Theirs is a story that starts with low expectations. A tale that begins under the header of Oh, Let’s Just Get This Over With. But life is full of surprises. And we don’t know what we don’t know. Amanda Mayfield and Justin Hill are both from Rockwall, Texas. They grew up in similar circles but not the same circle. And when a mutual friend set them up on a date a few years ago, they only reluctantly agreed to share a sushi dinner.

Fast-forward many months and Justin proposed to Amanda at sunset on a dock at Lake Palestine. Exactly one year later, on October 6, 2012, the couple married.

The wedding was a grand affair: 300 guests, an ocean of white flowers, miles of crystals, 16 attendants, and a party that lasted till midnight. It was an evening under the header Very Happy Occasion Indeed.

Amanda’s stepfather is billionaire Kelcy Warren, oil pipeline magnate and the man behind downtown’s new Klyde Warren Park. “I always knew I wanted to get married at my mother and stepfather’s house,” Amanda says. The 23,000-square-foot stone house on 9 acres is a Preston Hollow manor—and the perfect location for an elegant outdoor event.

Mary-Frances Hurt and Hannah Kohler of DFW Events and Nelson Robinson of Stage Works were enlisted to transform the home’s backyard into the lush stuff of Amanda’s wedding dreams.

The bride is an interior designer, and she had a few ideas. “The first thing that came to mind was purple,” she says of the color that showed up in the bridesmaids’ dresses, floral details at the cocktail reception, and in berries in glasses of Champagne. But the overall theme was English garden, and the mostly white scene was romantic and ethereal.

For the ceremony, which took place on the croquet court in a sunken garden, Robinson built a pergola and draped it with white fabric. White flower petals lined the aisle to the altar where Amanda and Justin exchanged vows.

Guests then walked through an existing wisteria arbor draped in hundreds of strands of crystals and lit with crystal chandeliers, to a 5,000-square-foot tent over the tennis court, where tables covered in white were set with gold scroll stemware, gold chargers, and tall clear vases of roses, orchids, and hydrangea. With each of their choices, the designers were careful to convey a soft, warm feel and showcase the bride’s taste and personal style. So that the evening could be filed under the header Happily Ever After.

—Allison Hatfield

"I always knew I wanted to get married at my mother and stepfather’s house."