Fashion came first for Stacy Adams. The Dallas native earned degrees in fashion and business and spent time in the bright lights of New York City as a buyer for Bergdorf Goodman. Five years ago, she relocated to Dallas to be closer to family. She took a job at Neiman Marcus as a buyer for contemporary sportswear and swimsuits.

Aside from fashion, the other constant in her life has been Mack Hicks. The two have been best friends since they were 16 years old. After graduating from high school—she from Plano East, he from St. Mark’s—they set course for the University of Texas together. Then after getting their degrees, they decided to embark on a move to New York together. Finally, they both returned to Dallas. Despite all this togetherness, the two were not actually together. But that would soon change. “We decided to start dating,” Stacy says. “Six months later, we were engaged.”

That makes it sound simple—but the proposal was pretty great. At the time, Stacy was in New York for Fashion Week when Mack popped into town and surprised her. “He was going to propose at Central Park, but it was pouring down rain. The poor guy was so stressed,” she says. So Mack went to Plan B—a spa day at the Setai Fifth Avenue. He made an entrance at the end of Stacy’s facial and got down on bended knee. “I don’t even think I said ‘I do!’” she says.

But the answer was obviously “yes,” and from there, the planning started. The fashion maven knew what she was looking for in a dress—and where to find it. “I wanted something forward and very fitted. I went to New York and found the perfect dress at Vera Wang—straight off the runway,” she says.

Just as the dress was meant to be, so, too, was the venue. For years, the Hicks family has summered at their homes in La Jolla, and Stacy and Mack knew that California was the right place for the big day. They chose the Grand Del Mar for sentimental reasons. “The Hicks boys used to play golf there all the time,” Stacy says. For designing the look for her day, the bride had to look no further than her own family. Her stepmother is an interior designer, and her cousin is an event planner in Los Angeles.

The result was an intimate, elegant affair for 200 guests. The after-party offered lots of surprises—including an appearance by the UT Longhorn marching band. “We cut the cake, and all of a sudden, the band came in and played ‘The Eyes of Texas,’” she says. Revelers partied until 2 a.m.—in great fashion, of course.

—Allison Hatfield

"We cut the cake, and all of a sudden, the band came in and played ‘The Eyes of Texas.'"