September Morning Micro Wedding

Cally and Austin – September 8, 2026

Some couples are romantic and serious.

Some couples spend their entire wedding day giggling at each other approximately every twelve seconds.

Cally and Austin are very much the second kind. 😂

These two chose Chapel in the Hollow for their September morning micro wedding, gathering their closest family and friends in the East Tennessee forest for a morning that felt sweet, personal, and incredibly happy.

There was a dad walking his daughter down the aisle, a grandpa performing the ceremony, handwritten vows, beautiful morning light, mountain views, and one VERY important beagle entrusted with the wedding rings. Honestly, the whole thing was adorable.

Dusty Blue and Pink for a September Wedding

Cally and Austin dressed the chapel in dusty blue and cream fabric paired with our ombre pink florals. The combination was soft and colorful without feeling overly formal, and it looked gorgeous against the forest. September is such an interesting little in-between season in East Tennessee. Everyone is mentally ready for pumpkins and sweaters, but the trees haven’t necessarily gotten the memo yet. Early September can still look incredibly lush and summery, with plenty of deep green surrounding the chapel before fall color begins to arrive later in the season.

For Cally and Austin, all of that greenery gave their dusty blue and pink wedding colors a beautiful backdrop. It felt romantic. It felt cheerful. And it fit these two perfectly.

Getting Ready With Mom

Before the ceremony, Cally’s mom helped her get ready. I love these quieter getting-ready moments during a micro wedding. There isn’t necessarily a giant bridal suite overflowing with people, matching robes, champagne bottles, and seventeen curling irons plugged into one very concerned electrical outlet.

Instead, there’s room for the moments themselves. A mom helping her daughter. The last little adjustments before the ceremony. That weird mixture of excitement and nerves when you know you’re only a few minutes away from walking down the aisle.

Once Cally was ready, her dad joined her for another important part of the morning. He would be the one walking her down the aisle to Austin.

But before we get to that…

We need to discuss the wedding party’s most distinguished member.

Meet Beau, Dog of Honor

Cally and Austin had a Dog of Honor. His name is Beau. He is a beagle. And clearly the ceremony could not be expected to proceed without proper beagle supervision. Beau also served as ring bearer, making him both a member of the wedding party AND responsible for highly valuable merchandise. This seems like a lot of responsibility for one beagle, but apparently he was qualified. As a fellow beagle household, I fully support this decision. 😂

Including your dog in a micro wedding can be such a fun way to make the day feel more like your actual life together. For couples whose pups are basically family members anyway, leaving them out can sometimes feel stranger than giving them a bow tie and an official job title. And if you’re going to give the dog a wedding job? Dog of Honor is pretty hard to beat.

Beau was there with Cally and Austin’s family and friends as everyone gathered around the chapel for the ceremony. Then it was time for Cally to make her entrance.

Walking Down the Aisle to Austin

Cally’s dad walked her down the aisle toward Austin, surrounded by the people closest to them. Smaller weddings have a way of making moments like this feel especially personal. There isn’t a huge crowd between the couple and their families. Everyone is close. Everyone can see the reactions. Everyone can hear the laughter. And when you have a couple like Cally and Austin, there was definitely plenty of laughter.

But there was another family connection that made their ceremony even more meaningful. Cally’s grandpa was their officiant.

Married by Grandpa

Having someone you love officiate your wedding adds an entirely different layer to the ceremony.

Cally and Austin didn’t simply have someone standing in front of them reading the words that would make everything official. They had Cally’s grandpa. Someone who was already part of their family story got to stand with them as they started this new chapter. That is the kind of detail that can’t really be recreated.

Years from now, when Cally and Austin look back at their wedding photos, they won’t only remember what the chapel looked like or what flowers they chose. They’ll get to remember that Grandpa was standing there with them.

For a September morning micro wedding centered around family, it was such a perfect choice.

Personal Vows and Lots of Laughter

Cally and Austin also wrote their own vows. Personal vows are always one of my favorite ways for couples to make a small wedding ceremony even more personal. You aren’t limited to generic promises that could belong to any couple. You can talk about your relationship. Your memories. Your hopes. The things you love about the person standing across from you. The ridiculous little quirks you’ve somehow decided you would like to live with forever. And judging by the amount of giggling happening between Cally and Austin throughout their wedding morning, I’m guessing laughter is going to be a pretty significant part of their marriage.

These two just seemed genuinely happy to be together. Not performatively romantic. Not trying to create a Pinterest moment every five seconds. Just happy. And that always photographs beautifully.

Family Photos Before Newlywed Time

Once everything was official, we gathered Cally and Austin’s family and friends together for photos at the chapel. With a micro wedding, family photos can be much more manageable than they are with a giant guest list. You get the photos that matter. You hug everyone. You celebrate. And then everyone else can head off while the newlyweds get a little time to themselves.

