A Day so Big it Could Only Happen in Texas

Location

Our ceremony and reception will be held at House on the Hill, west of Downtown Austin in the Texas Hill Country. April in Texas is usually a beautiful time of year and we hope to hold our wedding outside. Typically in April you can expect high temperatures in the upper 70's and overnight lows in the upper 60's.

Should the weather be rainy or cold the house's main foyer will be our backup location. Regardless of the weather we expect to have a wonderful time with our family and friends with plenty of space to accommodate everyone.

Please come dressed for a casual country wedding. Cowboy boots are always welcome in Texas!

Travel

Austin-Bergstrom International Airport is located southeast of downtown and is approximately fifteen minutes from downtown and fifteen minutes from our house in Cedar Creek. Some non-stop flights are avialble from both Columbus and Chicago. Public transportation in Austin is very affordable; an all day bus pass costs $2.00. Buses are a great option for getting around in Austin but there is no public transportation to House on the Hill where the wedding will be held at or to our house in Cedar Creek. Shuttles between the two official wedding hotels and House on the Hill will be available on a schedule to be determined. If you'd like to be able to travel outside of the city you will need to rent a car.

Lodging

We have group reservations for two hotels in Austin: one downtown and one on the south side between downtown and the airport.

The Extended Stay America in downtown is a good choice for longer stays and those who want to be centrally located within walking distance of the bars and music clubs on historic Sixth Street. All the rooms are studios with a kitchen that includes a full-size refrigerator, stove, microwave, and utensils. The nightly rate is $139.99. Ten rooms with a queen size bed are available until March 13, 2014. Call (512) 457-9994 and mention the Tippett/Rauwolf wedding to receive the group rate.

The Red Roof Inn South Austin is a great value and is located halfway between downtown and the airport. Then nightly rate is $50.99. Twelve rooms with two full size beds are available until March 14, 2014. Call (512) 448-0091 and mention block code B258RAUTIP to receive the group rate.

Activities

Austin bills itself as "The Live Music Capital of the World" the center of which is the historic Sixth Street district downtown. On Friday and Saturday nights the street is shut down from Brazos Street on the west to Red River Street on the east due to the sheer number of people hitting up the bars and clubs. Even outside the busiest nights you won't be able to walk down the street without hearing all types of bands playing through open windows. If you're downtown you won't be able to miss the state capitol building which is at the north end of Congress Avenue, the main north-south street in Austin. The capitol and its grounds are very nice, particularly at night. To the west and south of the capitol you'll find a number of historic neighbohoods just off the busy city streets. Heading south on Congress Avenue across the lower Colorado River you'll soon come upon the SoCo nighborhood where you can help "Keep Austin Weird" by visiting the eclectic shops, art galleries, and restaurants.

If you have a little more time or are able to travel there are a few other things we can recommend. Austin Duck Adventures is a good way to see a lot of the city in a short amount of time and hear a little bit about the area's history. Bull Creek District Park, and McKinney Falls State Park are both really beautiful and, if the weather is warm, you can go in the water. Mount Bonnell doesn't offer much other than great views of the city, but those alone are worth visiting.

Once we have RSVP responses from everyone we may organize some activities in the days leading up to the wedding. As of now we have nothing formal planned aside from the ceremony and reception.

Schedule

Seating for the wedding will begin at 4:00 and the cermony will take place at 4:30. Following the ceremony will be a cocktail hour with appetizers and other light food. Dinner will begin at 6:00 and features Texas style barbecue along with other options served buffet style. Of course, you can expect music and dancing following dinner with shuttles throughout the evening running back to the two official hotels. We have rented the property the day following the cermony so our families will be staying there with us until Thursday morning.

• 4:00 - Seating begins
• 4:30 - Ceremony begins
• 5:00 - Cocktail hour begins
• 6:00 - Dinner begins
• TBD - Reception ends

RSVP

We request that you RSVP via email to rsvp@bradandbarbara.com by February 15, 2013. Please let us know how many guests will be attending and, of course, feel free to ask us any questions we haven't answered yet. If you need any help with hotel reservations or anything else please don't hesitate to ask. We are so excited to have our friends and family coming to Texas to celebrate with us and we're very thankful for your efforts to make it here. If there's anything we can do to help just ask!

We look forward to seeing you in April!