Nashville weddings

What a Wedding! Lauren & William Share Their Vintage, Urban Nashville Wedding at Houston Station

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

When we get caught up in the hustle and bustle of wedding planning, it's easy to overlook what's at the core - a marriage.  Once in a while, we meet a gem of a bride whose vision isn't all about the glitter or themes but one who cherishes the moments that she wanted as part of her special day, with lots of unique personalized touches that were such a joy to see.  For Lauren and William, their wedding was a day spent with family and friends from near and far, one that was capturedl in gorgeous photographs, and super fun photobooth pics.

Simply Vintage - Real Wedding Feature submitted by Photo Booth Nashville

Bride ~ Lauren Stephens

Groom ~ William Branson IV

Wedding Details:

April 10, 2010, ceremony 5:00 pm, reception 7:00 pm

Ceremony- St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Franklin, TN (pivate ceremony, family only)

Reception: Houston Station, Nashville, TN

Approximately 140 guests at reception

Wedding Style:

What was your wedding style?

This is hard for me to pin down. There were definitely a lot of vintage elements, but the reception felt like a really fun mix of vintage and urban.

What were your colors? Why did you choose them?

Light Pink + Gray. The colors had the vintage feel I was going for.

What did you use for inspiration? {magazines? blogs? websites? etc.}

I mostly used blogs for inspiration. East Side Bride, Once Wed, etc.  (Ashley adds - be sure to check out the East Side Bride's feature on Lauren's wedding.  It's honest, candid and hilarious!)

Wedding Scoop:

What was your wedding WOW factor? {What did your guests love?}

There were a lot of things that continue to be talked about. One was the Photo Booth Nashville. The other? I played a song for my husband w/ my guitar and harmonica at the reception. I guess not many people had seen a bride with a guitar + harmonica holder.

What did you give as favors to your guests?

We had a photo booth, so the “favors” were the printed photo strips.

How did you personalize your wedding?

There were a lot of things that made our wedding very reflective of us. (Of course the photo booth + my guitar playing helped). The groom’s cupcakes had skulls on them, which is something of a theme in our apartment. My family + extended family are from Louisiana and we had a lot of guests from the wedding from Louisiana, as well. When we left, we had a Second Line Parade. It is a New Orleans tradition in which a brass band plays and those who follow twirl a parasol and a white handkerchief in the air. It was a way for us to bring my home state to our wedding.

What did you give your bridesmaids and groomsmen?

My sister was my only bridesmaid, so I ordered her a monogrammed Lucite tray. We gave our dads ties from Psycho Bunny, and we gave our cousins who were readers/ushers monogrammed money clips. I also had hair lovelies made for some close friends + female cousins from Oh My Deer on Etsy.

What was your most special moment of the day?

Pinning down one special moment would be pretty difficult, since the entire day was phenomenal. But actually walking down the aisle with my dad, seeing faces of my family smiling at me, and seeing William waiting for me at the end would probably have to take the cake.

Did you have kids at your wedding? What did you do for them?

No, we didn’t have any kids at the wedding.

Did you Do It Yourself? Or, did you leave it to the professionals?

I honestly have to say that I am NOT much of a DIY-er. However, my mom did take on a couple of projects. One being that she hand stamped 100 handkerchiefs with fleur de lis + tied them with a cute ribbon for our second line parade.

Wedding Vendors:

~ Planner: Elegant Weddings By Angela (ElegantWeddingsbyAngela.com)
~ Cake(s): The Bake Shoppe
~ Caterer: Chef’s Market
~ Photographer: Laura Dart, D'art Photographie (DartPhotographie.com)
~ Stationery: Save the Dates were designed by my best friend, Megan Willoughby. The wedding invitations were SMOCK, from Salutations in Charlotte, NC. Tags for handkerchiefs + photo booth reminder were made by Erin Duffy at Social Graces in Hillsboro Village.
~ Bridesmaid Dresses: I only had one bridesmaid: my sister. We had her dress made by a wedding store in Charlotte, NC called Hayden-Olivia. This is also where I bought my wedding dress.
~ Rings: We had our rings made.
~ Music: For the ceremony, we had a good friend, Dan Hochhalter, play violin. At the reception, the Malemen were our band and they ROCKED. Everyone loved them!
~ Decorations/Detail: Nashville Event Lighting, Photo Booth Nashville
~ Bridal Gown: Vineyard Collection
~ Tuxes: No tuxes. Our dads + the groom had their suits made.
~ Accessories: Veil was made for me, purchased at Hayden-Olivia in Charlotte, NC.
~ Flowers: The fabulous Chase Rivers.
~ Transportation: We hired a trolley to take our family members who attended the ceremony from the hotel downtown to the church in Franklin. For that, we used Franklin Trolley. The bride + groom left the wedding + reception in a Packard that was owned by a friend of the bride.

Who were your favorites? {the ones you would highly recommend to your best friend}

Elegant Weddings By Angela. Hands down. She + Susan Able (our coordinator) helped guide us through the previously unavigated waters of the wedding industry and I did not feel that they let us down one time. All of the vendors they recommended were completely professional + helpful. I would recommend Houston Station (HoustonStationNashville.com)  to ANYONE. Jeff Thornhill, who runs the place, is unbelievably helpful. Chef’s Market also went above + beyond.

Wedding Rewind:

What would you do differently if you could start back at the beginning?

Honestly, there aren’t a lot of things about the execution of the wedding that I would have done differently. (Let me also add that none of this could have been done without my tireless mother). However, I would have been more specific about the photographs I wanted taken at the reception.

What do you consider the best value for the service and product?

I have to say, Chef’s Market is the absolute way to go for catering in Nashville. They have catering down to a science. They are professional, helpful, great with logistics, and the food is great! I honestly would recommend them to anyone.

What was the neatest thing you found for your wedding?

It is more of an emotional thing than anything else. But all of the people who love you most in the world are all in one room, some coming from far, far away. It is an amazing thing to share that day with people who love you that much.

What was your biggest {and best} splurge?

This wasn’t built into our budget, so I have to say that the photo booth definitely takes the cake. We have the most hilarious pictures of our friends, and you can definitely tell which ones were taken later in the night. Everyone is STILL talking about it, 2 months later!

Congratulations and all the best to Lauren and William!

Pictures courtesy of D'Art Photographie (dartphotographie.com) and Photo Booth Nashville.

About the Author:

Ashley of Ashley's Bride Guide

Hey - I'm Ashley! I started AshleysBrideGuide.com to give Nashville brides, or folks planning a Nashville wedding, a local resource for inspiration and resources. Hope to see you at a bridal show soon! Happy Planning.

See more posts by Ashley of Ashley's Bride Guide »

send   Posted on July 13, 2010 | Filed under: Luxury Nashville Wedding Finds, Real Nashville Weddings, Wedding Venues and Locations