Here comes the bride, Founders Day Parade style

Alee Abbott and Tom Phillips tied the knot while on the Whim Hospitality float during the Founders Day parade. Pam Owens, the President and CEO of the Dripping Springs Visitors Bureau served as the wedding’s officiant as vows are exchanged.

The marriage of Alee and Tom united the couple’s families, as each have a pair of children from a previous marriage. It was out of consideration for their kids that led the engaged couple to consider such a non-traditional approach to the traditional wedding ceremony. 

“We’ve never been conventional,” Alee said. “With both of us being divorced and with kids, there wasn’t a whole lot of tradition to consider. It’s not that we didn’t look into all of the traditional approaches, but we wanted to prioritize something that was special to us.”

The couple was really looking for a ceremony that included every member of their blended family. They were receptive to the idea of getting married during the Founders Day parade because it would give their children a special way to participate in the event.

Whim provided the rental items and florals for staging on the flat-bed truck that acted as Alee and Tom’s ceremony site during the parade.

“There are so many talented professionals in the wedding industry at Whim and around the Dripping Springs area that we really wanted to do something that highlighted our thriving wedding industry,” Whim CEO Kim Hanks said. “We started looking for an engaged couple that might be interested and Alee and Tom were the perfect couple to celebrate their love for each other and their Dripping Springs community.”

The wedding couple has deep ties to the area. Alee is a native of Austin, having relocated to Dripping Springs several years ago. Tom moved to the area in 2006, from Connecticut, and lived in Belterra, where he served on the community’s water board for 11 years. 

Holding a ceremony on a parade float during one of the area’s biggest annual events turned out to be the ideal setting for Alee and Tom to celebrate their nuptials in a memorable way.

“What better way to create an awesome memory than this?” Tom said. “When our kids grow up, as long as we stay here in Dripping Springs, they will remember this wedding. They will get to be a part of something special in the community, and they will always remember our wedding anniversary. It will always be the same weekend as the Founders Day Festival.”

The wedding also honored the city of Dripping Springs’ title as the “Wedding Capital of Texas,” as designated by the Texas State Legislature in 2015. Dripping Springs and the surrounding area is home to more than 35 wedding venues within a 15-mile radius of city limits, and has built a reputation as a leading destination for Hill Country weddings.