado warnings and watches all evening! Luckily the skies cleared enough to enjoy the farm to table meal outside under a tent. Everyone enjoyed a laugh watching the wedding party and family of Liz and Jason in a video dancing to Pharrell Williams’ “Happy.”

The next morning, the hotel staff made the call at 6a.m. that the wedding would happen outside, despite the lingering clouds and possibility of storms. The Four Seasons staff felt confident everything would come off smoothly, so they moved forward as planned with the garden ceremony and reception. Liz started the day with a walk with her mother before they joined her bridesmaids to get ready at the Four Seasons.

One of the couple’s favorite things on the big day was the first look they did in the gardens. Amidst the flurry of hotel staff and loved ones, Liz and Jason were able to sneak away to enjoy a private moment together outside the Four Seasons. They were able to take a breath and soak in the significance of their special relationship and the union they were about to form.

That evening, 250 friends and family took their seats to witness the marriage of Liz and Jason. The bridesmaids wore long neutral colored gowns that looked sophisticated and understated against the rich emerald greenery. The groomsmen wore classic dark tuxedos and bowties. The bride wore an elegant strapless Monique Lhuillier embroidered gown in ivory with a sweetheart neckline and sweeping train. Her fiery red hair beautifully flowed over her shoulders in soft curls.

One of the important elements of the ceremony for the couple was the incorporation of both of their religious backgrounds. The union included traditions from Liz’s Episcopalian upbringing and Jason’s Jewish heritage. There were two officiants who each led unique wedding rituals before the blended vows were exchanged. After Jason broke the glass toward the end of the ceremony, he kissed his stunning bride, and the reception got underway.

Loved ones gathered around the turquoise blue pool outside the Four Seasons with cocktails in hand, sharing stories about the couple who’d spent those pivotal years in their 20s together. Liz and Jason experienced their college graduation together and their first jobs out of college, and now they were sharing another huge milestone. They’d found their soulmate in one another.

One of the important elements of the reception to the bride and groom was having a sit down dinner. “I wanted to have some time to just sit down, relax, and eat a great dinner with all of my favorite people in the world. Lots of the weddings out there are buffet selections which don’t really give you an opportunity to sit and relax with your closest friends and family,” Jason said. Another important part of the celebration was hitting the dance floor! It was extremely popular with their guest thanks to Flash Entertainment.

As the evening came to a close, the newlyweds took the opportunity for one last dance together with the entire dance floor to themselves. Guests were lining up outside to see the couple off, and Jason and Liz shared a special dance to Ray LaMontagne’s “You Are the Best Thing” with only the band as their audience. “That was an extremely special moment that I will never forget,” Jason says. There in the comfort of each other’s arms, Jason and Liz knew they were lucky. As Liz remembers, “We had a moment to just dance without anybody else in the room and take in what a magical night it had been.”

FEATURED VENDORS

Accommodations | Hotel Saint Cecilia, Four Seasons Hotel Austin

Florist | Westbank Flower Market

Rentals | Loot Vintage Rentals

Registry | The Menagerie

Wedding Planner | Pearl Events Austin

Venue, Catering, Bride’s Cake | Four Seasons Hotel Austin

other local vendors: SMS Photography • Complete Desire on Fire • Flash Entertainment • Bella Marie • Film Productions • Bella Bridesmaids