One Of My Favorite Nashville Weddings

Heather Kennel and Dr. Jim Massie were married a couple of years ago and are expecting their first child. Even as time has past and fabulous weddings have occured, their wedding stays in my mind as one of my favorites. It helps that Heather's tastes are very similar to my own, but that usually doesn't matter for me to love a wedding. Here are the top reasons I think I fell in love with this particular wedding:

Heather was a very calm and collected Bride.

Her color pallete was modern,fresh and crisp. (Chocolate, Mocha,Green and slight hints of soft pink in the bridesmaids bouquets)

A Village of Flowers recreated the most beautiful triangle mirrored trays that Heather had picked out of a book in my office. I asked Melissa Seykora to remake them for Heather and we have rented them several times since! The trays can be used in so many ways and the sparkle of the mirrors is beautiful on the table tops! The flowers filling those trays were lime green and had a modern earthy feel. We used cymbidum orchids, wheat grass, and button mums.

The location was perfect for their size wedding. (Owen's Chapel and The Governor's Club) I arranged a "Pre-Gathering" on the lawn of Owen's Chapel before the wedding started. There were cocktail tables and lounge seating for guests and a lemonade stand to cool off.

Her budget was 1/4 of some I have planned and yet it was just as elegant. It goes to show that design is key is that process. Thank you Heather and Jim for allowing us to be with you that day! Parenthood is the best!

Leiper's Fork Farm

Photo Graphixs

Photo courtesy of Jen Cook

There is a sweet, beautiful farm that I am excited to share with you. Southall Eden Farm is located in historical Leiper's Fork. Shannon O'Kelley with Southall Eden Paperie (a custom invitation and graphics company) bought the farm last Spring and has been working tirelessly to mold it into a premier event space. Shannon has selected Premier W.E.D. as the farm's preferred event planner and wedding directing company. I was honored to help her plan the upcoming Open House. I would love the opportunity to showcase the farm to you and if you are interested in being on Premier W.E.D.'s guest list, please call our office. 615-332-0592

Shannon, who is a thirty something single gal was raised on a farm and I was so impressed with her bravery in leaving the bustling area of Green Hills to pursue life in the country. She has a great studio in her home that overlooks the farm and after seeing the view, I was hooked. The farm has great history and charming Leiper's Fork is a welcoming and warm community.

Here are some shots of the farm and an invitation to those of you interested in checking it out. Make sure you call our office to be on the list of guests for the September 15th Open House 6pm-9pm. See you on the farm!

Oak Alley Plantation Wedding in Louisianna

It seems like it's been a year since I planned and directed Lindsey and Ken's wedding in April! I had made one of my first posts before the trip and intended on immediately following up. As with a lot of new bloggers....I let time slip away. But here I am ready to share about the charming wedding of Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth O'Neal! I also have ridiculous and hysterical (now that I can look back on it) moments that Joanne and I experienced on the trip. Those had absolutely nothing to do with the wedding itself and I will have to share those in another blog. It goes to show that a wedding can be flawless and I still have drama!

Lindsey, who owns Planet Beach in SpringHill and Ken who works with Hearing Planet are busy, busy people. They also have Ken's precious son, Aiden to take care of. It was inevitable that Lindsey would need help and I can hardly say this with out feeling old....Lindsey worked for me at a non-profit when she was still in high school! She remembered that I had started Premier W.E.D. after leaving the non-profit job and she called in an SOS! Lindsey is originally from Baton Rouge and the location of Oak Alley Plantation made it easy on her family and Ken's. Not to mention it is absolutely stunning. They are also very accommodating and gracious. I highly recommend it!

Lindsey loves purple and asked for it to be the main color but she didn't want it to look too much like Mardi Gras. I suggested we pair the Purple with a lilac and a lime green. The designs and selections flowed from there!

I commissioned Phindy Studios from Nashville to be Lindsey and Ken's photographer. They had approached me in the winter with their beautiful work and were anxious to be a part of the Louisiana wedding. The cake stand was provided by Rebecca with Cakes By Rebecca and custom made for Lindsey's wedding from a picture she had selected in my office. Chef and Caterer, Lisa Coffman with Unique Flavors ,had made me Halloween masks for a party I was hosting several years ago. I called to ask if she would do the same but in Lindsey's wedding colors. We offered the masked cookies to guests for their favor. Designs In Paper did a great job pulling all the colors and theme together. They made paper fans that resembled Lindsey's invitations and we placed those fans in each seat at the ceremony. They also made tags for the guest room gifts and the favors. All others hired were local vendors.

With the wedding hosting 60 people, the night was warm, personable and delightful! A gospel choir sang "Oh Happy Day" from the plantation balcony as the wedding party recessed between the old oaks. It was an appropriate song for such a joyful day.

The wedding was featured in the Tennessean and I laughed when I read that I had helped select the menu. That is not quite the case...Lindsey was thoroughly amused by my lack of knowledge of Cajun food. Not being a fan myself, I had never heard of half of the items being offered from the Plantation and I was shocked to find they didn't have any vegetables. This did not stop the guests from raving about the menu finally selected.

The DJ played on through the reception and had everyone on their feet! Good thing I had my signature bucket of flip flops for the "Ginger Rogers"! With a masked entrance to the reception, Lindsey and Ken had the time of their lives and left the festival of fun and family with a sparkler send off!

Thank you to Phindy Studios for sharing these pictures!

I want to thank Lindsey for remembering my services but also for recognizing she needed help! It is sometimes hard to let someone else in on a day that has been on your mind for years! It was a beautiful wedding and Joanne and I were honored to be a part of it.

Fashion in Weddings

A.H.P. Photography

Josh and Betsy's Wedding, Jackson TN 2009

Clients come to me with wedding magazine pages that represent their style and tastes. I love it! It's one of my favorite parts of that initial meeting. A few years ago it came to me that my clients, with out them even knowing it, were bringing me pictures of their wardrobes. What I mean by that is...their vision of what they wanted their wedding to be was very much like the clothes in their closets. Now, I can't quite visualize their entire wardrobe in that one meeting, but I am pretty good!

This revelation for me was ever so clear when one of my favorite clients, who is a manager of a designer clothing store in the Green Hills, came to me without a clear idea on her color scheme for her wedding. She knew she wanted yellow and hesitated on what to pair it with. It was a newly released page from the her designer's upcoming fashions that "talked" her into it. The combination that she chose ended up being the hottest combo in fashion for that next season! We used platinum, yellow, with purple accents to create her modern/southern themed wedding! I love that sleek combination and it suited the Bride and Groom perfectly! She is swallowed up in an industry that is so cutting edge and yet she didn't see how much it truly influenced her.

Keoni K Photography
Arnett and Katie's Wedding Nashville 2009

I love experiencing the different tastes my clients bring to the table. That for me, is one of the best things about this job. I think I live vicariously through them when it comes to design because otherwise my house would be redecorated every other month! I get to experience the J. Crew bride, the BCBG Bride, the Anthropology Bride, yes, even the Wal-Mart Bride. It takes all kinds to make the wedding world spin. I love them all! What's your style?