“Good things come to those who wait.” For Hannah and Hunter, this rang true on their extraordinary July 2021 wedding day. After an unexpected engagement season, their wedding at The Laurel was a much-anticipated time of joy and celebration for the new Mr. and Mrs. alongside their family and friends. Hannah and Hunter shared with us more about the start of their love story, the flawless wedding details, and the highlights from becoming the Welborns. Cheers!

From Hunter:

We met in college when we were in the same student organization. Our story is not one of those love at first sight stories and I wouldn't have it any other way. We were friends first and I think that provided the foundation for our relationship since Hannah was one of my best friends even before we started dating. We were together for about 9 months before I asked her to marry me. We went to Fredericksburg for the weekend and one morning we climbed up Enchanted Rock. Hannah doesn't like hiking so I thought this would be the perfect idea for a surprise. We get to the top (after much encouragement to keep going up), I get down on a knee, she opens her eyes and realizes what is going on. She then said those magic words that everyone wants to hear "You a**hole, this is why we had to climb all the way to the top".. Like I said, she doesn't like hiking, but she eventually said yes. We were engaged for just under 3 years by the time we got married.

From Hannah:

We first met at Texas Tech! I was joining a student organization within the Business college, and Hunter was the president at the time. I remember the first time I met him – he asked me, “if you had to describe yourself as an ice cream flavor, what would you be and why?” I thought it was such an obscure question, and it’s stuck out ever since. We ended up being in the same friend group, and we became really close friends. He was dating another girl at the time, but I took him as my date to my sorority’s formal in the spring of 2017. He didn’t ever officially ask me out – the next fall, we made a bet over a fantasy football game we were playing each other in and the loser had to pick where we would go for dinner. We dated for about 9 months, but when you know, you know and the rest is history!

From Hunter:

On wedding day, I wanted whatever would make Hannah happy. I had 3 things that I wanted.

● Hannah to say "I do"

● An open bar

● Private & personal vow exchange

From Hannah:

I wanted the day to be timeless and intentional. My parents always told stories about how they felt like their wedding day was more transactional than anything, and they wish they had spent more time enjoying the day with their loved ones. I think we definitely accomplished both!

From both:

We were looking for a venue that could host an indoor ceremony and reception in separate spaces. We knew we would have a summer wedding, and it was important to me to not be sweating all the makeup off during the ceremony! The chapel was absolutely beautiful, and we fell in love with the trusses and wooden beams. After our tour, no other venues measured up and I kept coming back to The Laurel! It was beautiful and had everything we were looking for. The Laurel and the Boxwood team also made everything so, so easy!

We both grew up in the area and had family nearby, and it was also super easy for all of my out of town family to travel to. Boxwood, and especially our coordinator, Maggie, went so above and beyond to make sure everything throughout the planning process and on wedding day went flawlessly. When facing the second reschedule and potentially having to choose a new venue, we knew our day wouldn’t have been the same if it wasn’t at The Laurel and with the Boxwood team.

From Hunter:

On the day of, I was both excited and nervous. Excited that after almost 3 years of being engaged we would be able to get married. Nervous because I knew I was going to find a way to mess something up in the “repeat after me” section of the ceremony (I did mess up twice).

From Hannah:

I was incredibly anxious and nervous the morning of – I am a perfectionist and wanted to make sure everything went as planned! We had three years of anticipation and planning all riding on one day. While I was getting ready in the bridal suite with all my girls and my mom, the day almost didn’t feel real. Time ticked by incredibly slowly, which just caused the anticipation to grow more! The girls would run over to the reception space to get sneak peeks on set up, and would come back just raving about how beautiful everything was, which definitely made me feel better! It wasn’t until my mom was helping me put the dress on that it all started to feel real. It was also super special to have those moments alone with my mom!

From Hunter:

Before the ceremony we had our first look and exchanged personal vows that I will remember for the rest of my life. Hannah also surprised me with the groom’s cake that we had.

From Hannah:

There were so many favorite moments! It was super important to Hunter for us to have personal vows, but I didn’t want to do them in front of everyone because I knew I would probably be emotional! During our first look, we were able to read our vows to each other, and have a couple minutes to just be together before all the craziness of the day really got going. I also will always remember when I got to see our reception space for the first time! Everything was amazing, from the flowers, the cakes, and head table – everything was so perfect and so much better than I could have ever imagined. Later on, during the night, my mom and I danced to “Friends in Low Places,” – we are both big Garth fans! – which was so much fun. Hunter and I also had a private last dance, which was super special, and surprisingly emotional. The day flew by, so it was really nice to have just a few last moments to soak it all in before our big exit!

From both:

Hunter’s dad was our officiant for the ceremony, and it was nice to have someone with that personal connection be the one to marry us. We wanted a short and sweet ceremony – and it definitely was! We also incorporated our two dogs, Milo and Mollie, into our reception details on koozies and cocktail napkins! We also went back into the bridal suite after the ceremony and got to spend a few minutes alone and with our bridal party, which was really nice to just take a second and relax before all the craziness started!

From Hunter:

The day was a blur. From the morning to the ceremony start time felt like it was never going to end, and then once the ceremony was over, I felt like I blinked, and we were already getting into the exit car.

From Hannah:

The day definitely went by way, way too quickly. The day was so beautiful and will always be the best day ever in my mind - I wish I could go back and relive it!

From Hunter:

To future couples, take everything in on your wedding day. It goes by faster than you think.

From Hannah:

It’s so easy to get stuck on all the details of planning that it takes the fun out of being engaged and getting married, so just roll with the punches and trust your vendor team to execute flawlessly! At the end of the day, it’s not about the wedding itself, but about the marriage. Use the planning process as a time to bond and still learn new things about each other – like your favorite cake flavor tastes like cough medicine to them – and be sure to create little moments to be with each other, alone, on the wedding day!