Engaged 2020 | Page 142

June 23, 2018 | Lefebvre Photography Clemmie & Maclean The Meet Cute: Maclean’s and Clemmie’s union was the product of a blind date during their time at UT Austin. “When both of us got home eight-hours later, our roommates and best friends remember describing us with one word: smitten,” Clemmie recalls. “I was coming out of a long-term relationship while Maclean was coming out of a string of short- term ones, and all we both really wanted was to find the one person who made us laugh the most, challenged us to ask the hard questions and constantly pushed us to look more like Jesus.” Luckily, they found that person in each other. The Call-Backs: “It started with a gift from my mother, a beautiful sapphire and diamond ring originally given to my Mimi by my Grandpa the day my mom was born,” Clemmie says. Then, in the chapel where Clemmie had been baptized, she and her father walked down the aisle to Louis Armstrong’s “What a Wonderful World” — the same song her parents danced to on their wedding day. When their guests later arrived at the Misquamicut Club for the reception, a Texas flag — once flown over the Capital in Austin and later given to Clemmie’s father as a gift — proudly flew overhead in honor of the couple’s meeting place. The Engagement: After moving to a new city together post-college and figuring out what their relationship looked like in “real life,” September 2017 rolled around and Maclean asked Clemmie to be his wife. “His proposal was perfect in every way possible,” she says. “It was equal parts representative of him, me and us, and every person we loved was there to celebrate afterwards. I will cherish that day for the rest of my life.” The Reception Details: Guests sipped on signature cocktails called the “Texas Tea” as well as special craft beer hand-delivered from Texas by Maclean’s father. At dinner, each guest’s place was set with uniquely patterned gold china, custom-embroidered napkins and bread and butter plates handmade in decoupage by the mother of the bride. For dessert, they enjoyed custom ice cream flavors created by Watch Hill’s famous St. Clair Annex owners (who doubled as wedding guests). As the night wound down, everyone snacked on late-night mini breakfast tacos and honey butter chicken biscuits while the band played one last tribute to the couple’s Texas heritage with “Texas Fight.” As everyone exited the tent for a sparkler send off, they were handed jars of East Beach sea salt and homemade honey, both made by Clemmie’s mother. The Planning: While Clemmie admits the wedding planning process was a bit of a whirlwind, hers and Maclean’s overall vision was simple. “First, we wanted our wedding day to display our love for Jesus, our love for each other and our love for the people in our lives,” she explains. “Then, we wanted a day that encompassed all of the other things that had been meaningful to us in life.” The first decision — choosing a location — came naturally. “Watch Hill has always been a special place for myself and my family and it had earned a special place in Maclean’s heart, too,” Clemmie says. As for the aesthetic, “We decided that whites, greens and golds would dominate the color palette and allow the smiles and sounds of the evening to shine through,” she says. 140 | ENGAGED IN SOUTHERN NEW ENGLAND 2020 The Highlights: “It wasn’t the decor, the music, the food or anything else that made our wedding the most memorable of our lives,” Clemmie claims. “It was having all of the people who had shared our lives and brought our paths together in one place, celebrating together and enjoying all of the things we love. We wouldn’t change a thing.”