Irish Inspired Wedding in Nashville
What better way to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day than with an Irish inspired wedding in Nashville, Tennessee? Ginger and Zack made their wedding day completely unique to them as a couple, bringing together their love of travel (especially Ireland and Scotland), Harry Potter, Indiana Jones, and woodland creatures — and everything worked together perfectly thanks to a stellar team of vendors including Morgan Trinker, Spindle Photography, Kelly Dellinger Events, and Rosemary and Finch.
From the bride, Ginger: Zack loves rustic and handcrafted, and I love vintage and whimsical. It is a little difficult to summarize/label, because we basically just tried to roll all of our favorite things up into one brown paper package. However, the central thought that started it all was when we were wishing that money didn’t exist or that we could teleport our whole family to Ireland or Scotland to experience our favorite places and play tribute to our families’ heritage.
Bouquet recipe: Orange ranunculus, succulents, anemones, white garden roses / “coffee break roses”, blue thistles, hypericum berries, scabiosa pods, etc.
Since we couldn’t have everyone travel to those magical places, we first wanted to bring some of the adventure of a travel theme to our wedding. Then we wanted to incorporate our love for romance and epic stories (some personal favorites being Braveheart, Harry Potter, and Indiana Jones… yes, we are shameless nerds). Finally, we wanted to highlight the Lindsey Scottish crest, which is very important to us. When we were first dating, we noticed that the crest happens to feature a swan with a crown — and Swan is my maiden name. Zack gave me the crest on a kilt pin on the night he proposed, and it was a special symbol of our families coming together. We pictured colors like stone, emerald/moss, orange/copper, latte and ivory — which fit our love for all things woodland, rustic, and autumn. Basically, if you imagine a woodland elf marrying an adventurous hobbit in a moss-covered stone castle on a green, grassy hill in Ireland… then you get it.
Our first DIY project we did was creating our own save-the-dates using a vintage 1940s postcard of our wedding venue. Zack’s biggest undertaking was brewing two specialty beers for our reception to go with our catering menu. He brewed a Harvest Spiced Ale and a Dark Wolf Lager, which took many months preparation. I collected green bottles that were being thrown out or recycled during the year and saved them to be used for simple floral decor. Zack plays the bagpipes and nearly was a kilted groom, so to replace his kilt we incorporated the family tartan in other areas: groom pocket square and boutonniere, ring bearer suspenders, my DIY garter, etc. Our escort cards were miniature boarding passes which directed guests to their “destination” which were labeled by table numbers made with maps. We had handwritten dinner menus, ceremony programs, and maps to the reception modeled after the “Marauder’s Map” from Harry Potter. Zack made peanut butter (using peanuts from our garden) and beer bottle openers (from repurposed wood) for his groomsmen, and I sewed spirit animal tote bags for my bridal party.
Any advice for couples planning their weddings now? Right after the wedding I wrote these down, because I didn’t want to forget how I felt immediately after the whirlwind was over. 1. Spending time on the personalized details makes it so much more meaningful, enjoyable, and memorable for everyone. Sometimes we were cursing our DIY ideas a few hours after we were already into them, but in the end you only get one wedding so why not just spend a little extra time? (That being said, don’t procrastinate any DIY ideas… better to just let those go. ha!) 2. Go ahead and start preparing yourself for the crazy, relative perspectives of time on your wedding day. The 10 minutes you are waiting to walk down the aisle is going to feel like more than an hour, and then the 4 hours of your reception is also going to feel like less than an hour! In both, just try to notice every little thing you can and take it all in. 3. No matter how much work you put in– especially if you happen to have crazy, big families like we do — you can’t control other people and their circumstances. Just communicate and communicate until you feel blue in the face… and then just let go, have fun, and “que sera sera!”
View all images from this wedding in the gallery
Wedding Music:
Processional: Acoustic version of “Blessed Assurance”, acoustic cover of Kate Rusby’s “Blooming Heather”
Bride’s Processional: “Gift of a Thistle / The Braveheart Theme” on uilleann pipes
Recessional: A special arrangement of “The Raider’s March” (Indiana Jones Theme)
First Dance: “La Vie en Rose,” Edith Piaf
Father/Daughter Dance: “You Put This Love in my Heart,” Keith Green
Mother/Son Dance: “Sweet Child of Mine,” Sheryl Crow