Before Paxten Keyser married Kyle Reeh, she claims they were born in the same room of the local hospital. Both grew up in Fredericksburg, with Paxten being one year older than Kyle. They began dating as teenagers.
“We dated in high school, and then she went to college and we kind of went our separate ways,” said Kyle. “And then we started seeing each other in college again.”
Paxten graduated from Texas State University in San Marcos, and then moved back to Fredericksburg when Kyle graduated from Texas A&M University and began working for his family business, Reeh Plumbing.
On June 11, 2022, the couple officially became Kyle and Paxten Reeh with a wedding at La Bonne Vie Ranch, just south of Fredericksburg.
The Proposal
“I had no idea he was going to propose to me, we hadn’t even talked about it,” said Paxten about the day they got engaged.
Paxten had just taken her job as a teacher in Kerrville. To celebrate, Kyle’s mother invited them to join them for a day at the local wineries.
“He said, ‘Before we go meet my mom and brother and his girlfriend at the wineries, let’s go by the house, I want to show you these shelves I made,” Paxten said.
Kyle had been in a phase of working on home projects and wood crafts, and so the request didn’t seem too unusual. They drove to the house, and then Kyle insisted on Paxten being blind-folded. He said that he had worked hard on the shelves and wanted it to be a surprise. Paxten thought it odd, but never suspected a proposal.
“I walked out, and my two best friends and his two best friends were there, and he was on one knee and proposed,” Paxton recalled. “I couldn’t even post the video because I was so shocked I was saying a lot of bad words.”
But the surprise didn’t end with the proposal. The group of friends made plans to gather at Hondo’s on Main to celebrate the new engagement, but on the way, Kyle insisted on changing his shoes. Despite some resistance by Paxten, Kyle held his ground to go to his family’s home for more comfortable shoes.
“We pull up to his parents’ house and it was lined up with all of our friends and family,” said Paxten.
Kyle mentioned that it was difficult to keep everyone in on the secret without any hints or mishaps, but that it turned out perfectly.
Wedding Day
When asked about the wedding day, both Kyle and Paxten agree that the style of their wedding was casual.
“I’d say casual and a beer drinking wedding,” said Kyle.
The wedding chapel at La Bonne Vie Ranch is luxurious but with rural Texas Hill Country appeal. The venue features a small country chapel, perfect for a wedding ceremony with backroad character.
The venue site also features plenty of accommodations, which allowed the wedding party to stay together the entire weekend.
Both Kyle and Paxten said that their wedding day went smoothly. They valued and recommended the help they had from their wedding planner, Emily Remy of Hill Country Bride.
“Emily made it easy,” said Kyle. “She asked the right questions and made us think about what we needed.”
Since both couples were local to Fredericksburg, they had over 300 wedding guests, and each had eight members in their wedding parties with two flower girls and two ring bearers.
The large wedding size contributed to, what Paxten described as, the most difficult part of the planning for her. Both had a difficult time narrowing down the final guest list, and some people were left out. Additionally, a lot of people were involved in the vision of the wedding day itself.
“I think the biggest obstacle was making everyone happy, trying to pick what everyone would like,” said Paxten.
But all the worries changed on the day of the wedding, as both Kyle and Paxten wanted to have a wedding to enjoy rather than stress over.
“I remember sitting there and all my girls were getting ready,” said Paxten. “I was sitting in the middle on this big couch, and just thinking to myself, I’m really going to take all this in because I have no responsibilities right now, and it’s going by so fast.
“It really hit me when I was with my girls all morning, and then they leave you. Nobody prepares a bride for that. You’re by yourself with just your dad. That was the most nerve-racking part.”
Time stood still for both Paxten and Kyle when the doors of the chapel opened and Paxten walked down the aisle.
“I just forgot about everything. I open the doors and I saw everything and then I just saw Kyle, and I forgot the people were there,” said Paxten.
That moment was significant for Kyle, as well. “It was emotional,” said Kyle. “Obviously, I cried. And I’m not a crier.”
A Day to Remember
Both Paxten and Kyle feel that their wedding day went well without any significant hang-ups. Kyle credited good wedding planning as one of the best decisions they made for their wedding.
While neither have any regrets on their wedding day, they expressed a wish that they had done their ceremony a bit earlier to provide more time to visit with guests and enjoy their reception party.
For other couples who would wish to learn from Paxten and Kyle’s experience, Paxten feels passionate that couples should try to enjoy the moment while it’s there.
“I would say to not worry on the wedding day,” said Paxten. “Just take it all in because it goes by so fast. Don’t worry about the details.”
But for this small-town Fredericksburg couple, their wedding day became the event they both hoped for.
“Fredericksburg is so beautiful, and the venue was so beautiful,” said Paxten. “I wanted it simple. That’s what I envisioned.
“My favorite part was walking down the aisle. You dream about this for your whole life. When I opened up (the doors) it was like a dream. And seeing him, and seeing everyone, it was a very good moment.”
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