That’s when the pace of the wedding day changes.

The ceremony is finished. The nerves settle down. Nobody needs to remember the vows anymore. You’re married. Now you get to go play.

So we stole Cally and Austin away for their couple portraits.

September Morning Wedding Photos

We headed to the old truck first, giving Cally and Austin a rustic little change of scenery from the chapel. Then we made our way out to the field with the mountain view. And the morning light was GORGEOUS.

This is one of the reasons morning weddings can be so much fun to photograph. The light can have a completely different quality from the brighter, harsher light that sometimes develops as the day goes on, and on Cally and Austin’s wedding morning, everything came together beautifully.

The open field gave them room to move around, while the mountains in the distance added that unmistakable East Tennessee feeling to their wedding gallery. But Cally and Austin made the photography part ridiculously easy.

Just Follow the Giggling

Some couples need a little encouragement when they’re in front of a camera. That’s completely normal. Most people do not spend their free time professionally gazing into the distance while someone photographs them.

Cally and Austin? They just needed to hang out together. They snuggled. They laughed. They played. They looked at each other and immediately started giggling again. Approximately twelve seconds would pass. More giggling.

At some point, our job basically became: locate the sound of laughter and point camera in that direction. 😂 And those are some of my favorite wedding sessions. The goal isn’t to make every couple look like serious romantic models. It’s to photograph the relationship that’s actually in front of you. If you’re quiet and affectionate, your photos should feel like that. If you’re adventurous and wild, let’s show that. And if you spend half your relationship making each other laugh? Your wedding photos should absolutely have some laugh-until-your-face-hurts energy.

Cally and Austin’s did.

Why September Mornings Work So Well for Small Weddings

A September morning micro wedding in the Smoky Mountains gives you a really fun combination of seasons. You’re starting to edge toward fall, but early September can still have the full, vibrant greenery of summer. Mornings can also give the day a wonderfully relaxed rhythm. Instead of spending all day waiting for the ceremony, you get up, get ready, marry your favorite person, and then have the rest of your day ahead of you.

For a destination wedding in East Tennessee, that can mean plenty of time afterward to celebrate with family, explore the area, have a great meal, or simply disappear somewhere with your brand-new spouse.

Cally and Austin kept their actual wedding experience focused on what mattered most to them. Their people. Their promises. Their family. Their dog. And each other. No giant production was needed.

A Micro Wedding That Felt Completely Like Them

There were so many little things about Cally and Austin’s wedding that made it memorable. Dusty blue and pink flowers against the September forest. Cally getting ready with her mom. Her dad walking her down the aisle. Her grandpa officiating. Personal vows. Beautiful mountain views. And Beau the beagle taking on the tremendous responsibility of serving as both Dog of Honor and ring bearer.

But my favorite part was probably the simplest. Cally and Austin clearly make each other really, really happy. You could see it every time they looked at each other. You could definitely hear it every time they dissolved into another round of giggles. And underneath all the pretty wedding details, that’s the part that actually matters.

A September morning micro wedding gave them the space to gather their favorite people, include the family members who meant the most, bring their pup along for the adventure, and spend the morning celebrating the relationship they had already built together.

Then they headed into married life doing exactly what they had been doing all morning: laughing together. Sounds like a pretty fantastic start to me. 💙

Congratulations, Cally and Austin!!

And Beau, please collect an extra treat for performing your wedding-day duties so admirably. 🐶❤️

From the Bride:

We met through Snapchat. We started talking for awhile and decided to hangout and the rest is history 🙂 The first date we went for a hike at the state park close by to where I live and went out to eat dinner after. It felt laidback and easygoing and comfortable.

He proposed. He was already living with me and I didn’t want a fancy proposal. He decided to take me to pick out a ring that I would like so I knew it was happening. But the proposal happened at my house on the front porch.

We chose East Tennessee for our September morning micro wedding because we both already live in Tennessee about two hours from the venue. We both really like being near the mountains and I have been in the nearby area several times growing up. I’m most looking forward to getting to spend forever with my best friend and my sweet Beau Beau walking down the aisle as the best man.

There’s not any specific significance to the date we chose. We just thought September would be the perfect time of year for our wedding but it is special because it’s the day before my dads birthday.

We both like to go for walks and play with the dogs. Our typical date nights recently have been sometimes we go out to eat dinner and after we will come home and watch one of our favorite shows before bed.

Photography: Star Noir Studio
Rings: Kay Jewelers. and Manly Bands
Officiant: Tim Copeland
Hair and Makeup: Southern Sirens
Dress: Shein
Venue: Chapel in the Hollow