Real Wedding Inspiration: Ashley + Logan Wed at The Factory at Franklin

Friday, November 26, 2010

With five days to spare and rain in the forecast, what were Ashley and Logan to do?  Turns out, their contingency plan to move the wedding to the Factory at Franklin set the stage for a beautiful wedding photographed by Myrick Studios who shared pictures of the beautiful bride and her handsome groom.  This is what thrills me about our Real Wedding features - the surge of joy I get from looking at the pictures, sharing in the details that seem small to the rest of us but are so so significant to the couple.  We wish all the best to Ashley and Logan, and that they experience the fun and happiness of their wedding day every single day for the rest of their lives together!

Classy and Natural Wedding at the Factory at Franklin

Bride ~ Ashley Smith, Piney Flats, TN

Groom ~ Logan Pascarella, Salamanca, NY

Wedding ~ September 11th, 2010 at 5:00 p.m.

Ceremony & Reception ~ Liberty Hall, Factory at Franklin

Guests ~  240

My wedding style:

My wedding style? We liked so many different things that were classified into so many different wedding styles. Every month when I got a new bride catalog I liked something else. I learned quickly that many things can be incorporated and used from different styles as longs as you connect into your style and theme.

My colors and why I choose them? We chose dark green and chocolate brown with mango as our accent color. The dark green to look like grass and leaves and the brown to match the tree trunks, twigs and sticks. Because our first wedding location was supposed to be outside we wanted everything to flow….looking like an enchanting forest. Even though forecasted rain caused us to completely change our wedding venue within 5 days we felt we were able replicate the look we wanted indoors.

My theme? Natural…..We wanted everything to look classy and natural.

Wedding wow factor?
Our out of town guests seemed to really enjoy the Welcome Bags at the hotel. We had many out of town guests from New York so we filled he bags with things from Tennessee such as Jack Daniels, Sweet Tea, Moon Pies with an R.C. Cola, a bottle of wine, water and Lay’s Potato chips. I learned more about these foods and where they were first produced than I ever wanted to know! We created a book for our guests with useful info. of restaurants, shopping, etc. We put one of engagement photos on the front where we were wearing “cool” shades. The front of the book read “ Cool places to visit and see while your in Nashville, TN”. At the wedding many of the guests seemed to be “wowed” by our seating charts which were written on old window panes we actually bought at the flea market. We painted the windows an antique white and wrote the names in the same color. Our caterer laid chocolate brown linen behind them and it really made them pop! When we searched for wedding venues and locations we never found an archway that I wanted to be married under. I wanted something that again looked natural and whimsical. Our family actually built our archway using vines, branches and chiffon material. The first time I saw it I couldn’t believe my eyes! I even heard the groomsmen talking about how cool they thought it was! You know when you’ve impressed the boys or done something they took time to notice you have done a pretty good job!

Favors? Our favors doubled as our seating cards. Since we used the window panes to let people know which table they were sitting at, the table cards were already at their table with their individual names on the front. When they opened the seating card the top of it read, “ Meeting each other was a dream come true….wishing you some luck today too!” Below the quote we attached a lottery scratch ticket. On the back we had shiny new pennies attached with a small glue dot that allowed guests to pull them off and scratch for their winnings. We later found the pennies in some of the votives where guests had played “Flip Penny” instead of Flip Cup into the votives. Ha

Personalized touches? Our friends interviewed both Logan and I separately and asked questions about our first date, life in 5 yrs, etc. They created a color photo flyer with our engagement picture and posted them in the bathroom stalls (like you see ads posted in bathrooms in downtown nashville). I heard guests talking about them all night and found them in people’s hands as they were walking out the door! We also wanted our parents to be a big part of our wedding so we added wedding photos of our parents to the entrance tables. It was adorable b/c they both were having their “first kiss” in their photos.

Gift for bridesmaids? Our Bridesmaids received 3 strand freshwater pearl necklaces. Our flower girls also received pearl necklaces but they were actually still inside the oyster! The girls were so excited to open up their clam shells to find out what color their pearl was going to be! The necklaces were purchased on orientalpearls.net

Groomsmen? Our groomsmen received Case pocket Knives engraved with their initials (Case knives are manufactured close to Logan’s hometown). Our ring bearers were given boxes that said “To our All-Star RB” with football stickers all around. Inside the box they received their very own Titans jerseys.

