Google+ Real Tennesse Wedding: Sara + Matt - Southern Weddings

Southern Weddings

When a girl from Tennessee and a boy from Kentucky decide to tie the knot, nothing short of an authentic Southern wedding can ensue, as proven from Sarah + Matt’s Tennessee nuptials from Chris and Adrienne Scott.  If you know me, then you know the very first of the many details I feel in love with was the groomsmen’s blue and white seersucker suits and matching yellow bowties.  Can you say sheer Southern perfection?!  Since I love blue and yellow, it’s no surprise I’m also a huge fan of the ladies’ summery yellow dresses from The White Room, the bold sunflowers and daisies in the Rachel Short Designs flower arrangements and, best of all, the fun, three-tiered cake from Publix.  While I just adore the expansive lawn at the North Campus of the Franklin First United Methodist Church that served as the site of the couple’s outdoor ceremony, our resident food critic, Emily, is still raving about the fabulous spread from Providence Farms} catering.  The delicate lace and organza detailing of the bride’s crisp white gown (also from The White Room!) adds the perfect finishing touch to this lovely mid-summer affair!

How did the two of you meet? Tell us your story.We met in college. I was studying abroad in Europe with Matt’s two best friends and he transferred to our school while I was gone. When I got back to the States, our mutual friends set us up on a blind date.

Describe the proposal:Matt and I were in Florida for the holidays visiting my sister. He let me pick out a new digital camera for Christmas but told me it hadn’t come in before we left for our trip. While we were getting ready for dinner the first night of our vacation, he told me that he bought me a small present to make up for the fact that I couldn’t bring my new camera with us. I opened a small box and there was the ring! He proposed and said lots of nice things. My first reply was, “Is this for real?” but quickly said yes!

What was the design inspiration for your wedding? We wanted our wedding to be simple and Southern and to highlight our favorite parts of our Tennessee and Kentucky roots. A graphic designer friend created a logo and monogram using “KY” and “TN” and our names to connect our two home states. We used the design on the signs, programs and just about every other elements of the wedding.

Tell us about finding your wedding dress: We had a very short engagement so I had to choose a dress quickly, which meant I was limited to certain designers. I tried on about five dresses at the White Room in Lebanon, TN, but as soon as I put on the sixth dress my mother and I knew it was the one. The dress was somewhat simple, but still very pretty.

Describe your wedding flowers: Since we were getting married outside, I didn’t want the flowers to compete with the natural scenery at our wedding site. Our bouquets and centerpieces were made up of wildflowers, just like I wanted.

Describe your wedding cake: The cake was one area where I was willing to save money. Matt doesn’t even like cake and I just couldn’t justify the cost that some of the big bakeries had quoted us. We actually used Publix , the grocery store, to design our wedding cake. The store had a full cake tasting so we were able to sample all the cakes and then take our favorite elements to create a unique cake that fit our theme and colors. Since Matt loves pie, we also had a small bakery from his hometown in KY make personal pies for everyone. They were amazing!

What was the biggest challenge you had to overcome while planning your wedding? Matt’s mom passed away suddenly three months before our wedding. It was very hard to make sure we found time to enjoy our engagement and wedding planning while also dealing with grief. Though it was a difficult time in our lives, the experience did teach us a lot of valuable life lessons.

Were there any special family traditions you included in the wedding? We wanted our wedding to be very representative of our families and of us, so we decided to focus on those things that were most important and to not worry about the rest of the details. We had a bluegrass band play for our ceremony, which was perfect because Matt’s grandfather was a very accomplished bluegrass musician and my parent’s friends have a bluegrass band. My sisters and I carried irises as part of our bouquet because our grandmother passed away a year before the wedding and irises were her favorite flower. We also had a table at the reception with pictures and mementos from our grandparents’ weddings. Since we wanted to honor Matt’s mother, as well, Matt’s sister carried the bouquet that would have been their mother’s as she walked down the aisle. She left the flowers in her empty seat.

Three adjectives that describe the day are: Southern, summery and fun.

Did you write your own vows? If so, what was your favorite phrase/verse/line? We used a poem written by a poet-friend and writings by Dietrich Bonhoeffer that were unique and different. My favorite line from Bonhoeffer says, “It is not your love that sustains the marriage, but from now on, the marriage that sustains your love.”

Best advice or most memorable comment someone made to you during the wedding celebration: Several people told us they loved our wedding because it was so “us.” We tried to inject our personalities into all the details. We both have been to a lot of weddings over the past few summers and we wanted people to leave ours and remember it as uniquely our own!

What’s next for you as a couple? We hope to buy a house and work on getting our boss reelected!

Written with love by Southern Weddings
6 Comments
  1. avatar The Perfect Palette reply

    We absolutely LOVE this color palette! It’s perfect!

  2. avatar jesi haack weddings reply

    the bowtie is killing me. LOVE.

  3. avatar Sarah reply

    Alright! I love seeing Nashville weddings on here. Chris and Adrienne did a great job. The groom’s suit is so preptastic and I love it!

  4. avatar Amy-Jo Tatum/Bride Chic reply

    This is a magnificent composition of images. Truly inspiring . . .

  5. avatar Mindi reply

    Where are the bridesmaids flip flops from?

  6. avatar Sara reply

    They are switchflops. You can google them, but lots of hallmarks and specialty stores carry them. You can pick flip flops, kitten heels, or heels in tan or black and then there are 100s of differnt strap patterns that velcro onto the top.

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