Hooked for Life: A Longhorn Wedding in Aggieland

By Amy Madden in Fan Mail, Special, TXEX on July 19, 2013 at 1:51 pm | 1 Comment

Lots of couples show their Longhorn pride with a few burnt-orange accents at their wedding, but one bride and groom have seriously upped the ante.

Chase and Ashley Holik tied the knot on June 22, 2013, and almost everything—from the ceremony to the cake—had a UT theme. The newlyweds had a UT Tower groom’s cake (baked, reluctantly we presume, by an Aggie), handmade Longhorn blankets as a backdrop for their reception, and ‘Hooked for Life’ koozies for wedding favors.

“We’re both big fans,” Chase says. We’ll call that an understatement.

About 550 guests attended the burnt-orange event in Yoakum, Texas, which is predominantly Aggie territory. Since every Yoakum wedding he’s attended has had some sort of Aggie theme, Chase, BA ’10, Life Member, was glad to finally show off his Longhorn pride. He even convinced some Aggies to take part in Longhorn traditions like singing “The Eyes of Texas” and flashing the Hook ‘Em.

But perhaps the biggest sign of Longhorn pride at the wedding was Chase tossing up his horns during the couple’s first kiss as husband and wife.

“It was something I had planned for a couple of weeks before,” Chase says. “I wanted [Ashley] to do it as well, but … she said it was just something that I should do. I had to get her approval several times just to make sure it was OK, and she said it was, so I went for it.”

But that’s not to say Ashley, BS ’12, Life Member, had any issues with the burnt-orange theme. She joined the Longhorn family just a few years after Chase and has been a diehard fan ever since.

“She kind of had a little apprehension thinking I was going to overdo it,” Chase says, “but once we started setting things up and talking about how things were going to go, she was just as excited as I was.”

Photos courtesy Albrecht Artistic Photography and Chase Holik.

Tags: cake, hook em, Longhorn wedding, marriage, tower, wedding