Most special moment for me? I will never forget the first time I stepped up on the step that Logan had made me in the bride room. I had said to him so casually one day that a princess steps on a step when she puts on a beautiful dress and looks in the mirror. While I was at my bachelorette party Logan made a beautiful step and mirror for me to use on our wedding day. It was set up in the bride room and I felt so special when I put on my dress and took that step and looked into the mirror. Myrick took great pictures so I will be able to remember that moment forever. The entire wedding was very special for me and an absolute dream come true. The night seemed to fly by with so many special parts and memories.

What I did for the kids in my wedding? I will always remember getting to dance on stage with all the kids to their favorite Disney songs. The children faces when they saw Logan and I for the first time were priceless. They laugh and giggle at school and talk about when Mr. Wogan kissed Ms. Ashwey! The children had balls, toys and lots of room to run and play. Some of the children played in the “Play room” during the ceremony and came out and danced the night away at the reception. We ordered 24,000 ivory and mango rose petals from Ecuador to line the aisle for the ceremony. We found the rose petals on a site on EBAY. The price was amazing! After the ceremony the rose petals were pushed to the sides of the dance floor. The children had a blast playing in the rose petals and sprinkling them all over the dancing crowd! By the end of the night people had rose petals all over their feet!

The vendors I hired:

Rehearsal Dinner- Our rehearsal dinner was held at Boxwood Bistro in the upstairs attic portion of the restaurant. The upstairs also opens up to an outside deck where they usually have live entertainment. We had a hard time finding a venue for the rehearsal dinner that could fit the 60 guests we had attending. The food and service were wonderful and our guests loved the outdoor option. Our guests received chocolate covered sunflower seeds as a favor. Most of them were eaten before the food even arrived. Many people have e-mailed me asking where to get them. WARNING! They are addictive!

Planner- We wanted to plan for the wedding ourselves but definetly wanted help on the special day. We hired a day of coordinator who was also available to run our rehearsal the night before. Our D.O.C was Shea Freeman. Our floral arrangmenets were also designed by Shea Freeman and purchased from Freeman’s flowers that is located in Westhaven. Our floral bouquets and arrangements turned out beautiful!

Cake- We meet many vendors at bridal shows for cakes and went to a few tastings. We really like the cakes that Stephanie Felts had designed and felt very comfortable working with her. Our cake was designed and delivered by the Sweetest Day.

Caterer- Logan wanted to make sure we had “Good food” at the wedding and still weeks after I am still hearing from people how good the food was at the reception. We chose Ambrosia Catering and worked with Sandy Ambrogia. Sandy and her staff worked very hard make our special day perfect and did so many things above and beyond what you would expect from a catering company.

Photo- We spent four months looking for a photographer. Hour after hour every night we went through websites rating photographers. We met a few at bridal shows but never made the “right” connection. I was set on finding the photographer that I thought did amazing work. We found Myrick Studios while we were looking at Nashville Photographers on The Knot.com. When we spoke with him he had so many options for packages and had our wedding date open! We booked him (Myrick Cowart) and had our engagement photos done a month later. I fell in love with the pictures and we used them for our save the date cards. I watched as he posted wedding after wedding counting down the days until it was our turn to get beautiful pictures. My family and friends are amazed at the wedding photos and I find myself looking at them every single day .

Video- We knew early on that we definitely wanted to have our wedding videoed. We had heard two many times that the night flies by and it is so hard to remember things that happen. We had spent 8 months planning this day and wanted to be able to remember those moments and having the “special day” to share with our own children one day. We hired Josh Queener from OnQProductions out of Knoxville, TN to do our videography.

Invitations- Our wedding programs were Eco Botanical made from ivory mulberry paper with real leaf inclusions of peach and light green. They were ordered from Invitesite.com. Our wedding invitations were Ivory and Chocolate brown. They were purchased at Jo Ann’s. After we purchased them we paid to have them heat embossed both inside and out and had the matching embossing put onto the envelope. We had this designed by Janice Jones a Stampin’ Up. She also made our save the date cards, they were chocolate brown and included our engagement photo. Myrick took some photos of us on hay bales at Carnton Plantation. We used these photos and then tied twine diagonally on the paper and put a knot in the center. The card then said, “Logan and Ashley are tying the knot!”

