Ryann Showmaker & Danny Cunningham
May 7, 2022

A beekeeper bride and her honey say “I do” in a vibrantly hued Fort Worth Zoo affair.

In a tale as old as time, Ryann Showmaker had stopped actively pursuing love when she met her future husband, Danny Cunningham. “It’s funny how when you stop caring, that’s when you meet your person,” Ryann muses. She and Danny were set up on a double date with mutual friends, and by the time they moved to the second half of their date, an ’80s-themed dance club, they were already holding hands. Almost two years later, Danny took Ryann by surprise when he proposed to her on a ski vacation in Montana. “He proposed on day two of a 10-day trip,” she says. “So, we were able to spend the rest of the trip relishing the fact that we said yes to the rest of our lives together.”

Danny quickly suggested the Fort Worth Zoo for their wedding venue—perfect for the beekeeper bride and her nature-loving groom. Once the venue fell into place, Ryann started envisioning what she wished for her wedding to look like. Her vision turned out to be so strong, in fact, that she opted out of hiring a wedding planner. She got to work designing a vibrant, lively gathering full of richly colorful touches that was a true reflection of her and Danny as a couple. “Not only was I marrying the love of my life,” says Ryann of their May 7, 2022, celebration, “but I got to look around and see the space that I put so much love into.”

Classically Wild

Inspiration for a truly personalized wedding design can come from anything—favorite colors, beloved pastimes, or a treasured locale. But you don’t have to go over the top with a theme to get the point across. For Ryann Showmaker’s wedding to Danny Cunningham, she drew inspiration from the instruction she received when studying to teach yoga, paying homage to the ethereal roots of the practice within the details of her wedding, including the mandalas—a spiritual, never-ending pattern used in meditation—featured on the draperies of the reception tent and the traditional style of vertical flower garlands and ribbons strung in the trees of the zoo, like is often seen in South Asia. “I wanted my wedding to be different, but I didn’t want to cross over that line of being too much,” she says. “I wanted to keep that balance of being classically wild.”

Rainbow Bright

While Ryann appreciates the classic quality of an all-white wedding, she knew from the beginning that she preferred a different style—a bright, colorful affair that she says reflected her and Danny as a couple. “I wanted the wedding to be fun, vibrant, and different,” she says. The zoo’s grove was decorated with rattan lanterns and flower garlands of marigolds, carnations, and daisies.

Guests: 250

On the Menu: Various stations serving chicken and waffles, shrimp and grits, and beef tenderloin

First Dance: “The Night We Met” by Lord Huron

Honeymoon: A surprise trip to Greece and Istanbul, Turkey