The Wedding of Samantha Torres & Americo De Ochoa

December 2, 2023

Photography by Joshua Lopez

The mild valley winters often make exceptionally wonderful wedding days for couples wishing to have both their ceremony and reception outdoors nestled amongst the native flora and fauna. Samantha and Americo spent much of their early long-distance relationship split between Hawaii and Alaska. These two states, both of which offer a wildly exotic range of native beauty, contrasted with their later home of Midland, Texas.

Thus, after Americo proposed to Samantha in November of 2022 with his late mother’s wedding band and a new engagement ring, the couple knew that they wanted lush scenery for their wedding day.

Casa Los Ebanos in San Benito, Texas provided the perfect garden setting for their December nuptials. While the modern tradition has been that of the couple spending the wedding day apart until the ceremony typically begins, Samantha and Americo decided to start their wedding day together at the venue. They enjoyed a delicious breakfast in satin jammies together in the courtyard where they relaxed in the quiet moments before the excitement began. Shortly after breakfast, many of their wedding guests who had traveled into town began to arrive.

This wedding day quickly became a family affair where all sides of the family and friends had the opportunity to spend the wedding day together with the bride and groom before the ceremony even began. By the time the couple made it down the aisle, everyone was calm, happy, and very much relaxed.

Samantha knew immediately the wedding dress she wanted after she became engaged. The bride wore a custom wedding dress designed in Ukraine shortly before the war broke out. Much to her surprise, the designer was capable of finishing her design and creating the bespoke dress after a few months, just in time for her wedding day. The off-white, long-sleeve dress, carried clear beading throughout the design with little petals added to provide a fun texture. Each petal had hand-crafted beadwork and the top was embroidered. The bride wore a beautifully intricate headpiece with beads and pearls along with a waist-length veil.

Bridesmaids wore olive green and the groomsmen were in a dark, charcoal grey for their suits. The bridal party consisted of ten bridesmaids and six groomsmen. The bride’s nieces served as flower girls and her nephew as the ring bearer. Together, they all accompanied the bride down the aisle who was walked to the aisle by her mother and down the aisle by her father.

For a personal touch, Samantha surprised Americo by walking down the aisle to the string quartet’s version of “You Are My Sunshine” because his mother used to sing that to him as a little boy. The couple was married by the groom’s friend and officiant who conducted the marriage ceremony. After becoming husband and wife, the couple walked down the aisle to “Gangstas Paradise” which raked up the excitement amongst the crowd. The ceremony, simple and romantic, was artistically captured with a live painting.

The garden themed wedding provided the guests with a beautiful natural scenery found at Casa Los Ebanos along with a variety of garden roses, pastel colored flowers, and a large variety of white roses for the ceremony decor. A highlight of the reception was the pale pink, square, three-tiered wedding cake decorated with beautiful flowers. There were delicious charcuterie boards featuring chocolate covered citrus, deli meats, grapes, and cheeses. A string quartet played during the cocktail hour and the guests were treated to a mobile bar during the reception. The remainder of the evening was spent dancing the night away with family and friends. Samantha and Americo enjoyed a post-wedding shoot amongst the mountains and reflect back on such a beautifully intimate, fun, and relaxed wedding day.