Pulling off the purplest wedding
TCU boots, TCU garter, the "TCU Fight Song" and cameos by SuperFrog and Gary Patterson made the nuptials of Eric ’06 and Brianna Haggerty Cannon ’08 a Horned Frog affair.
by Rachel Stowe Master '91
Updated: Friday, August 19, 2011
Eric ’06 and Brianna Haggerty Cannon ’08 welcomed SuperFrog to their wedding last August. (Photo courtesy Brianna Cannon)
If a wedding is a reflection of the couple’s true personality, then Eric ’06 and Brianna Haggerty Cannon ’08 should be in the running for Mr. and Mrs. TCU. Their special day — Aug. 28, 2010, in Robert Carr Chapel, of course — is proof they bleed purple.
Their colors were shades of purple. The bride’s cake was lavender. The groom’s cake was a replica of Amon G. Carter Stadium (pre-renovation). The bride took her portrait on a purple couch in a Fort Worth field. Photos of the groom and groomsmen included a shot with football coach Gary Patterson. The "TCU Fight Song" blared at the reception, which included purple martinis, a purple candy buffet and a special appearance by SuperFrog. And the happy couple stole a kiss in the middle of University Drive.
While the bride didn’t wear a purple wedding gown, she was well heeled in TCU boots at the rehearsal and she sported a TCU garter on the big day.
“We did not plan to have a TCU ‘themed’ wedding, but we knew we wanted to incorporate lots of TCU elements into our wedding because it's something that we are passionate about and makes us happy,” Brianna said.
It also caught the eye of the Texas Wedding Guide, which featured the purple affair in a recent edition.
Eric and Brianna met at TCU, where he was a Fiji and she was a Delta Gamma and a Frog Camp facilitator.
Purple has always been her favorite color — so much so, that her family joked that she picked TCU because of its color. Purple is also the color of Eric’s birthstone (amethyst) and was part of his high school and fraternity colors.
“So choosing the color purple was a no-brainer for us because we associate that color with so many happy things — not to mention, it's just an absolutely beautiful color.”
When choosing the cakes, she knew Eric would want something TCU. When she Googled “TCU Stadium Cake,” she found the perfect design. “Our amazing cake designer, Donna Nino from Opulent Cakes, was wonderful and took on the design challenge without batting an eye,” she said.
Brianna described the result as jaw dropping.
“It was such a topic of conversation and is actually the reason that Texas Wedding Guide chose our wedding to be featured — because they loved our cakes,” she said.
A highlight for Eric was having Coach Patterson join the wedding day photo shoot of the groom and groomsmen. From the beginning, Eric had planned to go to Amon G. Carter Stadium for pictures with his groomsmen. But he didn’t know they would run into Coach P — or that he would add to the fun by posing with the groom.
“It was a really cool gesture from him,” Eric said. “Gary and Kelsey were leaving the stadium and saw us in the stands, so they asked if we wanted him to join the group for some pictures. He could have just left the stadium without saying anything, like most successful college football head coaches would have, but he sacrificed his time to make my day even more memorable. This is just another example of what makes TCU special.”
“We are so appreciative of Coach Patterson taking the time to do that,” Brianna said. “It only took a couple moments of his time, but it's something that we will remember and appreciate forever.”
She was later able to get Coach Patterson to sign the picture, which she matted and framed and gave to Eric for Christmas.
SuperFrog was a last-minute invite after Brianna learned that he could be booked for private events. He made a surprise entrance at the reception after the deejay called all the TCU alumni to the dancefloor while the "TCU Fight Song" played.
“All of our TCU friends went crazy,” she said.
The hardest part about combining wedding plans with their love of TCU was the wait.
“The chapel was booked for 15 months,” Brianna said. “We didn't anticipate having such a long engagement, but it was well worth the wait.”
Finding the perfect purple table linens was also a challenge, but they had the help of wedding planner Kristen Knight, owner of Shenanigans Weddings & Events, and event designer Lesleigh Smith, owner of Lux Event Design.
“The reason we love TCU so much is because we had such a wonderful experience,” Brianna said. “We have some incredible memories, we made/met some of our very best friends, we landed the great jobs that we have as a result of our world-class education and — most importantly — we met each other. We feel like TCU is responsible for so many great things in our life. And to top it off, TCU happens to be amazing in sports and we happen to be sports fanatics.”
Eric, a certified government finance officer, is accounting manager for the city of Azle. Brianna is operations manager for Louis Vuitton. They live in Fort Worth and are active Frog Club members.
“We never miss a home game, and our dogs wear TCU jerseys on game day,” Brianna noted.