Dallas + Erin’s Wedding Boasts Cheekwood’s Natural Beauty And A Taste Of Tennessee

Erin + Dallas
Wedding Date | April 5, 2014
Ceremony Venue | Cheekwood Wills Perennial Garden
Reception Venue | Cheekwood Museum of Art
Guests | 120
Budget | Luxury

Wedding Team

Planner | FireFly Events
Photographer | Nyk and Cali
Videographer | Matt G Video
Gown | Glitz Bridal
Bride’s Accessories | Glitz and BHLDN Weddings
Men’s Attire | J. Crew
Bridesmaids’ Attire | Bridal Warehouse
Hair and Makeup |  One10 Makeup
Stationery | Designs In Paper
Caterer | Chef’s Market
Cake Artist | Wedding Cake and Dessert Buffet | Dulce Desserts
Groom’s Cake | Dessert Designs
Floral Designer | Knestrick by Design
Ceremony Musicians | String Quartet from High Tone Entertainment
Reception Musicians | Kansas Bible Company
DJ | High Tone Entertainment
Rentals | Music City Tents and Events
Lighting | Nashville Audio Visual and Southern Events
Transportation | Guest Transportation-Anchor Transportation | Getaway Car | Matchless Transportation
Guest Accommodations | Hilton Brentwood
Rehearsal Dinner location | Husk
Officiant | Unforgettable Ceremonies

Wedding Details

How would you describe your style as a couple?
I don’t know that we have a style exactly.  We wanted our wedding to be elegant, rustic, and classic, but most of all fun.

Where did you get your inspiration?
We loved the natural beauty of Cheekwood in the spring with all the tulips blooming, so we really wanted to make choices that did not overwhelm the setting.  Our colors were navy, light green, white and coral.  Like most brides these days, I used Pinterest  to find ideas and looks that we wanted.  Firefly Events understood what we were and were not looking for in our wedding, and they were able to narrow down our selections for us so we did not have to do all the initial legwork.

How did you incorporate that style into your wedding?
Basically we came to Samantha and Michelle from Firefly Events with ideas and pictures, and they found a way to make it all work.  When you have great planners, they can make any crazy idea work together in a cohesive and flawless manner.

What was your (or your guests’) favorite aspect of your wedding?
It is hard to pick a favorite part, but I think our favorite part was our band, Kansas Bible Company.  They are not your typical wedding band, which is exactly what we were looking for in our music.  They were so much fun and played such a varied selection of music.  We actually saw them play at a beer festival earlier that year and knew we had to have them be a part of our day.
Our guests really liked our dessert buffet. It had a groom’s cake and then lots of desserts from Dulce Desserts as well as some Nashville and TN treats like Goo Goo Clusters, Moon Pies, homemade marshmallows, chocolate bars, and macaroons.  There were only a few things left at the end of the night.

Where did you splurge?  Where did you save/DIY?
We splurged on our photography and videography.  Nyk and Cali were so much more than we could have anticipated.  We have hundreds of frame-worthy pictures.  We actually went back to Cheekwood about two months after the wedding to take more pictures and some of those are my favorite.  The after-session also let us enjoy the wedding day more because we knew we could come back and get those shots that we wanted on another day.

We saved on some of our décor.  My mom made all the table runners for the reception.  It is very special to have those now because we can use them in our house.  Also, my dad made our guest seating chart from old windows and chalkboards.

Who were your favorite vendors and what made them exceptional?
We loved all of our vendors, but a few stood out.  We absolutely loved our food.  The wonderful people at Chef’s Market came up with a great menu that was beyond delicious.  I love to cook and we both love trying all the great restaurants in Nashville.  We wanted traditional southern food but with a sophisticated flair.  Amie changed our entrée several times until we were over-the-moon happy with it.  My dad even called after the wedding to get the recipe for the shrimp and grits.  She did not give it to him, haha.  While we are talking about food, I have to mention Juanita at Dulce Desserts.  Our cake was incredible!  Please go taste her cakes!!  We recently moved to South Carolina, and I sometimes want to make a trip back to Nashville just for one of her cakes.  The orange ginger cake with pistachio butter cream was unique and a guest favorite.

High Tone Entertainment was so easy to work with before our wedding.  The string quartet learned one of our favorite songs, “Never Gonna Give You Up,” for us to walk down the aisle.  One of our requests was to have some sort of music playing the entire time.  They transitioned so well between the ceremony and reception since they were right next to each other.  Josh actually listened to all of our requests and the ever-important do not play list.  We could have danced until 3:00 in the morning.

Now that the wedding day is over, is there anything about your planning process you feel you could have done differently?
Not a thing!!  We loved every second of our wedding, and we would do it again every day if we could.  We were very happy to have such wonderful wedding planners to guide us during both the planning process and the big day.

In one sentence, what words of advice do you have for couples in the midst of their planning?
Plan to steal away for a few minutes with just the two of you to take in the day and reflect on how you are starting your lives together.

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