Bridal gown- I had a hard time at the beginning of my wedding dress search. Because most stores used a standard size I was very disappointed to have clothes pins all over me to see what the dress “may” look like when I ordered it in my size. My mother and I decided that we would have the dress made. My mom designed the dress and we had it custom made at Romantic Creations in Hillsboro Village. I loved my dress and wish I could wear it every other weekend!

Bridesmaid dresses- We ordered the bridesmaid dresses from LightInTheBox.com . My bridesmaids were in so many weddings prior and had more to be in and I wanted to be very conscious of the money I was asking them to spend on a dress. The dresses on the site can be selected in any color and fabric and they were very well made. The prices were unbelievable for the quality and I was also able to get my flower girl dresses on the site. Because it was the same company the accent colors on their dresses matched exactly to the bridesmaid dresses.

Tuxes- Our tuxedos were chocolate brown with an ivory shirt. The tuxedos were rented from Bittners which did an excellent working with all of our out of town groomsmen. The price was wonderful and the quality of the tuxedos was amazing!

Rings: Logan researched and picked out the engagement ring all by himself! He did an amazing job. We purchased my wedding band from Platinum Jewelers in Cool Springs. His wedding band was purchased from Crown Jewelers in Franklin, TN

Music/Lighting- Our music and lighting was done by Peter Vasque at Springtree Media Productions. Peter worked so hard to make sure everything was perfect. He is very talented and did a great job at creating the perfect atmosphere for each moment throughout the night.

Décor, etc. - We rented some of our bigger decor items from Fabu event rentals. Our tables, chairs and linens were rented through our caterer. We were also able to get many of our tables from The Factory. All of our other decorations were purchased ourselves. We spent months waiting for things to go on sale and checking unique stores for those special pieces.

My favorite wedding vendors. I highly recommend...
Our photographer. When the special day is over all the built up stress and anxiety seems to go away. It s a different feeling because up until that point you have planned every day and always had the next box on your to-do list. When I was relaxing on the honeymoon, I kept getting that excited feeling to see our pictures! Now that we have them I would not trade them for anything. They captured so many moments in such a special way! I want them for birthday presents and Christmas presents. Our home may end up looking like a shrine of our special day

How I found my vendors...
bridal shows, wedding planning resources, friends? We used the knot.com to create our wedding website and also used their search engines to find local vendors. We attended three bridal shows and also picked up information there.

What I would do differently if planning again? Plan a “Plan B”!!!! Our wedding was planned for 8 months down to every detail. The small detail we refused to plan was what we would do if it rained! (Our wedding was planned to be an all outdoor ceremony and reception) When we did the 10 day forecast the weather looked horrible for the entire week and weekend of the wedding. We decided to move the entire wedding 5 days prior! Our first wedding location was too large to be tented so we moved the wedding to The Factory. Everyone at The Factory was so helpful and amazing to work with! Now that it is all over we felt so lucky to have had the wedding there. Everything felt more than perfect!

Biggest waste of time or money? Giving out your name and number to too many vendors at bridal shows. Make sure you are really interested in the service or product. Otherwise you will get many calls that you will not have time for during the planning process; some calls don’t stop.

Best value for the service/product? Friends! We could not have pulled everything together, especially considering the venue change without the help of some of our friends and family. They covered the details of letting everyone know the venue change, getting things to the venue and helping us decorate all 14,000 sq. ft. of Liberty Hall! I thought all of our vendors were amazing in price and product! We also visited Hobby Lobby frequently and bought our vases when they would go 50%. We also found very unique pieces to add to the wedding at Tuesday Morning.

Neatest find? The Factory; having availability for a wedding day on such short notice. They are booked months and even sometimes years in advance and we felt so blessed to have such an amazing venue be available. Tammi Pryce was wonderful to work with and helped us pull everything together within 5 days!

