They Poured a Glass of Pappy Van Winkle for the Man Who Couldn’t Be There

Some wedding details are beautiful. Others are meaningful. And occasionally — rarely, quietly — a single detail carries both so completely that it stops everyone who knows its story cold.

Before Lauren and Carl’s wedding day began, the groomsmen gathered.

They poured a glass of Pappy Van Winkle bourbon — one of the rarest, most sought-after pours in the country — in honor of Carl’s late stepfather. A man who loved him and who should have been there. A man whose absence was felt in every room and whose memory was honored in the most specific, personal, irreplaceable way his people knew how.

They raised the glass. They drank it together.

And then they went and had one of the most high-energy, showstopping, genuinely extraordinary weddings we have ever had the privilege of documenting.

That is the full range of what a wedding holds. The grief and the joy. The missing and the celebrating. The people who are there and the ones who are carried. Lauren and Carl’s wedding at Rosine Hall at the Dallas Arboretum held all of it — and it was extraordinary from the very first frame.

The Venues: Jonsson Color Garden & Rosine Hall at the Dallas Arboretum

The Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden on the shores of White Rock Lake is, without question, one of the most stunning wedding settings in all of North Texas. As a Dallas wedding photographer who has documented multiple love stories on these grounds, I can say honestly: no two weddings here ever look the same.

Lauren and Carl used two of the Arboretum’s most distinct spaces — and the combination was perfect.

The Ceremony: Jonsson Color Garden

The Jonsson Color Garden served as their ceremony backdrop, and it delivered exactly what its name promises. The garden is a living, breathing, ever-changing canvas of color. Blooms in every direction. The particular quality of light that filtered through the garden canopy created a ceremony setting that was simultaneously grand and intimate.

Lauren and Carl had a clear instruction for their photography here: flowers everywhere, stay away from the statues. It was a simple direction with a profound result. Every frame is alive with bloom and color. The garden did what only a great garden can do — it made the people inside it look like they belonged to something larger than themselves.

The Reception: Rosine Hall

Then there is Rosine Hall.

Rosine Hall is the Dallas Arboretum’s premier indoor reception venue, and it is genuinely extraordinary. Floor-to-ceiling windows look out over the manicured gardens and White Rock Lake beyond. The space is airy and luminous, with the kind of natural light that makes every photographer’s work easier and more beautiful. It is elegant without being stiff — the kind of venue that holds a black tie affair and a dance-floor celebration simultaneously without either feeling out of place.

For couples still building their Dallas venue shortlist, our Dallas garden venues guide covers both Rosine Hall and the broader Arboretum property alongside other stunning garden settings. In addition, our Dallas and suburbs wedding venue guide is a great starting point for the full DFW picture.

The Design: Blue, Purple, Green & the Most Creative Details We Have Ever Seen

Lauren and Carl came to their wedding with a vision that was specific, layered, and entirely their own. The suggested attire said it all: black tie garden party. Formal and floral. Elevated and alive.

Their color palette — blue, purple, and green with accents of black and silver — was a study in the unexpected. These are not traditional wedding colors. They are garden colors. They are the colors of the Arboretum itself on a perfect spring evening, translated into florals and linens and lighting. Against the floor-to-ceiling windows of Rosine Hall, with the garden visible beyond, the palette felt entirely intentional. It felt like the space and the design had been created for each other.

The Wine Details: Where Their Story Lived

However, it was the details that truly told Lauren and Carl’s story.

They are wine people. So instead of discarding those bottles, they transformed them.

Wine bottles became candelabras, each one cleaned and filled and placed along the table to hold a candle. In the warm glow of the reception, they glowed amber and warm and completely unique. Furthermore, the corks were strung together to create a ceiling installation that hung above the dance floor like a garland of every good night they had ever shared over a bottle of something worth opening.

There is an intimacy to this kind of detail that no purchased décor can replicate. Every bottle had a story. Every cork had been there for something. And now, together, they formed the most personal ceiling install we have ever photographed.

Rosine Hall Wedding Photos

From Pensacola to Dallas: Their Full Story

Lauren and Carl’s wedding is the final chapter of a visual story that began far from Texas.

Carl is originally from Pensacola, Florida. So before the Dallas wedding, we traveled to capture their engagement session in the place that shaped him — downtown Pensacola and Pensacola Beach, where the Gulf light and the white sand gave us a completely different world than Rosine Hall. We also had the privilege of photographing their engagement party there, surrounded by Carl’s people in the city he grew up in.

You can see that full chapter at Lauren + Carl’s Pensacola engagement session — a destination session that was, in its own way, just as layered and meaningful as the wedding that followed.

Together, the two sessions tell the complete story. The Florida coast where one of them grew up. The Dallas garden where both of them said yes.

Planning Your Rosine Hall Wedding at the Dallas Arboretum

If Lauren and Carl’s wedding has you looking more closely at Rosine Hall, here is what we want you to know.

First, the floor-to-ceiling windows are the space’s defining feature. As a result, time of day matters for your reception photography. The late afternoon and early evening light that pours through those windows is extraordinary. Plan your timeline with that light in mind and your images will thank you.

Second, the Jonsson Color Garden for ceremonies is season-dependent. The garden blooms most dramatically in spring and fall. However, the Arboretum is maintained with enough care that it photographs beautifully year-round. Talk to your planner about peak bloom timing relative to your date.

Third, the Arboretum’s grounds offer abundant portrait locations beyond your ceremony and reception spaces. The shores of White Rock Lake, the garden paths, the historic structures — all of it is available and all of it is extraordinary. Budget time for portraits throughout your day, not only during cocktail hour.

Finally, ceiling installs like Lauren and Carl’s cork garland are possible in Rosine Hall — and they are worth every bit of the planning effort. The height of the space allows for the kind of overhead installation that most venues cannot accommodate. If this is part of your vision, start the conversation with your florist and venue coordinator early.

a warm and sincere thanks to the creative team…

Venue: Rosine Hall at The Dallas Arboretum; Dallas, TX

Photographer : Kyrsten Ashlay Photography

Planner: Keestone Events

Hair + Makeup: Starr Beauty Co

Florist: Lizzie Bee’s Flower Shoppe

Catering: Beyond the Box

Espresso Cart: Nightowl Coffee Cart

Cake: Sugar Bee Sweets

DJ: LeForce Entertainment

Dance Floor and Table Rentals: Big D Party Rentals

Brides Jewelry: Bere Jewelers

Looking for a Rosine Hall Wedding Photographer?

The Dallas Arboretum is a property we know and love deeply. We have documented multiple weddings across its spaces — and every single time, the grounds give us something extraordinary to work with.

If you are getting married at Rosine Hall, the Jonsson Color Garden, Alex Camp House, or anywhere within the Dallas Arboretum and are still searching for your photographer and filmmaker — we would love to be part of your day. We bring both photography and film to every wedding. Because your love deserves to be seen and felt, in every form.

We are currently booking 2026 and 2027 weddings. Dallas Arboretum dates fill quickly, and we would love to hold yours.

Check your date with us →

Timeless photos & films, crafted with heart. Where every moment becomes art.