A Camp-Inspired Rustic Wedding in Texas

When Susan Hable went to New York City in December 1999, she had a lot to do. So when her friend told Susan one morning that there was a man she wanted her to meet, Susan wasn't interested. But when she saw the man, Susan suddenly wished she had at least combed her hair. "He was a vision of cleanliness and perfection, and I was like Pig Pen," she says. But to Peter Smith, a partner in a New York law firm, she was anything but that. "I looked at her," he says. "I can't overstate it. I understood what people mean by love at first sight." They had three dates that week. By March, three months after meeting, they were engaged.

Cypress trees hang over the Guadalupe River, which runs through the camp that the bride, her sister, her mother, and her aunt attended.

Susan on the porch of Happy Haven, the cabin where she stayed as a counselor. Her eggshell-colored dress is two layers of silk chiffon.

A save-the-date card, schedule of weekend events, and invitation are done in letterpress with a headdress motif.

A welcome package with playing cards, Texas-shaped potato chips, piquante sauce, and pecan pralines greets each of the one hundred guests who spent the weekend at the camp.

Susan and her mother, Kay Hable, perfect the two-step at a group lesson before the wedding.

Susan's childhood scrapbook is displayed in the main-lodge sitting room along with other mementos from her and Peter's lives.

The cabins' bunk beds are built from logs.

A leather-bound book is set out before the ceremony for guests to sign.

A basket of programs is set out before the ceremony.

Boxes of pecans are given as favors; each is decorated with a vintage illustration indicating the table assignment.

Susan's mother, Kay; her sister, Katharine, the matron of honor; and Susan.

A member of the mariachi band from Mexico that played at the party.

Each table is set with a single King protea flower and a twig easel with an image matching those on the favor boxes; the featherprint tablecloth was designed by Susan.

The wedding cake is covered with confectionery flowers.

The groom's cake is carrot, frosted in buttercream and topped with sugared fruit.

After Sunday's brunch, some guests relax at the camp while others go canoeing. Gathered around a stone wall near the river are, from left, Linley McClendon, Trecia Laird, Susan, Bailey Hooten, and Katherine O'Leary.

Tepee favors are made of bandannas -- inside are instructions for ten ways to use one.

An old postcard of the camp is a gift from a friend of Susan's mother.

Susan feeds Peter cake under a display of branches, ivy, orchids, and moss created by Susan's friend Tom Adams.

A gift of wool socks awaits the newlyweds on their bed.

Sparklers are given out in paper bags imprinted with the same headdress motif used on the invitation.

Susan and Peter, illuminated by sparklers, return to their cabin.

Location: Camp Waldemar, 830-238-4821
Event Organizer and Floral Designer: Tom Adams of Victorian Sample, 800-252-8483
Bride's Gown: Richard Tyler from Barney's New York
Groom's Suit: Jil Sander at Barney's New York
Invitations and Programs: Soho Letterpress
Cake: Cakes by Cathy Young, 210-493-8466