Any advice for other engaged couples?
Make it a day about you and your soon to be husband. There are so many etiquette rules and traditions but make sure you choose to do things that you feel comfortable with and that are a reflection of the love that you share. Guests want to feel the comfortable true feeling of love rather than how nice your silverware is! Don’t sweat the little details that people won’t notice. As you attend weddings or are in weddings prior to your wedding date sit down after the wedding and really think about what you remembered. Keep a running list of those things and every time you start to stress about the edge of the napkins, remember that you didn’t even notice if the other weddings had napkins! Have the time of your life!!!

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Posted by Tabitha | Filed under: Real Nashville Weddings 1 comment »

Courtney & Terry’s Classic Wedding at Stones River Country Club

Friday, November 19, 2010

Earlier this week, we introduced First Dance Pictures, a Nashville wedding videography company.  First Dance videoed Courtney and Terry's classic Nashville-area wedding, one we're happy to share with you today.  

Courtney and Terry - we will you the best in your life together!  Thanks for letting us share your wedding to inspire other Nashville brides.

Featured Nashville Wedding: Courtney & Terry

This picture was taken to commemorate their 6th month of marriage! SO cute.

Bride ~ Courtney Sanders
Groom ~ Terry Cole

Wedding Date ~ May 29, 2010
Ceremony ~ Bethel Baptist Church, Lascassas, TN
Reception ~ Stones River Country Club
Guests ~ 300

From First Dance Pictures on Vimeo.

Wedding Style:

What was your wedding style? Modern elegance

What were your colors? Gray, ivory, and light pink.

What did you use for inspiration? I used the website Style Me Pretty for inspiration.

Wedding Scoop:

What was your budget? My budget was $15,000 but I ended up spending $24,000…oops:).

What was your wedding WOW factor?  My guests love the love story that we debuted during the reception.

What did you give as favors to your guests? Bubbles

What did you give your bridesmaids and groomsmen? We gave the bridesmaids jewelry and the groomsmen flasks.

What was your most special moment of the day? Seeing Terry waiting for me at the end of the aisle. He was crying and I was crying…it was a very magical moment for the both of us.

Did you have kids at your wedding? What did you do for them? We allowed children at the ceremony but not the reception. It was adult only.

Did you Do It Yourself? Or, did you leave it to the professionals? We did everything ourselves. On the day of the wedding we did have Terry’s cousin Noelle coordinate the ceremony.

If you did DIY, what was your favorite project? Why? My favorite project was the wedding programs. They were special b/c I made them myself. I had help from 2 friends tying ribbon on the ends. They were just different and unique.

Wedding Vendors:

~ Planner: ME
~ Cake: Cakes by Pat. (Pat Robinson Murfreesboro, TN)
~ Caterer: Stones River Country Club
~ Photographer: Sara E. Rose (SaraERosePhotography.com)
~ Videographer: First Dance Pictures Bill and Deanna Vincent
~ Stationery: DIY
~ Bridesmaid Dresses: Silver cocktail dresses from The White Room in Lebanon TN. They wore light pink sandals to incorporate the pink accent color
~ Rings: Kay Jewelers
~ DJ: Jamie Scott
~ Decorations/Detail: My decorations were very simple and elegant. I used lots of candle light and flowers. I had silver tablecloths and white chair covers with silver ties.
~ Bridal Gown: I wore a strapless Mori Lee gown with a sweetheart neckline. This also came from The White Room in Lebanon, TN.
~ Tuxes: The tuxes came from Men’s WAREHOUSE. They were gray, with gray vests, pink ties, and black shoes.
~ Accessories: The men wore pink boutonnières and the bridesmaids carried light pink bouquets. Bridesmaids also wore pearl and rhinestone necklaces and earrings.
~ Flowers: Denise Bann from Green Finch Floral Design made all the bouquets boutonnières and flower arrangements.
~ Transportation: Platinum Limousines

Who were your favorites? I would highly recommend Sara E. Rose as a photographer, and Bill and Deanna Vincent [First Dance Pictures] as videographers. They were absolutely amazing to work with. They are nice, professional, and they always made me feel like our wedding was on their top priority list. We also received ours pictures and the video in a timely manner. Excellent people and I love love love them.

My Wedding Rewind:

What would you do differently if you could start back at the beginning? I definitely wouldn’t let other people stress me out. This day was about us and in the end all that mattered was that we were happily married.

