When planning your wedding, you spend hours upon hours working on getting everything squared away and planned out so that the day of, there are no hiccups. Of course, you may tend to expect something to come up, but what happened with bride, Megan, was definitely not on the list of possible hiccups for her timeless and classic wedding day! With only FOUR days left until the big day, Megan found out that her wedding dress was no where to be found. Something that brides actually do have nightmares about. But with her mom in tow, they kicked it into high gear and ran over to a Nashville Bridal shop, OZ Bridal, owned by Olia Zavozina.
Olia and the team provided such extremely high customer service and care to Megan and her mom and provided so much support and empathy to them. They pulled out all the stops that they possibly could and assisted not only finding but also creating the perfect dress and veil for Megan in just 24 hours. The weekend was truly special. With a brand new custom made dress in 24 hours, along with so many family touches within the wedding; it really did turn out to be the perfect weekend for Megan and Michael! Check out the stunning reveal of the dress and beautiful images provided by Rachel Key Photography at the Beau Cheval for the July 4th holiday weekend!
Megan + Michael
07.03.2023
Beau Cheval at Wartrace
Guest Count ~ 100
How did you guys meet?
Megan: We met the modern way on Hinge, a dating app. We spent a few weeks texting and getting to know each other while Michael was out of town for the Army. When he finally got back into town we knew we had to meet in person, so we had our first date at Lasaters Coffee on Friday the 13th. We both knew pretty quickly that we had met the one and our relationship continued to grow over the summer as we spent weekends on the lake, met each others parents, and continued to learn more about each other and the values we shared.
Tell us about your engagement!
Megan: Michael surprised me with our engagement 2 days after Christmas. He worked with my mom and church family to plan the perfect proposal that included the students I volunteer with every week. They planned a fake high school hangout as a ruse to get myself and the students to the church. When I walked out of the sanctuary, Michael was waiting for me in the church lobby standing in front of a row of lit Christmas trees. I quickly realized what was going on as he got down on one knee and asked me to spend the rest of my life with him. We got to celebrate with homemade frappes, cake, and popcorn with our church family and friends. It was truly a magical day!
What was the vision for your wedding?
Megan: A classic, clean design that enhanced the historic beauty of Beau Cheval and the rolling hills of Wartrace, TN. I wanted to be able to look back at photos of our day 20 years from now and feel like it was still beautiful and timeless.
What details were used to create your theme?
Megan: I wanted to embrace and enhance the natural beauty of our venue, so I chose a color pallet of Olive and Ivory. We used a lot of white florals, olive branches, and olive garlands throughout our ceremony and reception to tie the spaces together. We also made sure to add lots of personalized touches to our wedding details to make sure the day felt special and our own, including gifts from family members, memorial charms, engraved ring boxes & cuff Links, and Michael’s duck feather tie.
Where did you splurge? Where did you save/DIY?
Megan: We splurged on catering, my dress, Ice Cream Sandwiches from Olivers Ice Box. We spent a little extra to make sure that our friends and family had a low stress, relaxed day so that they could spend time with Michael and myself and enjoy our day. By paying extra to have our venue overnight, we were able to set up early and start getting ready at our leisure. We saved money by taking on a lot of our own decor and personalization projects . We did our own table numbers, seating chart, floral arrangements, guest favors, name plates, ceremony arch, and programs, in addition to several other details throughout the day. Outside of our catering, nothing happened that didn’t go through our hands.
What words of advice do you have for couples in the midst of their planning?
Megan: Remember that the most important thing on your wedding day is that you are getting to marry the person you love in front of the people who love and support you. Things will go right and things will go wrong, but focusing on the big picture helps to remove the stress of all the little details that may get forgotten or go differently than you planned.
Can you share any special moments or highlights from your wedding day?
Megan: The highlight of our day was having all of our friends and family travel from near and far to support us and celebrate our wedding with us. Throughout the entire day we could feel the love and support surrounding us and it just made every moment that much more special. Our family was also an integral part of our day with my mom taking on all of the floral elements and most of the decor, Michael’s dad officiating our wedding, and my dad building our dream wedding arch. Being able to have our dog Polly and Michael’s best man’s dog, Enzo, who is also their hunting companion, be a part of our day made our day even more special. We love having so many photos with them and with the horses at Beau Cheval. It makes our wedding album unique and feel more like our own. Our photographer, Rachel, also did an amazing job capturing every single element of our day including our AMAZING ice cream sandwiches and our boat send off. By the end of our wedding, we felt like Rachel and her second shooter, Emily, were family.
Is there anything else you’d like to share about your wedding?
Megan: I was left without a dress 4 days before my wedding due to an error on behalf of the salon we had ordered from well in advance. What should have been a joyous day picking up my dress for my big day became a nightmare. I contacted Olia Zavozina, a highly sought after Nashville designer and owner of OZ Bridal in desperation hoping that she could help in some way. Olia and her team asked us to come in that day and they would do everything possible to help. When we arrived at the salon for what we had thought would be a search through their sample racks to see what would fit me quickly became a fairy tale. We were greeted by a handful of amazing consultants as well as the designer, Olia Zavozina who began giving me the experience of a lifetime. Working together all of the ladies began covering me in fabric and Olia designed the dress on the spot to make sure the dress would be what I had dreamed of. She included some of my favorite elements from the dress I had fallen in love with (like the bow sash), but also included new elements that made it exactly what I had envisioned. To our absolute disbelief they said we could pick it up the next morning on Friday, June 30. To say we left in tears and overjoyed would be an understatement. The following day when we arrived, WOW!! They had stayed and worked through the night to create the perfect gown for me and it fit me like a glove. Her beautiful team of seamstresses, our angels came down to the show room to be a part of the final fitting as well as Olia stopping in to make sure everything was perfection. They put the final touches on the dress in 2 hours and we left with a fully custom, amazing gown and veil in 24 hours. Me and my now husband, who is a Staff SGT in the Army, were beyond grateful for everything OZ and their phenomenal staff did to make my wedding possible. Going into a holiday weekend with a July 3rd wedding without this amazing Nashville designer and her salon team of angels would not have been the dream it was.
Megan and Michael sure do have a great story to tell! We’re so glad it all worked out and what a beautiful wedding it was! Thank you to Megan and her mom for sharing the wedding weekend with us. Thank you to Rachel Key for sharing with us all the beautiful images as well. Feeling inspired by The Noles’ Wedding day? Check out more inspiration here!
