Sweet Lavender Forest Elopement in the Smoky Mountains

Melissa and Kris – August 10, 2026

Some couples spend a year planning their wedding. Melissa and Kris spent 20 years building the relationship first.

After two decades together, raising a son and sharing a whole lot of life, these two finally decided it was time to make things official. Their sweet lavender forest elopement in the Smoky Mountains was relaxed, intimate, and wonderfully low-key — basically the wedding-day equivalent of looking at the person you’ve loved forever and saying, “Okay, yeah. Let’s finally do this.” 💜🌿

There was no huge production and no need for one. Just their little family, a pretty chapel tucked into the East Tennessee woods, a tiny purple cake, and two people who were clearly still very happy to be choosing each other after all these years.

Honestly, we love that.

A Lavender Wedding in the Woods

Melissa and Kris chose lavender and cream fabric for their ceremony décor, paired with lavender florals. It was such a pretty combination against the vibrant summer forest.

Lavender is one of those wedding colors that works especially well in a woodland setting because it adds a little softness and color without competing with all of the natural greens surrounding it. The cream kept everything light and timeless, while the purple florals brought in that romantic, slightly whimsical feel.

The whole setup felt peaceful and cheerful — exactly right for an intimate August ceremony in the Smokies. There was also one extremely important addition waiting nearby: Cake.

The Cutest Little Purple Wedding Cake

Melissa brought a small pale purple cake decorated with delicate white icing details for them to enjoy after the ceremony. And it was adorable. One of the perks of a small elopement is that you can pick the traditions you actually care about and skip everything else. Want a giant reception? Go for it. Want one cute little cake because cake makes life better? Also completely valid.

Their cake fit the lavender theme perfectly and gave them a sweet little celebration moment without turning the day into something bigger or more complicated than they wanted.

Melissa’s Romantic Floral Wedding Dress

Melissa looked beautiful in a sleeveless wedding gown with tiny floral details scattered throughout the skirt. The subtle flowers gave the dress just enough texture to make it interesting while keeping the overall look soft and elegant. It also fit the setting perfectly. Between the floral details on the dress, lavender ceremony décor, and greenery surrounding the chapel, her whole bridal look had this effortless woodland quality without feeling overly themed.

She did her own hair and makeup, which kept the getting-ready portion of the day easy and relaxed. Melissa also wore jewelry from her mother, adding a sentimental family connection to her wedding look. Those are always some of our favorite details — the things that might not immediately stand out in a photograph but mean everything to the person wearing them.

Kris Brought the Dapper

Kris showed up looking extra sharp in a tan checkered suit by Joseph Abboud with a pale tie. And we have to give him credit. After 20 years, he still understood the assignment. The lighter suit was perfect for an August morning and looked fantastic against the darker greens of the forest. It felt polished enough for a wedding but still relaxed, which basically summed up the entire vibe of their day.

Together, Melissa and Kris looked elegant without looking overly formal. They just looked like themselves — on a particularly fabulous day.

Their Son Had Two Very Important Jobs

Their son wasn’t merely attending the wedding. He had responsibilities. Multiple responsibilities. He was in charge of both the music and the rings, which means he was essentially running two critical departments of the operation. No pressure. 😂

Having their son involved made the day even sweeter, especially after watching Melissa and Kris build their family over the previous two decades. A small family elopement creates space for those roles to actually feel important instead of getting swallowed up in a huge wedding party. He wasn’t one of twenty people standing nearby. He was their person. And he helped his parents finally get married.

That’s a pretty great family memory.

Twenty Years Together, One Walk Down the Aisle

Melissa chose to walk herself down the aisle to Kris. There was something beautifully fitting about it. After 20 years together, this wasn’t really a story about someone giving her away. She already knew exactly where she was going. She walked toward the man she had spent two decades loving, and the two of them stood together in the quiet forest to finally make their marriage official. No nerves about whether they knew each other well enough. No wondering what everyday life together might look like. They had already done all of that. They knew. That gave the ceremony such an easy sweetness.

