Airy Organic North Texas Wedding Captured by Stephanie Brazzle Photography | Diana + Murphy

Diana shook off her nerves as she stepped on stage to share a personal testimony at a church event. Religion is important to her and she had many friends in the audience anticipating what she had to say. Little did she know that this testimonial would be the beginning of her love story with Murphy, who after seeing her and hearing her story, knew Diana was the one for him.

Murphy was enamored with Diana’s testimonial. Soon after, he began to pray for God’s guidance on what his heart was telling him. He also consulted his mentor and read a book in hopes for a clear answer on how he should pursue Diana. Through Diana’s testimony, Murphy could tell she has a gentle soul.

After several months of friendship, Murphy asked Diana out to dinner. She accepted completely unaware of his feelings. Toward the end of their meal, he revealed that he wanted to pursue more than a friendship and she was shocked – but most importantly, she was excited to begin a courtship.

While Murphy knew they had something special right from the start, it took Diana a little longer to discover their potential. Looking back, she is so appreciative for his patience. Murphy fell in love with her caring heart and respectful nature toward others. Diana loves his giving spirit; he never hesitates to help anyone in need.

At the beginning of their relationship, the pair surprised their church family by arriving hand-in-hand. Their friends were excited for the budding romance. They enjoyed trying different eateries and taking long walks around their college campus, The University of Texas at Dallas. On their long walks, they would discuss their childhoods and family life back home; both hail from different parts of China. They found they shared many similarities and many differences in their upbringings, which was always exciting to discuss. They both felt they could learn something from the other. And they both found they never wanted to leave the other’s side.

After dating for a while, Murphy knew it was time to plan a proposal. He first sought approval from Diana’s family. Although they hadn’t met, her family felt as though they knew him through Diana’s many stories. They were completely supportive of him wanting to seek their daughter’s hand in marriage.

With help from friends, Murphy set out to propose during a football game. To ensure the ring in his pocket wasn’t exposed during the security check before entering the stadium, Murphy handed the ring off to friends who met the couple inside. At halftime, he ran out to his car to get a beautiful bouquet of flowers. When Diana saw the blooms in his hands as he walked back to their seats, she was shocked and confused. Right then, he dropped to one knee and asked her to marry him. She excitedly said yes as the crowd cheered around them.

Soon after the proposal, the couple traveled to China to meet one another’s families. They were both welcomed with open arms and the anticipation of planning a wedding grew. The first big decision was whether to get married in their homeland of China or in the place they fell in love, Texas. The couple selected the latter since they have many friends as well as their church family in Dallas. So began the intense wedding planning process.

Diana and Murphy sought wedding planning help from their group of friends. The first item on their checklist was to select a date and venue. Everything else would fall into place. They instantly fell in love with the Bella Donna Chapel in McKinney for the ceremony and the Stonebridge Ranch Country Club nearby for the reception.

After scouring bridal boutiques for the perfect gown, Diana opted to make her own wedding dress. Growing up, she had a vision for her dress and one thing was for sure – she wanted to feel like a princess when her father walked her down the aisle. She ended up creating three different frocks that took her four months to craft. The bride-to-be made one dress for the ceremony, one for the reception and one for portraits in addition to making her veil. It was important to her that each dress have a different feel. For the ceremony dress, she wanted a traditional white gown so she designed an ivory off-the-shoulder lace frock to pop against the gold interior of the chapel. For the reception, she wanted something she could dance freely in, so she sewed a fit and flare dress that featured tiers of tulle. Her portrait gown is more fashion-forward in a blush tone.

The couple selected a woody, green theme with a vintage feel. They both love nature and all things organic, so it was important to them to integrate those elements into their special day. Diana worked with Sage Fine Flowers on the wedding-day florals.

Diana and Murphy grew more excited as the weeks became days. Soon, their families and friends were all in one place – some traveling from across the globe. The first dance was important to the couple and they wound up practicing until the wee hours the night before their wedding. They wanted to get it right. When they parted ways after practicing for hours, tensions were high.

On the morning of their wedding, the couple was anxious to see one another after tensely practicing their first dance for hours. Diana especially wanted to see her groom. She appreciated how patient Murphy was with her during their long, strenuous dance practice and could not wait to see him. When her makeup was finished, she rushed to the first look. When they saw each other, their eyes filled with happy tears. The couple felt so much love for one another in that moment. They shared a prayer and felt so grateful to God for bringing them together.

After their sweet moment, they both realized how striking the other looked. Murphy thought his bride looked gorgeous in her amazing gown. The beautiful white blooms looked brilliant surrounded by the earthy greens in Diana’s bridal bouquet and in her ornate updo. The couple was ecstatic to become husband and wife shortly. Murphy recalls the ceremony as his favorite part of the day. Much like the first look, he couldn’t hold back tears of joy. To add to the celebratory occasion, Diana and Murphy had a wonderful first dance after the nuptials.

Guests dined on delicious fare provided by Stonebridge. For dessert, they indulged on delicious cakes by The Cake Guys – the wedding cake featured pops of lush green leaves and the groom’s cake was a rich chocolate. DJ Mike provided the entertainment for the evening and kept the energy high.

At the close of the evening, guests saw the newlyweds out with a grand sparkler exit as a limousine waited to whisk them away. They both enjoyed this special moment being surrounded by the love and support of family and friends.

The couple spent the next few days spending cherished time with their family who flew in for their wedding from China. They are currently planning a honeymoon for the months to come with a variety of destinations in mind.

Diana and Murphy are enjoying married life in Allen. The newlyweds are so happy to have a partner in life and are getting accustomed to their new routine. They both agree they have grown a lot together and they are looking forward to more growth in the years to come with their special other half.