KATHRYN WILKINS & VAUGHN KYKPE
January 22, 2022 / Osage House
Kathryn and Vaughn met in 2018 during her freshman year at Harding University, but she had her eyes on him for a while. During her senior year of high school, she decided to take some college courses and noticed Vaughn in one of her classes. She turned to her friend and said, “That’s the boy I’m going to marry.” They laughed about it, but she just had a feeling he was the one! She ended up becoming good friends with his younger brother’s roommate–so she and Vaughn would run into each other when they all decided to hang out. They officially started dating in January of 2019, and the rest is history!
Since they had been talking about getting married for some time, Vaughn’s proposal didn’t come as a surprise to Kathryn. What really tipped her off about the proposal coming soon was that all of her friends were asking her to get their nails done together. “I always say they should’ve coordinated that better,” Kathryn said. “I was busy so I kept saying no until one of them practically forced me to, so I knew it was coming in the next week or so.”
Her friends took her to get her nails done, and they had a date night scheduled for that weekend. Before they left for Little Rock, he told her they had one stop to make. He drove them to downtown Searcy and walked her towards a gazebo decorated with lights, candles and flowers.
“I wish I could say I know what happened after [Vaughn proposed], but I was so happy and surprised that I don't remember much. My friends had spent the entire day setting up in the cold, January rain. After that, we went to my parent's house to celebrate and our friends threw us a party when we got back from our dinner.”
- Kathryn Wilkins
INSPIRATION & DETAILS
Kathryn and Vaughn wanted an elegant, moody and romantic atmosphere for their wedding day. “I’ve always had a flair for dramatics and your wedding day is the perfect day to embrace that,” Kathryn said.
Kathryn loves to plan but knew she’d need to hire a wedding planner to ensure that she could enjoy her own wedding day. She says that hiring Anne-Claire was the best decision she could’ve made! Her sister hired Anna-Claire for her wedding, so Kathryn knew she wanted to hire her and texted her the day after getting engaged.
“[Anne-Claire] understood every vague idea I had and somehow made our day better than I could have imagined. We really couldn't have had the wedding we wanted without her working with us.”
- Kathryn Wilkins
Kathryn’s most worth-it wedding splurge was on florals, their bar and the food. All three of these details made such an impact on, not only the bride and groom but also the wedding guests. “The florals make such an impact right at the beginning, people will always remember if the food was good or not, and having an open bar ensured that everyone would be able to let loose and enjoy themselves!” They made sure to have special non-alcoholic options for guests with this preference and could still enjoy themselves on their big day.
Having a winter wedding can leave some doubts in the bride’s heads about what type of florals they want for their wedding, but Kathryn says that Silks-A-Bloom went above and beyond with their arrangements. She gave Dale and his team a lot of artistic liberty and they blew Kathryn and Vaughn away. Dale designed their entire ceremony space and began sketching out ideas with Kathryn during their meeting to plan florals. He used magnolia branches that he personally went out and forged for!
HOW THEY CUSTOMIZED
“One of my favorite pieces was the hanging installation that we had over the dance floor. It made such an impact and really centered the entire space. I think our florals were one of the defining factors in our wedding and we could not have done it without them.”
- Kathryn Wilkins
Kathryn and Vaughn’s wedding colors were pink, red, and neutral with lots of greenery. One thing Kathryn knew she wanted at their wedding was a champagne tower–they are so fun and glamorous, how could she not? She’d always wanted to do one and made that small detail a reality.
Her secret to wedding planning success is to have a good support system. Her friends and family listened to every idea she had, they calmed her down when she was stressed and were always willing to help out when they could. “Also, if you choose to have a planner, choose one who gets your vision! I barely had to tell Anne-Claire anything before she was coming up with so many great ideas.”
Kathryn had 8 bridesmaids and Vaughn had 13 groomsmen. Kathryn didn’t incorporate anything in particular with her bridesmaids, but Vaughn did! His friend group from college calls themselves “Sweet Dreams” and they decided to incorporate that by giving them all moon pins and giving his childhood friends Texas pins.
“I love crystals and I really do think they can have an impact, whether it’s a placebo effect or not,” Kathryn said. “I wrote a little paragraph on our menus about them and people took them as a favor. We ended up using the leftovers (which we surprisingly didn’t have too many of!) in our house and I love having a reminder of the day.”
“I'm a big font person and loved getting to choose all the signage and type that we used. Hobart's made our vision come alive and I'm so thankful we chose them.”
- Kathryn Wilkins
WEDDING VENDORS WE LOVE
Venue
Osage House
Florist
Silks-A-Bloom
After-Reception Snack
Heritage Catering
Rentals
Eventology
MORE VENDORS
Photography: Zach and Rosalie Marion, Videography: Swearingen Weddings, Planner: Anne-Claire Allen Owens, Cake: Shelby Lynn’s Cake Shoppe, Wedding Dress: Lovely Bride, Bridal Shoes: Italic, Bridesmaid Dresses: Revelry, Hairpiece: Emma Katzka, Veil: Made with Love, Jewelry: Catbird, Etsy and SHEIN, Suit: The Black Tux, Bar: Mint2Mix, After-Reception Snack: Cookies made by Kathryn’s mother, DJ: Smoothman Music, Stationery: Designs by Tatiana Soash and Love Fern Design, Printed by: Hobart’s Printing, Wax Seal: Kathryn Kypke, Dance Floor: The Dancefloor Man, design by Love Fern Design, Staffing: Bohemian Geeks, HMUA: Jeanette Eichhorn & Paige Cooshmen, Transportation: NWA Classic Car
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