Kaitlyn and Dylan – June 17, 2019
Kaitlyn and Dylan joined us on a beautiful June day. I loved their idea of a Jenga game sign-in “book” as a keepsake instead of the traditional guest book. These two are outdoor lovers and brought their sweet pups with them to celebrate their big day. Congratulations, Kaitlyn and Dylan!!
From the Bride:
We met in high school where we were simply friends. We reconnected a year after graduating in the summer of 2010, and our friendship grew into something much more over the next few months.
Dylan proposed in Breckenridge, Colorado on 3/14/17. We had snowshoes and went hiking on an old mine trail. We only ran into a couple of people during the hike and had the trail to ourselves for afternoon. We reached a point overlooking distant mountain ranges, and I set my iPhone up to take a self-timed photo of us. It took several attempts to get the angle “right” when propping the phone. I set the timer for 10 seconds to give me time to walk back to the ledge where Dylan was standing. The timer started ticking, and I heard Dylan say my name…once, then twice… And I thought to myself “it took me forever to get that phone propped without it falling over, he can wait 3 more seconds…” After the photo snapped, I turned to Dylan, and he was down on one knee with the most gorgeous ring held out in front of him. It was then that he proposed, so sweetly and perfectly. It was also then that I felt like the biggest jerk on the plant.
We decided on Tennessee because we have always wanted to elope or have a small, intimate ceremony outside. This is giving us the best of both worlds! We have always loved the outdoors and have been to East TN to hike many times together. Two of our closest friends had their wedding at Chapel in the Hollow last year, which is how we found out about the venue. Dylan and I had been debating on an elopement vs. intimate ceremony throughout the engagement and after finding out about Chapel in the Hollow, we felt we could get the best of both worlds there! Due to the intimate setting, guests were limited to our closest family members. We tried to keep our wedding on a lower budget and took this into consideration with decor, attire, bouquets, etc. The chapel was already decorated SO perfectly and we loved the pink/blush florals and draperies. Chapel color themes were the inspiration for our color palette. We honestly did not do much decorating, primarily because we loved the wooded, natural setting and did not want to take away from it. A previous bride had donated a gorgeous wooden table to the chapel for future brides to utilize. We used it to hold our personalized fans (it was hot!!), guest book, and a few accessories (picture frame, flower vase, etc.).
We have two rescued dogs that we adopted together who are like our children. They bring us so much happiness and entertainment on a daily basis and knew we wanted to include them in the ceremony! Special thanks to the fabulous groomsmen (groom’s brothers) and family who “wrangled” the pups for us. We honestly loved the entire atmosphere at Chapel in the Hollow and this is what drew us to the venue in the first place. Summertime in Tennessee is beautiful, though hot, and we loved the lush, green, shady trees!
Bride’s dress was from David’s Bridal and I fell in love with the lace detail and train. I originally didn’t want a veil (trying to be cheap) and decided last minute (4 days before the ceremony) to get one – I am so happy I did! (Special thanks to our photographer Chastidyi for her photography skills and hiding the fact that my veil was a different color than my dress!) The bridesmaid’s dresses were found at Forever 21, and I wanted something budget-friendly that the girls could wear again. Groom and groomsmen attire inspired by color of the chapel and Pinterest. Due to the summer heat, we opted out of a traditional suit/tux and settled for a vest for the groom and simple suspenders for the groomsmen (all found at JC Penney). The guys’ shoes were from Target. We bought the pup’s “suits” off of Amazon (Tail Trends) and they were absolutely adorable – dogs didn’t seem to mind them, either!
I can’t begin to tell you how happy and relieved we were to see that all of our guests made it to the chapel in time for the ceremony – and safely!! Many were traveling from the Middle TN area the morning of the wedding, and I was so worried that there would be traffic or guests getting lost due to lack of cell service in the area. Sure, there were some chaotic moments, but we were so thankful for the sacrifices made by our families to make our day perfect!
We enjoy hiking, mountains, camping, music festivals & hanging out with our pups! My advice to future brides is to not stress the small stuff, know that things may not go quite as you so diligently plan, and enjoy each moment! We were guilty (mostly me) of trying to keep things as cheap as possible, but don’t be afraid to splurge here and there to make your wedding day what you want it to be! 🙂
Invitations: Walgreens Photo
Hair and Makeup: Rachel Badgely
Wedding Dress Store: David’s Bridal
Menswear: JCPenney
Favors: Fans from Etsy – Side Street Designs
Shoe Store: Off Broadway
Rentals: Harvest Party Rentals
Photography: Star Noir Studio
Venue: Chapel in the Hollow