What do you consider the biggest waste of time and/or money? Nothing

What do you consider the best value for the service and product? Photography and Videography. Their work was absolutely amazing.

What was the neatest thing you found for your wedding? The flower girl baskets. They were made out of pink pearls.

What was your biggest {and best} splurge? My wedding day attire. I spent a lot of money on the dress, shoes, and the veil but it was worth every penny. I loved it so much, I didn’t want to take it off.

Thank you to Sara Rose Photography (SaraERosePhotography.com) for the beautiful pictures.  For more wedding highlights by First Dance Pictures visit their blog and let them know how much you love their work!

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Posted by Ashley of Ashley's Bride Guide | Filed under: Real Nashville Weddings 1 comment »

Nashville Bride Shares Intimate Wedding Ceremony,  Budget-Smart Dessert Reception

Friday, November 12, 2010

There are so many reasons why I just had to share Jennifer and Kent's spring Nashville weddings.  First - I love that they were able to have such a wonderful wedding on a $10,000 budget. That takes a lot of DIY creativity, skill and discipline! Second - I appreciate that they had a two-part wedding, with an intimate ceremony followed by a dessert reception.  This goes back to the discpline aspect.  Often, it's hard to keep the guest list from morphing into a village of people.  It is hard to tell people they can't attend your ceremony/dinner.  But they did just that - kept their ceremony and dinner very intimate.

This approach is non-traditional and I love it!  I hope their story gives you the courage to sit down with your fiance and family and plan a wonderful wedding that makes sense to you.  Whether it's a brunch reception, classic family gathering, or even a fun jam session - your wedding can be fiscally responsible (on $10K or 100K) and meaningful to you and your fiance.  

I hope that Jennifer and Kent's wedding will inspire you and encourage you to stay within your budget and personal vision.

Jen & Kent's Wedding by Jonathon Campbell Photography

Bride ~ Jennifer King
Groom ~ Kent Campbell

Friday April 2, 2010
6:30 p.m.

Ceremony ~ Cool Springs House, Brentwood, TN
Dinner ~ Stoney River, Nashville
Guests ~ 45

Dessert Reception ~ Saturday April 3, 2010, Stoveworks in The Factory At Franklin
Guests ~ 150

What was your wedding style? 

Our ceremony was traditional and classic, but our dessert reception was fun and whimsical! We both wanted a very small, private ceremony where there wouldn’t be so much chaos that we wouldn’t remember the night or have the ability to speak to everyone. We heard from so many friends that they barely remember their own weddings that we wanted to avoid being overwhelmed. We wanted it to be about us…simple and “Southern” from beginning to end!

What were your colors? Why did you chose them?

Our colors were red and aqua. I just love the mix of those two colors and what they could bring to the décor and “feeling” of day. They just feel like Spring to me.

Did you have a theme? What was it?

Yes, but most people didn’t realize it. Kent is a graphic designer, so he worked a bit of our “history” into our stationary. Our first date was at Kemah Boardwalk on Galveston Island in Texas. So, he used the ferris wheel as part of our invitation design. Most people just assumed it was a cute little graphic, but to us, it was a sweet reference to a place that means the world to us.

What did you use for inspiration?

I bought entirely too many bridal magazines. Some were helpful, but after a while, I realized that many of them were so full of ads that they weren’t very helpful with a non-traditional wedding.

I did love every issue of Martha Stewart weddings and found that website helpful, along with theknot.com. But, as it came down to making decisions and especially finding local vendors, blogs were much more helpful and offered practical advice. Ashley’s Bride Guide and blog ended up being the most helpful to me for great ideas, inspiration, and its where I found my amazing photographers Jonathon & Sharon Campbell.

What was your budget? $10,000

What was your wedding WOW factor?

We had the most compliments on the dessert reception. It was meant to be a fun time to celebrate with family and friends. The night just went by so fast, we’re so happy we had our ceremony the night before in a more intimate setting. Many of the guests mentioned how much they loved our make-your-own S’mores bar, which was a last minute addition to our menu.

What did you give as favors to your guests?

We didn’t do any traditional favors. I’ve been to so many weddings where favors are left on the tables or thrown out, that we decided to spend the money on additional desserts at our reception (i.e. the S’mores bar).