An Intimate Ceremony After Two Decades of Love

Their ceremony was simple and heartfelt. They exchanged vows and rings surrounded by the summer woods while their son stood nearby. And there’s something especially lovely about vows exchanged after twenty years together. The promises feel different. They aren’t just hopes about what a future marriage might become. Melissa and Kris already knew what loving each other looked like during normal life. They knew the routines. The difficult seasons. The inside jokes. The mundane Tuesdays. The vacations. The disagreements. The celebrations. The entire beautifully ordinary mess of sharing a life with another human.

And after all of it, they still wanted to stand together and say yes. That’s romantic in a completely different way.

Family Photos Before Mom + Dad Had Some Fun

After the ceremony, we grabbed a few family portraits with their son. Then we temporarily relieved him of wedding duties so Mom and Dad could have some time to themselves. Once the formal part of the day was finished, Melissa and Kris relaxed immediately.

We headed out around the property for portraits, and it quickly became less about posing and more about letting them enjoy being newlyweds — a title that probably felt both completely new and hilariously overdue.

The Mossy Tree + Highlands

Our first stops included the mossy tree and the highland area. The woods were beautifully green that August morning, giving everything that quintessential Smoky Mountain forest feeling. The mossy tree is always perfect for couples who want photos that feel lush and romantic, while the highlands open things up a little and create an entirely different look.

Melissa and Kris were easy together. They laughed. They leaned into each other. They looked like two people who had spent enough years together to be completely comfortable being ridiculous in front of each other which makes our job significantly more fun.

Mountain Views to Finish the Morning

We finished their portraits in the field with the Smoky Mountain view. If you’re traveling to East Tennessee to get married, it feels only fair that the mountains make at least one appearance. The open field gave Melissa and Kris a chance to step out of the forest and soak in the scenery together. Against the distant mountains and summer landscape, the whole morning suddenly felt a little bigger. Twenty years behind them. A marriage officially beginning, and a whole lot of adventures still waiting ahead.

Not bad for a Tuesday morning in Tennessee.

Why Simple Elopements Can Be So Good

Melissa and Kris’s wedding is a perfect example of why we love intimate elopements so much. There wasn’t pressure to turn their relationship into a production. They didn’t need to prove anything. They weren’t trying to impress a giant room full of guests. They simply wanted to get married.

That gave them freedom to keep what mattered:

• Their son
• A meaningful ceremony
• Pretty lavender details
• Wedding photos
• A tiny cake
• Mountain views
• Time together

Everything else was optional.

And after twenty years together, they knew exactly what they wanted.

From the Bride:

Kris and I met when we were teenagers and crossed paths here and there until our early twenties when we started dating. The first date was fun and full of laughter. Kris proposed to me at midnight on New Year’s Eve.

We chose East Tennessee for our lavender forest elopement because we visited the area about 5 year’s ago and loved it. We wanted to explore the area more and decided this would be the best opportunity.

On the wedding day, we are most looking forward to peace. 

There’s no real significance to the date, but August is 21 years together. 

We like to explore the outdoors, camp, fish and hike. typical date nights are few and far, but when we do it’s usually taco dinner dates.

A Lavender Forest Elopement Worth Waiting For

It was a warm August morning in East Tennessee, but everything about Melissa and Kris’s wedding felt easy. No fuss. No unnecessary stress. No complicated timeline. Just a sweet little lavender forest elopement, their son standing beside them, and two people who had already spent twenty years proving they were pretty darn good at this whole loving-each-other thing. Now they just have the paperwork to back it up. 😉

Congratulations, Melissa and Kris!

Here’s to the first twenty years, to officially becoming newlyweds, and to all of the weird, wonderful, ordinary, adventurous years still ahead. 💜🌿

Vendor Team

Dress: Bon Bon Belle
Photography: Star Noir Studio
Menswear: Joseph Abboud / Men’s Wearhouse
Rings: Helzberg
Officiant: Ian Parrott
Hair and Makeup: Bride
Jewelry: Bride’s Mother
Venue: Chapel in the Hollow