From the Bride:
We met through my neighbor when we lived in South Carolina. She had been trying to get us to meet for a few months, and he was always so busy with work. Finally one evening while sitting on her porch, she gave me his number and said “just text him!” The text led to a phone call a few minutes later, which led to him coming over to hang out with us all a few hours later. He stuck by my side through the thickest of thick and the thinnest of thin. He accepted my 3 older children as his own. He has done everything for us and is an absolutely incredible man. On Easter Sunday of 2017 he had to go out to his car to get something. I didn’t think anything of it as the kids were all going crazy over their Easter basket goodies. He came in and was kneeling next to me sitting on the couch and gave our daughter her first piece of jewelry and then turned to me and said, “…and here’s Mommy’s last, will you marry me?”. I was overwhelmed with emotions all I could do at first was cry. I said “yes” and wrapped my arms around him tighter than I think I ever have.
I wanted our day to be simple and classic. Nothing over the top or too dramatic. We were interested in getting married out of state in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee, so when I started researching and came across Chapel in the Hollow, I knew that was where we would get married. Looking at their social media page, I got a vision of what color palette would look stunning at the venue location in May. I went with blush, lavender and ivory and was so thrilled with how it turned out. We stuck with our vision of a small, intimate ceremony with our children as our wedding party and just a few close family members and friends as our guests. Our day turned out perfectly!
Thanks to Chastidyi and her wonderful imagery and stunning location, we really didn’t really need a whole lot of decor. The setting of the chapel in the woods of the mountains was beautiful in and of itself. The chapel florals and swag matched our colors almost perfectly.
During my Pinterest scrolling and Etsy window shopping, I decided that I wanted to go with non-traditional florals and do sola wood florals. I found a wonderful Etsy shop (SylCadle) who took a Pinterest image and worked her magic. Syliva was absolutely wonderful to work with. The flowers will last forever and I’m so thrilled with how they turned out.
We reserved an awesome cabin in the mountains for us and all of our guests to enjoy the weekend together. It was so nice to be able to spend quality time with everyone. We had Sweetheart Limo’s come pick up all our guests to take them to the wedding venue and back to the cabin. Everyone really enjoyed not having to worry about transportation to and from since everyone was from out of town.
My wedding dress was a complete surprise to myself! I had a vision of what I wanted and I was practically set on that and only that. My bridal consultant brought the dress out and I was not a fan. She said, “at least, just try it on”, so I did.I couldn’t believe that everything I had dreamed of and envisioned myself wearing on my wedding day had gone out the window just like that. The tiered dress was like nothing i had ever seen. The incredible lace and beaded detail were to die for.
I think the most special moment of our wedding day was just the pure intimacy of it all. We had everyone we wanted there…no more, no less. Don’t get me wrong, I love big weddings just the same, but the closeness we felt with our guests not just for the wedding ceremony, but for the entire weekend was simply wonderful!
I would say the key to wedding planning is to try and not stress it. Easier said than done, I know. Take time to breathe and enjoy it. Include your significant other as much as possible and don’t forget it’s their day too.
Venue: Chapel in the Hollow