House: Dripping Springs Wedding Capital of Texas
by Ryan McCrimmon
The town of Dripping Springs, known as the “Gateway to the Hill Country,” could soon earn another title: the wedding capital of Texas.
The Texas House said “I do” to a proposal Wednesday by Republican Jason Isaac to designate Dripping Springs, located about 40 minutes west of Austin, as the state wedding capital.
Isaac said the city of fewer than 1,800 is a “perfect Hill Country setting for a wedding.”
“From elegant to rustic, there is a location for every style and budget,” Isaac told his House colleagues.
The proposal will go to the Texas Senate for approval before the name becomes official.
Sherrie Parks, executive director of the Dripping Springs Chamber of Commerce, said the town boasts 36 wedding venues in a 17-mile radius — the most of any city in Texas, Parks said.
“People come here from not only other parts of the state, but other parts of the country and even from overseas,” she said.
Parks said the 2,000 weddings Dripping Springs hosts each year have a huge effect on the tiny town’s economy.
“Wedding venues here have started offering Thursday weddings and Sunday weddings because Fridays and Saturdays are so booked,” she said. “One of our local hotels here, the Sleep Inn, is booked almost two years out.”
The town trademarked the name Wedding Capital of Texas last August and set up a website as part of a publicity campaign.