Elegant Nashville Wedding

This wedding alone is beyond beautiful, but the story from the bride quickly surpasses it. With the help of Cedarwood Weddings and Tec Petaja, Adrienne and Patrick built a wedding celebration that would honor not only their love for each other, but for their fathers. The result is a touching testament to family and absolute love:

From the bride, Adrienne: My father was diagnosed with cancer 4 months before the wedding. He moved in with my fiance and fell very ill, very quick. Patrick and I were his primary/sole caretakers. He actually moved in with my husband in his studio apartment—my husband is amazing and gave my dad his bed, while he slept on the couch. He lived 10 weeks and died 1 month and four days before my wedding. But, we actually got married in the hospital by my father’s bedside before he died in a private-impromptu ceremony. Our Cedarwood wedding day was the most bittersweet day of my life because my father and I were very close. My brother offered, but I chose to walk myself down the aisle to show my Dad I could do it by myself.Though, my favorite part of our wedding was just how much our fathers (my husbands father died a few years prior) were incorporated into that day. The boutonnieres had my husband’s fathers buttons from his button collection on them. My bouquet had a locket with a picture of my dad and his cross on it. There was also a table that was a tribute to the 2 of them. Our hearts hurt so much that day, but it was so beautiful how their presence was felt by not only us, but our guests as well.

I wanted my wedding to exude “light and fun”. I did not want to choose 2 “wedding colors”. I wanted to have about 8 wedding colors. I wanted color to pour out in unexpected places. I wanted the decor to feel like happiness. I wanted the colors to reflect my joy that day. I also wanted my wedding to be extremely comfortable for guests. I wanted them to be very nicely taken care of, with no stone unturned. More than anything, I wanted everyone to have fun and enjoy the night.

We wanted our wedding to be colorful, light, fun, vintage, and with a pastel palette. DIY projects included – hotel bags, city highlights list in the hotel bag, water bottles with him/her labels on them, honeymoon map–I hand-sewed our honeymoon route onto a poster of Italy and had it displayed at the wedding, all of the Dad details, and my husband built cornhole boards while I painted a Tennessee (where I’m from) on one and a Kentucky (where he’s from) on the other.

See Also

Southern Charm Meets Old World Complete with a Art Gallery Escort Wall

Any advice for couples planning their weddings now? Get a videographer—I regret not getting one so much! Also, make sure to start all of the projects you want to accomplish with plenty of time in advance–you don’t want to look back with regrets because you ran out of time. Have EVERYTHING done before the day of the rehearsal. I was still running around/directing people the day of the bridal luncheon/rehearsal dinner. It was very hard for me to be “present” for the bridal luncheon. My head was still spinning.

Wedding Music:
Family Processional: “Better Together,” Jack Johnson
Bridal Party Processional: “I Will Follow You Into the Dark,” Deathcab for Cutie
Bride’s Processional: “Paradise,” Coldplay
Recessional: “Lucky,” Jason Mraz and Colbie Calliat
When they announced us as a couple on the porch before dinner, we walked out to the radio version of “Paradise” by Coldplay. I loved that song because I felt it reflected the bittersweetness that I felt that day.

Wedding Location: Nashville, TN / Photographer: Tec Petaja / Wedding Venue and Florist: Cedarwood Weddings / Event Design: Cedarwood Weddings and Jessica Sloane / Wedding Dress: Anna Campbell (I ordered it from Australia!!) / Wedding Veil: Reilly family heirloom / Wedding Shoes: Badgley Mischka / Bridesmaids’ Dresses: Assorted / Groom and Groomsmen’s Attire: Indochino / Caterer: Chef Christopher / Popsicles: Las Paletas Gourmet Popsicles / Drink Stirrers: BHLDN / Paper Goods: Designs in Paper