Even the dogs behaved—at least for the pictures. Olivia Simmons’ two snow-white English cream retrievers posed regally for Olivia on her picture-perfect big day. “I’m an only child. They’re basically my siblings, so they had to be at the wedding,” says Olivia, whose storybook wedding to Gregory Lehane unfolded one gorgeous chapter after another last spring.

The pediatrician admits she’s a planner. The day after her groom proposed at The Cliff House in San Francisco overlooking a dramatic vista of the Pacific Ocean, Olivia was on the phone with Arlington Hall at Lee Park trying to nail down a date. “We were on a time crunch,” she admits. “I wanted to get married before I graduated from medical school. I didn’t have any patients yet, and I wanted to be known as Dr. Lehane from the beginning of my career.” She and Gregory, a medical device salesman, had known each other during high school in Southlake but were just friends. They went to college on different coasts and stayed in touch. Romance bloomed after graduation: “We found a spark, and the rest is history.”

Olivia had long dreamt of a wedding at Arlington Hall: “It’s the ideal southern wedding place for me.” She turned to Todd Events to execute her vision of a garden paradise with blush and silvery gray. “I loved my wedding. Everything I had envisioned came to fruition,” she says.

The wedding took advantage of four beautiful spaces at Arlington Hall: After cocktails on the veranda, the ceremony was held in the garden, followed by a reception in a tent on the side lawn, and an after-party inside. Olivia and Gregory loved the garden feel that the indoor/outdoor venue provided, as well as the variety of experiences. “There were constant surprises. The guests didn’t know what was coming next,” the bride says.

Olivia selected a silver-toned gown with a crystal-beaded bodice and A-line skirt from Alon Livné, with an overskirt by Stephen Yearick. Amid all the decisions leading up to the big day, serendipity played a big part, even for this meticulous planner. Originally, “I wanted more of a ballroom style,” she confesses. She was attending a bridal show in Houston, and she had tried on a gown she’d had her eye on, but it wasn’t perfect. So she went to the Alon Livné show. “It was the last day of his show—the last appointment of the day. It was the most gorgeous dress I’d ever seen,” she says. “This was the only one where both my mom and I cried. I knew I had to get it.”

After a magical honeymoon in St. Lucia, the couple settled in San Antonio, where Olivia is practicing her residency. As they approach their first anniversary, the memories are as vivid as if it were yesterday. Thanks to sweating the details beforehand, Olivia and Gregory didn’t miss a minute of their special day. “We really were able to sit back and take it all in and not let it pass us by,” she says.

—Connie Dufner