How did you personalize your wedding?

Kent restores antique cars and trucks, but one that he began restoring with his father when he was only 15 means more than any other, his 1956 Ford F-100. We really wanted that truck to be our “getaway” car at the wedding, but since it is back in Houston, there really wasn’t a way to make that happen. So, I surprised him by having Homestyle Bakery bake a groom’s cake for him that looked just like his truck. They did a wonderful job. Also, Kent took the ferris wheel design from our stationary through both our dinner and dessert receptions by designing guest name cards, menu and food place cards.

What did you give your bridesmaids and groomsmen?

I gave my bridesmaids monogrammed totes bags with personalized journals that I made for each of them, along with their jewelry for the day. All of Kent’s groomsmen are “car” guys, so we searched for quite a while for the right gifts. Finally, on one of our many trips to Sears for Craftsman tools, I happened upon a barbeque set that was made to look like Craftsman tools. The guys thought they were great.

What was your most special moment of the day?

Our “first look” was absolutely the most special moment for both of us. After rushing around and all the madness of the morning, that one moment where we finally got to see one another and be alone was just something I can’t describe with words. Jonathan and Sharon (JCP) were so quiet and sensitive to that moment that I forgot they were there. Those moments together were priceless and I wouldn’t trade them for anything. For any bride who can forgo the traditional, I definitely recommend a “first look”.

Did you DIY and if so what was your favorite project? Why?

DIY all the way! Even though my poor husband had to go through many revisions, our invitations were my favorite project because we it was the main project we worked on together.

Wedding Vendors:

~ Planner: Me and my wonderful mother

~ Cake(s): Homestyle Bakery, Antioch

~ Caterers: Stoney River on West End and Stoveworks @ The Factory in Franklin

~ Photographer: Jonathon Campbell Photography

~ Stationery: DIY, with my groom as the graphic designer: jumpstartgraphics.com

~ Bridesmaid Dresses: I let each of the girls pick out their own dresses, I just asked for them to be red.

~ Rings: Brentwood Jewelers

~ Music: As for our live music, our good friend and husband of one of my bridesmaids, Mark Box played acoustic guitar. We trusted Mark so much, we just let him play whatever he wanted. He played something lovely as I walked down the aisle and it was perfect! myspace.com/markboxrocks. For our dinner and dessert receptions, we made playlists from our own music libraries and set up our Bose iPod dock.

~ Decorations/Detail: DIY – lots of candles, and flowers put together by some lovely bridesmaids, family and friends.

~ Bridal Gown: Arzelle’s – About 6 weeks from the wedding, I went to pick up my dress at a bridal shop (who will remain nameless) and was shocked to find it was too short! The dress shop had forgotten to order it with extra length. Since I’m 5’9, it ended up being about 3 inches too short. There was not enough time for them to get another dress in, so thankfully, they refunded my money (which is almost unheard of in the bridal industry) and my mom and I went on a mad dash to find a dress that would work straight from the rack. Thank goodness for Arzelle’s sample sale. I walked in and ended up buying the very first dress I tried on. The only alteration needed was a bustle!

~ Men's attire: The guys wore their own black suits. We provided the white dress shirts and ties.

~ Accessories: My jewelry was on loan from my amazing friend Brandon Emamalie at Brentwood Jewelry. Brandon found the most perfect necklace and earrings for my wedding day. I felt like a million bucks!

~ Flowers: Bridal and bridesmaids bouquets were designed by Emma’s florist. As for all the other flowers, my mom and two of my bridesmaids made a trip to Import Flowers the day before the wedding, where we got dozens and dozens of roses, carnations and daises for the centerpieces. With the help of friends, family, and the dozens of vases I’ve been collecting for years, we were able to keep total floral budget under $600.

~ Transportation: Since we didn’t have my husband’s ’56 truck here in Nashville, we decided to drive away in his car. Sadly, the night before the wedding, two deer ran directly into the side of it while he was driving through a construction area on Concord Rd. So, the morning of the wedding, he ran out at the last minute and rented a gorgeous Black Dodge Challenger. Neither of us wanted to return it!

~ Gifts: Pottery Barn and Bed, Bath and Beyond

Who were your favorites?

