Fashion Style

Wedding Part 1: The Ceremony

04/19/2017

I’m so excited to share our beautiful wedding pictures with you all, broken up into two parts because too much goodness to not share, starting with the ceremony. For me, the ceremony was the part of the day I probably spent the least time planning, but it ended up being my absolute favorite part of the day. From walking down the aisle, to hearing my husband’s original vows it was the most special (and emotional) part of the day. Sorry I’m not sorry for both of our ugly crying in the pictures below.

SETTING THE SCENE

Our destination wedding in Nashville was at Riverwood Mansion, a gorgeous estate that has been featured in the TV show Nashville and has served as the location for Reese Witherspoon’s photoshoots for her lifestyle company Draper James. Our ceremony took place in their garden area which was to the side of the mansion and featured overhanging trees, greenery archways and the most perfect sunlight peaking through. Because I was going for a neutral and natural notes for my wedding, it was the area I had to “decorate” the least, which was good for my budget but mostly for my sanity.

Ian and I were torn about having the ceremony in a church, but with a setting as beautiful as the garden was, it was hard to pass up. To bring the church to us, we included a beautiful wooden cross at the peak of the alter and my thoughtful sister-in-law surprised me with a hand-painted wooden sign featuring a bible verse perfect for the day (something I had been lusting on Pinterest for months). A wooden welcome sign guided guests to the ceremony (just one of my many etsy wins), a few greenery pieces tied to the chairs created the perfect aisle, a string trio played some of our favorite modern songs from Coldplay to Bruno Mars and the 65 and sunny made it the best setting a bride could ask for.

WALKING DOWN THE AISLE

Don’t trip. Don’t cry (too hard). Smile. Walk slow. Shoulders back. Don’t trip.

Walking down the aisle was an epic part of the day. My walk to the alter was not a short one, I had to go down a set five stairs alone, then meet up with my father, walk through a gorgeous archway of greenery and then face the aisle. And have you seen my shoes?! Luckily I had a wonderful ceremony director who coached me the entire way helping when my veil caught on the concrete and threatened to hurl me backwards. If you can get a ceremony director, do it! She was immensely helpful in organizing the ceremony from the first row seats, timing my bridal party walks, encouraging my two sweet nephews to make it to down the aisle and ensuring a million other things I would have never thought of.

How sweet is my groom. I couldn’t see Ian as I started my walk down the aisle and he was smiling by the time I could, so you can only imagine how my heart burst when I saw those adorable photos of his emotions when he first saw me that day. We opted out of a “first-look” because we wanted to maintain the tradition of first sight at the alter and I am so glad we did. The emotion for both of us seeing each other at the alter was an excitement I can’t even describe.

And those sweet, sweet ringbearers! Since Ian and I dated for 6 years before getting married we thought it would be funny to show that these poor boys have truly waited for this their whole 4 and 5 year existence. Strings playing modern music makes my heart sing and the string trio played All of Me ( John Legend) for my bridesmaids walk and The Scientist by Coldplay for my walk down the aisle. ALL THE TEARS.

DOING THE DAMN THING

We kept the ceremony short but oh so sweet, we both wrote our own vows and said the traditional ones as well, shared a first communion as husband and wife and thankfully spilled no wine on my very white dress. The only hiccup was getting Ian’s ring on his finger which was due to him breaking it a few months earlier and refusing to actually do anything about it. At least the ring is stuck on for life? Hearing his vows and reading mine own and saying the traditional vows in front of our closest family and friends is something I will never forget, and just thinking about it to this day gives me all the feels.

CEREMONY ADVICE

PLANNING

Don’t make the ceremony an after thought. It’s the part of the day where this whole things gets real, so make sure you think about what vows you want to say and the other elements that will make this special. Definitely get help the day of with the ceremony, whether its a planner or your friends/family. There are a lot more details to this part when you get closer that have to be finalized and managed and the last thing you want to worry about while getting ready for this time and walking down the aisle is making sure it goes off without a hitch.

THE DAY OF

Enjoy the moment. Take a look around at your friends and family supporting you. Realize that if anything goes wrong 1) no one will know 2) it’s not worth the fuss. Walk slow and take in every sweet moment because it really is some of the best minutes of your life. If you’ve written your own vows, practice them so you familiar with them the day of and not struggling to read your own handwriting. And make sure after you are officially announced as hubby and wife, you and your husband take a moment together afterwards before you are swarmed by your very excited family and friends. For our wedding day, Ian and I shared a champagne toast alone in a private area immediately after the ceremony and it was such a sweet moment for he and I and I’m so glad we had those few moments before all the wonderful chaos of the rest of the night.

I can’t wait to share more details of the wedding next Wednesday including our AMAZING wedding video!

Have questions about making your ceremony special or worried about the big day? Comment below and I’ll be happy to help!