IN THE STARS

IN THE STARS

Zöe Legate Dobson And Connor Eaton Howden Wed

By Rob Giardinelli Photography by Jenny DeMarco

Sometimes, a couple is destined to be together. It’s written in the stars, one might say. That was the case for Zöe Dobson and Connor Howden. The two have known each other all their lives, growing up in the same neighborhood in Austin and frequently seeing one another due to the friendship between their parents. These childhood friends went to elementary and high school together before they gave romance a go in their junior year of high school. The duo was initially drawn together due to their similar interests and understanding of their unique sense of humor.

The two dated for two years when college beckoned. They parted ways as they went to separate universities in different states. After two years apart, “We both realized during our junior year of college that we were each other’s person,” mused Zöe. “We have been together ever since and are still best friends today.” Upon completing college, Zöe returned home to Austin to continue their romance. After dating for several more years, the bride-to-be was in for the happiest surprise of her life. “Connor had my friends organize a girl’s happy hour on the patio at The Four Seasons in Austin,” Zöe happily recalls. “They got me to walk down to Lady Bird Lake for pictures where Connor was waiting. He rented a boat for us and proposed at sunset, overlooking the city’s skyline where we both grew up just as stars started appearing in the evening sky..”

The couple was engaged for 13 months before their wedding at The Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum in Austin. There, on a picture-perfect spring day, the couple exchanged their vows in an outdoor ceremony underneath The Star of Texas on the newly opened promenade outside the museum. The bride looked stunning in her Ramona Keveza wedding dress as her father escorted her down the aisle with an elegant mix of white, light blue, and peach flowers designed by Remi + Gold. Zöe’s brother, Jack, wedded the couple in front of 350 invited friends and family members.

The reception, held inside the atrium of The Bullock Museum, was beautifully executed by Lexie Perez of 787 Events. The duo opted for open seating where guests could sit and dine at their leisure in a fun mix of square, round, and high-top tables, all featuring Lucite chairs. During the reception, guests were treated to a custom margarita bar, a five-tier all-white wedding cake, and late-night chicken and biscuits. The couple departed with the help of family and friends who stood on either side of the couple, holding sparklers and cheering them on a clear, starry night.

As for their favorite part of the day, the bride and groom agreed it was being with their friends and family who had been with them through their entire 10-year journey. “To have all of our best friends from growing up together, college, and adulthood was so special,” they remarked. “It was so special and fun to connect all of our favorite people in one room.”

Zöe, the daughter of Diana and Casey Dobson of Austin, is a graduate of Washington and Lee University and an investment banker at Focus Strategies. Connor, the son of Jenna and Robert Howden, also of Austin, is a graduate of The University of Texas at Austin and works in commercial real estate for Kairoi Residential. The couple reside in Austin, where they enjoy exploring the city’s vibrant food scene, boating on Lake Austin, and attending University of Texas football games.

May-June 2019

May-June 2019

Introducing the launch of SOCIETY TEXAS, a Texas-based luxury magazine showcasing the largesse of fashion, style, parties, culture and philanthropy of Texans and those with Texas ties. 

March-April 2019

March-April 2019

Introducing the launch of SOCIETY TEXAS, a Texas-based luxury magazine showcasing the largesse of fashion, style, parties, culture and philanthropy of Texans and those with Texas ties. 

DREAMS DO COME TRUE

DREAMS DO COME TRUE

Sheridan Butler And Tyler Binford Marry In Austin

By Rose Betty Williams
Photography by Jenny DeMarco

Texas natives Sheridan Butler, the daughter of Renee and Eddie Butler, and Tyler Binford, the son of Ann and Weston Binford, grew up in Austin. She went to Saint Michael’s High School, then Ole Miss. He went to Westlake High School, then Texas State. Even though their childhood homes were both in Westlake, they found each other after they graduated from college. Tyler said he was attracted to Sheridan’s beautiful smile, and Sheridan found Tyler’s sense of humor irresistible. They dated for four and a half years before Tyler drew on his good humor to proclaim his love for Sheridan.

It was Halloween 2017. Sheridan was dressed as Regina George from Mean Girls, and Tyler as Aaron Samuels (Regina’s boyfriend). Sheridan was hosting a party at her home when Tyler managed to sneak out of the party without her noticing. A young trick or treater rang the doorbell escorted by someone dressed in a bear costume. Before Sheridan could think, the person dressed as a bear pulled her out onto her front porch, removed the bear head and proposed. Sheridan said yes to Tyler in the bear costume. 

That began a very busy year of meticulous wedding planning and six incredible parties to celebrate their engagement. Friends and family toasted the couple at a Monte Carlo-themed party at The Highball, a weekend-long party for the bridesmaids and groomsmen at a Lake Austin home, another patio party at a Lake Austin home, a BBQ, Bubbles & Brews, a Mad Hatter bridal tea party at the Headliners Club and an Around The World Beer Tasting Party held at Chateau Bellevue. Also, they chose Vickie Roan at The Menagerie to help them with all their wedding registry needs.

Sheridan and Tyler wanted their wedding to highlight family traditions and be filled with fun activities, flowers, themed rooms, specialty drinks, favorite foods, all kinds of music, dancing, more flowers, and photos of them during all stages of their lives. The Thursday night before the wedding, Sheridan and her mother, Renee, hosted the bridal party dinner at Tarry House. The rehearsal dinner was held at the Headliners Club (just like Sheridan’s parents’ rehearsal dinner 35 years earlier), and the Welcome Party after the dinner was hosted by the bride’s grandmother, Ann Butler.

The ceremony was held at Tarrytown United Methodist Church. Barton Strings provided the music as the bride walked down the aisle carrying a bouquet of calla lilies that was just like her mother’s bouquet when she got married. The flower girl’s basket was the same basket that her mother held for Sheridan’s parents’ wedding. She wore a Rita Vinieris-designed wedding gown accessorized with her mother’s diamond and emerald earrings for something borrowed.

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Austin Country Club was transformed for the festive reception. “No detail went unnoticed,” said Sheridan. Westbank Flower Market arranged more than 3500 white calla lilies for the grand entrance. Two thousand of them stood waist high to greet guests walking down the long aisle to the party, and through the next set of double-doors, the walls were completely covered in greenery so that the callas seemed to be growing from the floor.

The bride and her mother created the names for the themed reception rooms as well as the creative names for each food item. Some of the themed rooms included the Dance Room of Ice with a mirrored dance floor and a 16-foot long ice bar that had two large beer luges on either corner that were filled with beer for guests to refill their drinks. The wedding cake was themed Beyond the Cake of Towering Jewels and the groom’s cake was called Tyler’s Texas Adventure Cake. “It had an oil rig, guitar, Westlake Chaparrals logo, poker chips and Coors beer on it,” Tyler said. “All of my favorite things besides Sheridan.” Matchmaker provided the music for guests who danced the night away.

The bride is active in the Austin community with the Junior League of Austin and the Andy Roddick Foundation and the groom works at Capitol Wright Distribution. The happy couple, Sheridan and Tyler, had a spectacular send off to start their married life together. They left in a 1963 Bentley through a waterfall of fireworks and a calla lily salute. They honeymooned at The Lodge at Pebble Beach and Half Moon Bay. It’s always been Sheridan’s dream to stay at The Ritz Carlton in Half Moon Bay since she calls it a “castle on the beach.” She thanked her parents by saying, “This was the wedding I always dreamed of. This was the wedding of the century for Tyler and me, and a day we will never forget.”

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