Story by Farrin Velasco Photos by Fox & Florals Media
Tia and Joshua Stelzer’s love story started as a forbidden romance. Tia was a counselor in FORME, a Texas A&M University freshman leadership organization, and Joshua was one of her freshmen she was in charge of leading.
“We weren’t allowed to date during that because I was his counselor,” recalls Tia. Once they were both out of the organization they began to date.
While they were dating, Joshua took Tia on a 10-day camping trip.
“I didn’t really know where we were going exactly, but we started in Big Bend and then went all the way to New Mexico and ended in the Grand Canyon on the last night,” says Tia. “Every day he had a little gift and handwritten letter for me that had some significance, so I kind of knew [a proposal] was coming.”
On the second to last night of their trip, just as the sun was setting, Joshua took Tia to the edge of the Grand Canyon and proposed.
When it came time to plan the wedding, Tia says she knew she didn’t want a typical, rustic Texas wedding.
“I knew I wanted it to be more formal and I knew that I wanted it to be a Christmas wedding, so that kind of set the tone for all the flowers and decorations,” Tia says. “All the party favors were little ornaments and we had lots of Christmas trees and Christmas music.”
On the day of the wedding, everything went very smoothly until it almost didn’t. Tia credits her maid-of-honor with saving the day. The best man was supposed to have the ring and as everyone was lining up to go down the aisle, the maid-of-honor thought it best to double check and make sure he had it.
“Utter panic came over his face and he just started booking it across the church all the way to this room on the other side for the ring and he literally came back with it out-of-breath, right before he was supposed to walk down,” says Tia. “That provided a little comedic relief.”
Tia and Joshua were married on Dec. 16, 2017, at A&M United Methodist Church and had their reception at Astin Mansion. Tia says that while she was very stressed throughout the planning process, everything ended up all working out really well.
“I feel like for me the wedding planning time leading up was so stressful, so I had it in my mind that I wasn’t really going to enjoy the wedding,” says Tia. “I was honestly so surprised by the end of the night, I was like, ‘This is like the best day of my life and I can’t believe it because everything leading up to this was really, really stressful.’”
For most couples, it can be hard to find some alone time during the reception when everyone is surrounding them, but Tia and Joshua made a point to do so.
“At the end before people lined up with sparklers, they ushered everyone away to get them ready and then me and Joshua got to have a last dance together on the dance floor, just us two with no one around,” Tia says. “It was really special to look back on the whole night and have that moment to reflect on what’s happened and what’s going to happen and the rest of our lives together. It was just kind of like a deep breath before moving on with the rest of our lives.”
Stelzer Vendors
- Reception Astin Mansion
- Ceremony A&M United Methodist Church
- Rehearsal Dinner Murphy’s Law
- Limousine Aggieland Limousines
- Bridal Tea Martha’s Bloomers, Navasota
- Bridal Party Housing Historic Holle House
- Caterer Hinze’s Barbeque & Catering, Sealy
- Bridal Gown MLD Limited, Houston
- Band Uptown; Gary Reece, Austin
- Photo Booth Texas Best Selfie
- Video Smart Video; John Fletcher, Huntsville
- Tent Details Party Rental
- China Party Time Rentals
- Flowers Carriage House Floral; Christopher Dodgen
- Photographer Fox & Floral Media, Austin
- Cakes Cakes by Blondie
- Soloist Ave Maria; A&M United Methodist Church; Alix Neeley
- String Quartet Brazos Valley String Quartet
- Tuxedos Men’s Warehouse
