Boots, Bolos, Broncos & The Balls

The weekend kicked off at Sisterdale Dancehall, hosted by Kade's parents — a historic Hill Country dance hall that felt like it was made for the occasion. Kade and I have spent the better part of four years finding every dancehall we could across Texas. It started on our very first date at the Broken Spoke in Austin, wound through two years of Hurricane Harry's in College Station, and kept going from there. Sisterdale felt like a love letter to all of it.

We gathered with our closest people and got to hear stories — not just about our relationship, but about our friendships, our families, and the two people we each are. One of the sweetest details of our whole story: Kade's older sister is married to my older brother. So when it came to family, the lines were already beautifully blurred before we even said a word.

Saturday Morning

The Wedding Day

If you're going to spend the morning of your wedding doing anything, I'd argue it should be shooting skeet and jumping in the creek. So that's what we did.

The bridesmaids started the morning at the skeet shooting course — my dad spent a good portion of it teaching some of them how to hold a shotgun for the first time, which was its own kind of adventure. From there, we made our way to the creek. Joshua Creek Ranch is a place my family has been coming to for years, and my parents hosted our entire wedding weekend there — months of work and love poured into it before we ever arrived. Getting to spend those days with our people — shooting, swimming, celebrating — was such a gift. The wedding itself was on the property too, right by the water.

The weather that weekend was its own kind of miracle. The forecast had called for thunderstorms from Friday through Sunday. We watched it all week. And somehow, by the grace of God, we got blue skies, sunshine, and a breeze that made it feel nothing like June in Texas. We were aware the whole weekend of how lucky we were.

Saturday Afternoon

The Ceremony

Our ceremony was so special to us — we got to worship the Lord, have our families pray over us, and read scripture, right there by the creek on the property, which had been running full after months of rain.

Our dress code was boots, bolos, and hats, and not a single person missed. I didn't see one heel all weekend. Some guests had surprised me by ordering Fraulein boots just to wear to the wedding — and now they are hooked.

The exit felt right too — we walked out for the first time as Mr. and Mrs. Ball to Eastbound and Down.

Boots, bolos, and hats — not a miss in sight.

Saturday Evening

The Reception

The reception was held up on the back patio, covered in cypress trees and lights. A three-piece band playing old country, the best fajitas you've ever had, and speeches from the people who know us best. My dad and I danced to Silver Wings. Kade and his mom danced to Amarillo by Morning. Kade and I had our first dance to Waylon Jennings' You Asked Me To.

The dance floor that night held every generation imaginable — grandparents, parents, siblings, friends, and a whole gathering of kids who discovered old country music for the first time that night. Among them, my grandparents and Kade's grandparents, including one set who have been married 66 years.

Lost a boot. Show must go on.

There was something about watching all of those people together in one place that I won't forget.

The Getaway

The Bronco

Kade has a 1982 Bronco — his car from high school and college — that has not been running for the past two years. My dream was to drive away from our wedding in it. So for months leading up to the wedding, Kade worked on it. After work, on weekends, with friends who came on their own time to help. It became its own kind of group effort, a gathering of people willing it back to life.

Most everyone at the wedding knew about the Bronco and knew what it had been going through. So when we finished our last dance and walked through the tunnel of friends — the Bronco waiting, decorated in cans and ribbons — there was a lot riding on that moment.

• Kade turned the key.
• A beat of quiet.
• And then it started.

The crowd erupted. It was one of the best moments of the whole weekend.

The Honeymoon

Big Bend

After everything settled, we headed west. Way west.

We spent several days between Terlingua, Big Bend National Park, and Big Bend Ranch State Park — horseback rides, long hikes, more peanut butter and jelly sandwiches than I'd like to admit. The sun was unrelenting. We loved every second of it.

One night we camped inside the national park. As we were setting up the tent, thunderstorms started rolling in across the desert — and they stayed. The storm was not on the bingo card, but made for a memory for sure. The next morning we packed up, said goodbye to the canyons, and made our way to Marathon.

Marathon, Texas

The Gage

The Gage Hotel was the perfect way to end the trip — nothing rushed. The people were wonderful. We got to slow down after a week of moving and just exist for a few days. We met Aggies along the way, ran into kind strangers, ate good food. We even caught the last Spurs game of the finals at the hotel bar. It didn't go our way, but if that's the low point of a honeymoon, you're doing fine.

On one of our last days, I was walking down the sidewalk in Marathon in my Fraulein cactus boots when a woman came running up to me. She pointed at her own boots — a cactus on the toe, different style, same instinct. She hugged me out of nowhere and asked where mine were from. I got to tell her about Fraulein.

It was one of those small moments that ends up meaning a lot. Boots have a way of doing that — starting conversations, connecting people, showing up in the middle of something good.