Joyful, loving, and quaint is the perfect way to describe Laura and David’s Hidden Creek Farm wedding. Filled with deep tones offset with blush and greenery accents, their day encompassed the perfect color palette. As Laura walked through the white doors to their ceremony, not only did guests hear Laura’s brother (who would open for Billy Ray Cyrus later that day) playing his guitar and singing, but also David’s daughter accompanying him on the violin. Talk about musical genes! And that’s just one of the many things we love about this feature! The decor and details were wonderfully captured and shared by Dolly Delong Photography. See the day through her eyes and learn more about this day in the interview below!
Dolly: When one of my sweet bridesmaids (Laura) from my own wedding (June 2016) asked me to be her wedding photographer I immediately jumped at the opportunity since this sweet friend is one of the best humans ever (like seriously hands down, she is such a golden-hearted gal)! Getting to capture Laura and David’s wedding was not only such an honor, but it was so much fun since so many people were thrilled to get to witness Laura and David begin a new chapter of life together.
Dolly: It was supposed to rain the entire day of their wedding, but thankfully it held off just as everyone entered the reception hall. Talk about perfect timing!
Laura wore a wedding veil which her mother and her aunt wore to their weddings. It was a gorgeous piece to feature with her dress and it made for some epic veil shots!
Dolly: Laura’s brother, Paul, had to actually open for Billy Ray Cyrus at CMA fest THAT day, but he made time to sing and play his guitar for Laura during the ceremony; which I bet was such a sweet moment for the entire family!
In addition to Laura’s brother getting to feature a song and music for the ceremony, David’s daughter, Abby, was able to perform during the ceremony by playing her violin, which was equally as special especially since she played her violin while Paul played his guitar (a very music-filled wedding I should add)!
Dolly: Laura’s father actually performed the ceremony for her and David. He walked her down the aisle, then just stepped over into the officiant position (talk about efficiency!) But seriously, it was very sweet that her father had the honor of also getting to officiate the ceremony.
Dolly: Laura and her father pulled off the BEST father-daughter dance I have ever seen! (I may or may not have snorted because I laughed so hard.)
The two also did a bubble exit. It was precious and even though it was down-pouring outside, they still ran up and down the receiving line to get as many photos as possible!
From the bride, Laura: We initially met in what I like to call “the murky jungle of online dating”. After a series of long-and-getting-longer e-mails and then phone calls came the inevitable first date. In September 2017 we “met in the middle” at Mammoth Cave in Kentucky. 2 cave tours, 2 meals, and 13 hours later, we decided we had enough of a good time to give it a go for real, and we started dating in earnest. One year and change later, on December 9, 2018, after thousands of miles driven on I-65, we decided it was time to start closing that distance gap and got engaged!
We chose Hidden Creek Farms as our venue because we loved the fact that we had a beautiful venue in a lovely natural setting available to us the whole weekend, coupled with the affordable price tag so that we could have a lovely event in a way that felt responsible. Also, location: it was close to my hometown of Clarksville and current town of Nashville. We had also heard wonderful things about the venue staff (and they were indeed wonderful!). We chose our decor, color palate, and other elements to complement a lovely Tennessee spring and the simple yet elegant natural beauty of the barn setting. As such, a lot of our decor had a less contained feel with a lot of greenery and other springtime colors.
Music is very important to us; in fact, it’s how we initially connected. With Laura having grown up as a musician and lover of music in general who has been to (I kid you not, probably 100 weddings–I have a list!!), it was always something she knew she’d want to be more unique than your standard Canon in D fare come time for her wedding. We had a most talented crew: piano, cello, guitar, violin, and vocalist that allowed us to throw a “mini-concert” before the wedding! Having a unique, thoughtful, and well-crafted prelude and ceremony music was the part of wedding planning we were most excited about! Nearly every song we picked had some kind of personal meaning to us or our loved ones. It was also very special having several friends and family involved in our music. I enjoy singing, and the octet of singers we recruited for our music were all people that I had sung with in various groups over the years. We incorporated my brother Paul (guitar) and David’s daughter Abbey, 16 (violin) as part of our ensemble-what an incredible gift to us that made us so proud! The real highlight there was when Paul, a musician and songwriter by trade, performed a song he had written during our ceremony called “My Epitaph” with Abbey accompanying him on violin. The song depicts someone declaring that, when they die, all they want on their tombstone is for people to know that “I loved you”. I hate to be cliché, but it really was perfect.
One of the truly special and meaningful aspects of our wedding for both of us is just how many friends and family we were able to involve by calling on their talents to add such a special element to our day. Being blessed by our community with their wedding-related talents and seeing them do that they do best was both humbling and exciting. In addition to all of the family and friends involved with our music, these other vendors are friends of ours: photography, dress alteration, florals, wedding program, DJ, not to mention so many other friends who pitched in a helped in various ways. As far as family goes, my own father, a minister, pulled double duty and officiated our wedding after walking her down the aisle, which was truly special. Also, we incorporated David’s children, Abbey (16) and Aidan (11) into our vows, promising to bring each other into our lives as a new blended family.
Other highlights: The perfect timing of the rain holding off just in time for us to enjoy our planning outdoor ceremony. 15 minutes after we finished, the rain started coming down! Also, I hear rumors that the father-daughter dance was pretty killer 🙂 I wore my mother’s/aunt’s veil and loved getting to share that tradition with them!
Many many thanks to the wonderful friends, family, and vendor team who graciously and enthusiastically contributed to what was a lovely and memorable wedding day for us!
These photos tell the story so well and make us feel like we were there! Just stunning! Thank you so much to Dolly DeLong Photography for sharing this awesome Hidden Creek Farm wedding with us!
