Marika Shioiri-Clark and Graham Veysey’s Texas Wedding
Photo: Virginia Houston1/19On Friday evening, we asked guests to dress in white for welcome drinks and a welcome dinner. It really gave the evening a lovely, Gatsby-esque feel. We hired an old-school bus to shuttle everyone between the different locations, but soon after our drinks were meant to start, the bus was nowhere to be found. Most of the guests had to find their way to artist Julie Speed’s studio (where drinks were to be served) on foot. Luckily, the weather was beautiful.
2/19Graham and me on Friday night. I wanted to celebrate my Japanese heritage through my outfit, so I wore a kimono-style dress and accessorized it with a kid’s obi belt that I used to wear in Japan when visiting relatives during the Obon festival. It was just a coincidence that our wedding fell during Obon (a festival meant to honor one’s ancestors), but my mom pointed out that her parents, who passed away a few years ago, were probably looking down proudly.
3/19The welcome dinner was outdoors in the courtyard of the Thunderbird Hotel. However, the weather that evening decided to play tricks on us. Just as people were sitting down to eat, the sky filled with black clouds and the wind picked up dramatically—there were tablecloths flying everywhere! Graham asked his friend who is a pilot what to do, and he looked on his radar and told us that we were going to thread the needle between two big storms. And he was right: The rain held off completely until just after our toasts were done and everyone could flee to a local bar.
Photo: Jennifer Boomer4/19Graham and I were so happy on Friday night—we had arrived in Marfa on Tuesday to finish up all of our wedding prep, and it felt a little crazy once everyone started to actually show up. There are only three or so hotels in town, and we reserved rooms in three of them.
5/19I had a very hard time finding a dress that I felt was simultaneously elegant and interesting. I did finally find one by Indonesian designer Biyan, and I loved its unique silhouette and the intricate beading. I had it slightly altered so that I could wear the sleeves either down and flowing or rolled up in the Texas heat.
