Daniel and Faith met in the summer of 2010, when they were working together at the Student Learning Assistance Center on campus at Texas State University. At first, their relationship was just about having fun together while at work, but soon the two began to spend time together outside of work, and realized they were interested in each other as more than just work friends.

For their first date, Daniel and Faith drove to Austin to go to the IMAX theater in the Bob Bullock Texas History Museum. In their first couple of months together, they began to meet each other’s families and friends, and began their trip through life together.

For New Year’s 2011, they decided to take a trip together out of town. They went to Big Bend National Park with some friends, and spent a few days hiking through the desert and mountains, and learning about each other.

“In those first few months, we experienced many things together, such as births, deaths, graduations and life-changing decisions,” Daniel said. “Many of these events tested our relationship, but they also made our love stronger. During this time, we both decided that we wanted to spend the rest of our lives with each other.”

In the fall of 2011, Faith was working as a child specialist and Daniel was finishing his engineering degree, when he received a job offer to work for Samsung Austin Semiconductor after his graduation in December. After talking it over, the two decided that he would accept the offer, and they would move to Austin together.

“This decision was a huge step in our relationship, because it meant that Faith would have to leave her job to come with me,” Daniel said.

Not long after they’d moved to Austin, they decided to go ring shopping together so that Daniel could get an idea of what styles of rings Faith preferred.

One day, Daniel called Faith from work and said that he’d won a contest at work. The prize, he said, was a gift certificate to Cool River Café, Faith’s favorite restaurant. He told her to go home after work and get ready to go out.

Faith was excited. When she arrived home after work, though, “Daniel was very quiet and was not being himself,” she said. “When we got in the car to head to the restaurant, he was complaining of a stomach ache.”

Faith told him they didn’t have to go out, but Daniel insisted. She found it strange, but went along with it.

Then, on the way to the restaurant, the song “Marry Me” by Train came on the radio. Daniel said, “This is perfect.”

“I thought to myself, ‘Oh gosh, really? What does that mean? … No, he’s not proposing.’”

Yet when they pulled into the restaurant parking lot at the Cool River Café, they got out of the car and Daniel grabbed Faith’s hand and walked her to a beautiful field beside the restaurant. He got down on one knee in front of the shocked Faith.

“He told me that since he’d met me, he had been the happiest he’d ever been his whole life,” she said. “He promised that if I said yes, that he would spend the rest of his life trying to make me as happy as I had made him.”

Then he asked Faith to marry him, and she said that of course she would. “It was magical,” she said.

One day only two months after they’d gone ring shopping, Daniel received a phone call to let them know that they’d won Austin WeddingDay’s Ultimate Wedding Giveaway, and three months after that they were married.

“It was a whirlwind engagement to say the least,” Daniel said, “but it was also a very amazing experience and a huge blessing in our lives.”

Faith agrees: “It was very exciting to hear that we were the winners,” she said. “We had planned on having a very small wedding or even eloping to avoid the cost of an expensive wedding. When we heard the news, we were super excited and ready to get planning!”

In the end, 150 people attended Faith and Daniel’s wedding at the Vista on Seward Hill. The wedding colors were purple, gold and ivory. The venue was decorated with a modern yet antique feel. Cloth was draped over the buffet area outside, and there was an antique-looking window hanging. Purple lanterns hung outside in the cocktail area.

Both Daniel and Faith spent the day with family and friends, preparing for their big moment. The ceremony started at 6 p.m.

“When we both saw each other for the first time at the ceremony, the rest of the world seemed to slip away,” Faith said. “For that moment, the only thing that existed was the love we felt for each other.”

After the ceremony was a cocktail hour and passed appetizers while the wedding party took pictures. The appetizers were sundried tomato and pesto tortes, fruit and cheese skewers, and bourbon-maple glazed apple-chicken sausage bites.

The bridesmaids wore dark plum dresses with an ivory sash that were strapless and cocktail length. Faith wore a strapless ivory dress with a champagne sash that had jewelry sewn onto it. Daniel wore a black tux with an ivory vest and tie. The groomsmen wore black with dark plum–colored vests and ties.

After photos, a buffet dinner was served. Ivory linens with dark purple napkins adorned the tables in the dining area, and the tables had centerpieces of vases arranged with flowers. Guests ate a strawberry delight salad of mixed greens and spinach with fresh sliced strawberries, goat cheese and pecans, served with balsamic vinaigrette. Entrees were an herb-roasted chicken with a pineapple glaze and apple chutney–stuffed pork tenderloin, and were accompanied by sautéed green beans with caramelized onions and bacon, garlic-roasted tri-colored potatoes, and artisan rolls and butter.

The groom’s cake was chocolate, and the wedding cake was half Wild Turkey cream and half chocolate/vanilla marble.

Before they knew it, they were dancing and laughing with all of their friends at the reception. The dancing area had black table linens with tea lights, and an impressive Texas State bobcat ice sculpture. Faith and Daniel’s first dance was to Apocalyptica’s “Nothing Else Matters,” and the last dance was to Great Divide’s “Break in the Storm.”

At the end of the night, Faith and Daniel left in a limo.

“So much time is spent in preparation of the big day, that when it finally arrives and you are in the moment, it all just seems very surreal,” Faith said. “After what felt like mere moments, the evening was over and we were man and wife. We will have the memories and feelings of that day in our hearts forever.”

Vendors:

Ceremony site: The Vista on Seward Hill

Reception site: The Vista on Seward Hill

Rehearsal dinner: County Line BBQ

Photographer: Debra Gulbas Photography

Wedding planner: Judy Maligaspe

Officiante: Shawn Weekly

Caterer: Catering With a Twist

Florist: Blossom’s Floral Artistry and Just in Blooms

Rental equipment company: Sweet Sunday Event Rentals

Transportation company: Cynthia’s Manhattan Limousine

Wedding cake: bride’s cake from Amazing Cakes; groom’s cake from Simon Lee Bakery

Wedding gown: Signature Bridal Salon

Bridesmaids’ gowns: Signature Bridal Salon

Groom’s tuxedo: Signature Bridal Salon

Groomsmen and ring bearer tuxes: Signature Bridal Salon

Wedding rings/jeweler: Benold’s Jewelers

Invitations, maps and favors: Villa St. Clair

Hair: Keep Austin Gorgeous

Makeup: Rae Cosmetics

Ceremony music: Complete Music

Reception music/entertainment: Complete Music

Honeymoon: The Montage Resort – Tramex Travel

Other: Full Spectrum Ice Sculptures, The Westin at the Domain, Austin Uptown Dance, and Onion Creek Salon and Day Spa