Macabre Nature Micro Wedding – Kelsey and Chris

10.15.23

Macabre Nature Micro Wedding

Kelsey and Chris – October 6, 2023

Kelsey and Chris recently joined us at Chapel in the Hollow for a macabre nature micro wedding. They brought their own distinctive style to our venue, dressing it in burgundy and black fabric, complemented by our moody florals and lantern package. To add a touch of the eerie, they even incorporated deer skulls into the decor!

Kelsey looked absolutely stunning in her off-the-shoulder chiffon dress, complete with a high slit. Chris rocked tan pants, a burgundy shirt, and a grey jacket, perfectly matching the color scheme. The chemistry between them was undeniable, and their love story unfolded beautifully throughout the day.

The emotions were running high as Kelsey had a heartwarming first look with her dad. Kelsey and Chris then had their own special first look at the mossy tree, where they exchanged heartfelt vows. They played rock, paper, scissors to determine who would go first. Sharing the vows was such a touching moment that even Chris shed a few tears, and Kelsey couldn’t help but tear up too!

With Kelsey’s dad proudly walking her down the aisle, their ceremony was filled with emotion and love. They even surprised each other with quotes from literary greats like Ernest Hemingway and Tyler Childers! It’s clear that these two share a deep connection and appreciation for life’s beautiful moments.

Chris knew from the very first time they met that he wanted to marry Kelsey. He cherishes her presence in every moment and her ability to fully embrace the world around her. Their love story is truly one for the books, and we’re so grateful to have been a part of their special day!

From the Bride:

We both graduated college with wildlife degrees in the spring of 2019, him in Georgia and me in Kentucky, and we were both hired on to be interns for the same research station in Tallahassee, Florida. We met each other on our first day (which was also his birthday) and were assigned as training partners, so we spent a lot of time together. It didn’t take us long to realize we were crazy about each other. We spent that entire summer getting to know each other and eventually dating that fall.

Chris asked me out on our first date and he took me to St. George’s Island off the coast of Florida. We walk around on the beach looking for shells and identifying the shore birds. He then took me to Apalachicola, this small marina town where we ate at a little cafe downtown. I remember it was a little fancy place and here we came sweaty and sunburnt from being out on the beach all day. We had a great time, until I started coughing from choking on my salad. This is a funny memory because Chris said “I am glad you’re the one who did something embarrassing on the first date and not me.”

I had just flown back to Atlanta from Kentucky after Christmas and we were spending New Years with his parents. There was some down time between all the family being there and Chris had asked me if I wanted to go for a hike. Of course, I said yes. It was December in Georgia, so it was still 80 something degrees. We began our hike, and I noticed he had kept asking me about the things we wanted to do if we ever got married, nothing unusual (he liked to talk about getting married a lot). We made our way to a look out above a section of the Flint river. There was a little shack across the river in the woods and I remember him asking me, “would you live in something like that if we got married?” and, of course, I said “well yeah. As long as we’re together”. He always asked me things like that, so I didn’t think anything of it. We stood there looking over the river for a minute and I started to notice a few gnats in my face. I swatted them away and said “man, these gnats are bad” and looked over to find Chris in the middle of sobbing. I thought something was wrong! My initial thought was that he was choking on a gnat! I asked what was wrong and he said “I just love you so much”, and got down on his knee. Then I watched his hand pull this little black sparkly rock from his pocket. He asked me to marry him while I was frantically trying to take off my backpack so I could get level with him. I was in total shock. I just started repeating yes over and over. He stood up and kissed me and put the ring on my finger (On the drive there he was also asking me about rings), But it was perfect, simple, and dark like I had wanted. A wife and husband who were hiking behind us had stopped and took some pictures. They had coincidentally watched it go down from the hill above the lookout. We cried together, called my mom, and then went on a 2-mile hike while I sheltered the ring the entire time.

Chris and I live in south Georgia now while my family is in Tennessee and Kentucky. His family is in Georgia and Virginia. This area was a good middle ground regarding travel for everyone. Plus, we love the mountains (and Dollywood). So we decided to get married in East Tennessee! Besides taking this huge leap with my best friend, reading our vows is something I’ve looked forward to for a while.

We’re outdoors people, always have been. We had similar childhoods growing up camping, hiking, hunting, and fishing. We still enjoy all of those things together and try to do that as much as we can. We also just like to explore new places, go shopping for antiques, go bowling, and see live music.