We can’t speak highly enough of Jonathon & Sharon (of Jonathon Campbell Photography.) They took time to get to know both of us before the wedding to make sure they really captured the moments that were important to us as a couple. The two of them work so well together and compliment each other in such a way that made us feel completely at ease. From the moment you meet them you notice two things: 1) they are absolutely in love with each other and 2) they are extremely professional. They are the perfect photography team and have become great friends through this process.

We recommend Brandon at Brentwood Jewelers to everyone. He was just great to work with. He was honest about everything and really respected our budget and the work they do is the highest of quality.

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

What a great question! I would definitely spend less time stressing about every tiny detail. If your budget is small and you are doing a lot yourself, you should resign yourself to the fact that you might forget something or something might go wrong. Even if you have a wonderful wedding planner, something can still go wrong; but try to remember that in the end, you’re going to be married to the man you love regardless of anything that goes wrong.

*The night before our wedding two deer ran into my husband’s car, I realized we hadn’t reviewed the vows, nor had we finalized the music playlist for our dinner and dessert receptions. The morning of our wedding, my bridesmaid and I got locked out of our ceremony location (with our car keys, purses and cell still inside) for more than an hour, my parents were two hours late, I was more than an hour late for my hair appointment, I forgot my flower girl’s hair bow and my groom was 2 hours late because he had to go rent a car and his brother (best man) left his suit pants back in Texas. Still, at the end of the day, I was JUST as married to the man I love even though things weren’t “perfect”. The moment I saw him during our “first look” session, all the worries and stress just faded away. So, if I could start all over….I would just enjoy the ride!

What do you consider the biggest waste of time and/or money?

I didn’t have too much money to waste, but for me it was little craft projects that I ended up not finishing. Although, I would say the total was probably less than $100.

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

The best value we got was getting flowers and making our own arrangements from Import Flowers. They have an amazing selection of fresh flowers every day of the week and made it very easy for us to stay under budget.

Also, having our receptions at a restaurant, rather than renting a location and bringing in an outside caterer saved us quite a bit. Since so many of our guests were Southerners, we knew we couldn’t go wrong with steaks from Stoney River and desserts like Chess Pie and Banana Pudding.

What was the neatest thing you found for your wedding?

1) An embroidered “texas” handkerchief (which reminded me of my husband) that I found at Pangea. I wrapped it around my bouquet before I walked down the aisle.
2) A non-guestbook from Uncommon Goods where guests could fill out little pieces of paper with wishes and notes to us.

We had SO much fun reading them when we got home from our honeymoon. We have some VERY funny friends and family members!

What was your biggest {and best} splurge?

Having two receptions was definitely a bit of a splurge. But, we really wanted to have a small ceremony and dinner, yet still be able to celebrate with a larger group of family and friends. So, to us, it was worth it!

All photographs courtesy of Jonathon Campbell Photography. Click here to visit their website and blog!

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Posted by Ashley of Ashley's Bride Guide | Filed under: Real Nashville Weddings 1 comment »

Served Southern Style: A Timeless Wedding at Nashville’s Loveless Barn

Friday, October 22, 2010

Have I mentioned how much I love the real weddings we feature on Ashley's Bride Guide?  It's the perfect way to see into a bride's mind, learn what her vision was for her wedding when she was planning, and all the wonderful details that came to be through the gorgeous pictures taken by our favorite photographers.  Today's Real Wedding features a bride and groom photographed by Kristyn Hogan, lifestyle photographer.  Just from the pictures, I knew that this was a really cute, really fun wedding with a bride and groom with great color coordination, great taste and who are down to earth.

Nashville Real Wedding - A Timeless Southern Wedding at the Loveless Barn

Bride ~ Amy Hardy (nee Olert), Nashville, TN

Groom ~ Forrest Hardy, Huntsville, AL

Date/Time: June 26, 2010 at 5 o'clock p.m.

Ceremony ~ Second Prebyterian Church

Reception ~  The Loveless Barn

Guests ~ 200

About Us
Forrest and I are both creative, active, and detail-oriented. I am an art director and graphic designer, and he is studying Landscape Architecture. We met through a mutual friend in 2007 and got to know each other as running partners. Once we finally started dating, our friendship quickly became romantic and real. Within the first year of dating, we knew this was it. On June 26, 2010 we made the promise of marriage to one another.

