Friends and family from all over came to the Music City to witness Kristen and Steve tie the knot! Their boho greenhouse wedding at Long Hollow Gardens weaved bohemian details with an upscale twist that’s to die for! Their vibe was to host a garden party with the boldest and brightest colors and thanks to their amazing vendor team, it all happened! There isn’t one part of their day that we don’t love. And we know you’re going to love these photos by Hannah Leigh Imagery as much as we do!
Kristen + Steve
Long Hollow Gardens
Guest Count ~ 90
Wedding Budget ~ $40,000 – $50,000
How did you guys meet?
Kristen: Steve and I met when I was in college– I had a part-time job at the front desk of a hotel in New Jersey, and Steve was the Sous Chef. I knew something was up when he’d hover around after he clocked out and we’ve been together ever since! We moved to Tennessee seven years ago with the booming food scene in Nashville and we’ve never looked back!
Tell us about your engagement!
Kristen: We love to travel, and before moving to Nashville we even backpacked around Europe for 3 months! Steve proposed on a trip to Sedona, Arizona while we were on a beautiful hike. My brother was there to be photographer and we got to spend the entire rest of the week savoring every moment of our engagement in nature and with family.
What was the vision for your wedding?
Kristen: We knew we wanted color because Steve and I are always drawn to the brightest piece of artwork, the most colorful cupcake, the boldest colors in nature. We had amazing vendors that helped curate our vision– Heather, our florist– in particular was amazing to work with and helped inspire so much of what came to life on our wedding day. We knew many of our guests would be coming from out of town, so we wanted the entire affair to be fun and funky but also really laid back. I think we accomplished all of that while still appearing curated and I could not have been happier of the way everything turned out.
What was your theme and what inspired it?
Kristen: “Bright and Bohemian Garden Party” was our vibe– we even asked guests to wear garden party attire on our invites!
What details were used to create your boho greenhouse wedding?
Kristen: Pampas grass was a must, and we knew we loved the combination of pinks, oranges and corals for our florals. Knowing that we were engaged in Sedona, Heather added crystals and geodes to our tablescape to help bring all the good vibes to the space, which was so thoughtful. Once the florals were figured out, this informed so many of our other decisions– the bright pink napkins, the gold accents on the place settings, the Aperol “Finch” (Spritz) that was our signature cocktail. We just tried to have fun with it, because we knew if we had fun planning our wedding then our guests would absorb that same energy when they were here.
Where did you splurge? Where did you save/DIY?
Kristen: Long Hollow Gardens is a great value– we used a lot of their in house amenities, so we did not need to rent tables or chairs and since you are in a greenhouse, that already adds so much color and greenery to the space. They have a getting ready area that can be partitioned, so both the bridal and grooms party got ready there. Their meadow space has an arbor, so we did not need to rent one… the list goes on. The vibe of our wedding was perfect, Amy and her family are a pleasure to work with, and the space is simply stunning. I DIY’ed our Welcome sign and acrylic table numbers with a friend’s Cricut, and the seating chart and signs for drinks and directions from a template on Etsy. Our wedding planners, Brette and Christina, had great ideas for displaying these things too so they looked more refined and upscale. Like I said, our vendors were AMAZING!
What words of advice do you have for couples in the midst of their planning?
Kristen: My heart goes out to all the COVID brides. But no matter your budget I think it is possible to follow this piece of advice : Follow your heart with every decision you make. We “heard music” with every vendor we met with, and once you get that feeling you can’t shake it! For us, it made the entire wedding planning process so enjoyable…. I actually miss it! The second piece of advice is one I got from a friend who was married a year or so before we were– “make a decision, and move on.” For us, the two went hand in hand since it was a lot easier to not “second guess” every decision when you reflect on that gut feeling you had when you met and brainstormed with them… but hearing that piece of advice helped a lot.
Can you share any special moments or highlights from your wedding day?
Kristen: With most of our guests coming in from out of town, many took full advantage of what Nashville had to offer. I knew I was in for a treat when the morning of the wedding I jumped in Instagram to see that my bridesmaid, Jill, had posted her last IG story only three hours before. She ended up ordering IV’s for the bridal party while we were getting ready and I still laugh thinking about all the fun we had getting ready that morning.
We are loving this laid-back, modern, free-spirited vibe! Thanks so much to Kristen and Steve for sharing their boho greenhouse wedding at Long Hollow Gardens with us!
