Real Arkansas Wedding: Katie Willis & Clayton Borengasser of Little Rock

Katie Willis & Clayton Borengasser
June 17, 2017 • Little Rock
Trinity Episcopal Cathedral & Country Club of Little Rock

Katie Willis and Clay Borengasser only had eyes for each other from the beginning. On the night they met, Katie was in a friend’s wedding and Clay was a guest. Clay convinced his friends to give glowing reviews about himself to Katie so that by the time he asked her to dance, she was already hooked.

Three years later, they headed to Hawaii with Katie’s family to celebrate her parent’s anniversary. Clay was nervous on the plane, but Katie thought he was just worried about the long flight. A few hours into the flight, Katie decided to take a nap. Before she could, Clay got down on one knee in the aisle and asked her to marry him. Katie’s mom then pulled out her iPad and showed the couple videos from friends and family congratulating the two. “It was the best feeling since we still had hours left in the air and I wasn’t able to call anyone!” she says.

The Inspiration

Katie went with a modern take on Baroque-era opulence for her wedding day. After she found a beige rose called “Quicksand Rose,” it quickly became the centerpiece for the color palette. Katie wanted everything to feel traditional, soft and ethereal — with heaps of flowers lining every surface. When guests walked into the country club, they were immediately greeted with the custom smell of jasmine and rose.

Since the color palette was neutral, Katie wanted to play with a variety of textures. She and her mother had a vision of oversized, hand-cut paper floral walls, so Katie’s design team had them shipped in from New York City to line the walls of the CCLR ballroom. “The phrase we kept saying during our planning process was ‘bloom centric,’ and the floral walls were our perfect addition to our opulent design,” Katie says.

How They Customized

It’s hard to miss Tanarah Luxe Floral’s incredible arrangements spread throughout Katie and Clay’s reception. Two 9-foot heavy-laden floral topiaries adorned the grand entrance of the country club, and, in true baroque fashion, a 40-foot dining table filled the President’s Room with an explosion of arrangements and tapered candles. The couple’s large wedding cake featured hand-placed blooms covering the entirety of the cake that was perched atop a bed of roses.

Katie’s custom Ysa Makino gown was her favorite splurge. Because of her background in fashion and having worked in the bridal industry, she knew she had to have a completely unique gown. “I wanted a grand dress that was traditional, while also being an over-the-top showstopper,” she says. “And that’s exactly what I got!”

As the party continued, Katie remembers the band announced the last song, but no one was quite ready to leave the light-up LED dance floor. “My husband and I ended up on stage with the band singing and dancing and extended the reception almost an extra hour,” she says. “There were still so many guests that the dance floor was overflowing. Knowing that many of our friends and family wanted to keep celebrating as much as we did was a great feeling.”

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The Details

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