My wedding style
Timeless, Bright (color scheme), Fun & Playful, Classic

My colors and why I choose them?
Jewel blue and yellow. Because of his blue eyes, red hair, and fun personality, Forrest wanted to wear a bright blue bow tie. We accented our jewel blue with yellow to give our wedding "summer flare."

My theme?
Timeless Southern Charm / Elegant Summer / Classic Southern

Wedding wow factor?
Our guests loved our colors and the ceremony's bluegrass band. My blue shoes matched his bow tie exactly.

Favors?
Since Forrest has a horticulture background (meaning that he loves plants), we made packets of wildflower seeds. Each packet read, "Wildflower Seeds: Please plant these to celebrate the beauty of this day."

Personalized touches?
Where to begin? We were really deliberate about the details that define us as a couple. This includes his plant background, my obsession with graphic design and color, and our love for bluegrass music. We put magnolia flowers on the cake because he proposed under a magnolia tree. We had bluegrass musicians learn songs from our past (i.e. Come Thou Fount & By the Mark). As a graphic designer, I designed all of our wedding stationery and branding (see attached image). This includes the save-the-dates, invitations, programs, favor packaging, signage, and thank you cards. Forrest and I considered every detail in the stationery- from the stamps to the envelope liners.

Gift for bridesmaids? Groomsmen?
I made personalized stationery for the bridesmaids (see attached image), and Forrest gave the groomsmen cuff links.

Most special moment for me?
Taking communion with my husband for the first time in the church where I was baptized and confirmed.

My wedding vendors:
Photography: Kristyn Hogan, lifestyle photographer
Florist: Megan McDugald, (.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address))
Stationery: Amy Hardy (me!), (.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address))
Stationery Printing: Advocate Marketing & Print, (AdvocatePrinting.net)
Ceremony Venue: Second Presbyterian Church, (SecondPresbyterian.net)
Reception Venue: The Loveless Barn, (LovelessBarn.com)
Cake: The Sweetest Day, (TheSweetestDay.com)
Ceremony Music: Melissa DuPuy, (myspace.com/MelissaDupuy)
Reception Music: The City Limit Band, (CityLimitBand.com)
Caterer: Tom Kats (The Loveless Cafe), (TomKats.com)
Bridesmaid Dresses: Bella Bridesmaid (BellaBridesmaid.com)
Rings: Kathy Brock with Rhapsody in Gold, (.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address))
Veil: Brenda's Bridal Veils, (etsy.com/shop/brendasbridalveils)
Blue Shoes: MyGlassSlipper.com

My faves – highly recommend
Our photographer, Kristyn Hogan, and the Loveless Cafe's food.

My wedding rewind
What I would do differently if planning again? Haha, add 2-3 months onto our engagement.

Biggest waste of time or money?
We almost spent a fortune on our cake, which is just silly if you think about it. Instead of using the "top cake baker in town," we used a smaller business who we had never heard of, got a better deal on the cake, and loved the result.

Best value for the service/product?
Believe it or not, my bridesmaid dresses were more expensive than my wedding dress. I bought a wedding dress on clearance, dressed it up with a unique veil and blue shoes, and used the money we saved on our honeymoon. After all, you only wear the dress once.

Neatest find?
You can dye shoes any color you want.

Include anything else you want brides-to-be to know about you wedding, vendors, tips, etc.
Because we were on a tight budget, Forrest and I milked every connection we had. We turned to friends, family, and coworkers for almost everything, including flowers, music, and printing. Even the Checker Marathon was donated. Despite all of the stress involved with planning, we really made it a point to learn from one another and love those around us. That meant going out on dates with no "wedding talk," visiting his parents to get away from the planning atmosphere, laughing at my bride moments, and most importantly, remaining prayerful.

Loved, loved, loved everything about this wedding! Thank you Kristyn Hogan, lifestyle photographer for sharing the pictures, and thank you to Mr. & Mrs. Hardy for giving us a peek into their special day.  It looked like the most delightful wedding at a really cool venue.  To see more pictures, visit her Kristyn Hogan's website or blog.

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Posted by Tabitha | Filed under: Real Nashville Weddings 0 comments »