Elegant Barn Wedding With Tons Of Personal Touches

Imagine, you're a wedding planner and you own a wedding venue–that's a whole lotta eyes on you and your big day, and this planner didn't disappoint! She and her new hubby moved back into her childhood home (a sprawling farm in Tennessee) and turned it into a wedding venue with modern touches. They wanted to make sure the wedding wasn't about showing off their venue or their skills, but about who they are as a couple. From freshly harvested honey and homemade hot sauce favors to wearing heirloom pieces, there were constant reminders throughout the day to bring the focus back to what this celebration was really about.

Cedarmont Farm is a stunning venue in its own right, but the fact that the bride grew up there upped the sentimental factor big time! Florals were a big part of this couple's vision and Larson Floral Co executed the design flawlessly. The stunning ceremony arch that was repurposed for the cake table at the reception and the hanging garland in the barn brought a ton of color and energy to the entire event. Check out the rest of these beautiful photos by John Myers Photography in the full gallery and see if you can spot all of the personalized details. Read on to hear more from the bride about everything that went into making their dream wedding a reality. 

https://vimeo.com/580374201?fbclid=IwAR3-kuG4tXSKUyWmOvGTD-oyou-96FobVy2gzaNOQ2sFCg6hgN6UoL4LFPk

RETURNING HOME

Kevyn and I met working in the film industry in Atlanta. We moved back to my childhood home, Cedarmont Farm, to open a wedding venue at the beginning of 2019 and renovated a ranch home on the property where we live now. During a COVID road trip in June 2020 (which is still one of the best trips we’ve been on), we got engaged at the Grand Canyon at sunrise. When it came time to start wedding planning, we knew there was nowhere else we would rather get married than Cedarmont Farm. The night before our wedding, I spent the night with my sister in my childhood bedroom in the historic house and Kevyn stayed at our house. The next morning, our wedding party arrived to get ready with us. Canvas & Coif did the grooming (men love being pampered too!) and hair and makeup for our wedding party.

IT'S PERSONAL

For our wedding, we wanted to make sure that it had lots of personal details that felt very “us”. As a planner, I see many brides get so stressed by following certain “rules” and I always try to tell them none of that matters. What matters is what is meaningful to you and what parts of the day you want to highlight. We did trivia about us on the back of the menus, and for favors, we had honey and hot sauce. We designed the labels and the honey is from the beehives that Kevyn and I keep at the farm. The hot sauce we made from peppers we grew in our garden together. We also had our string quartet compose a version of our song "Superposition" by Young the Giant that I walked down the aisle to with both my parents. We have several ceremony areas around the venue, but we decided to get married in the middle of the field. The aisle was long, but I loved the idea of a wide-open space. For the ceremony flowers, we kept the colors more muted and the field was the perfect backdrop for the full floral arch.

HEIRLOOM DETAILS

We also had a lot of personal touches in our wedding attire. Family is very important to Kevyn and I–both the families we come from and the family we hope to build together. So, family heirlooms and the idea of creating our own to pass on played a large part in our wedding attire. I wore my great-grandmother’s wedding ring, which had the date of their wedding and my great grandfather’s initials engraved in it. Kevyn and I followed their example and engraved our own wedding date and each other's initials in ours. I designed the cufflinks that I gifted to Kevyn and they have an inlaid emerald (his birthstone). I also wore my grandmother's pearl ring, "borrowed" my mother's earrings, and my “something blue” was my socks. My dress was custom-made by Modern Trousseau and a pair of sparkly boots completed the look. I love how they were a total juxtaposition from the elegance of the dress and they were perfect for walking across the field during the ceremony. 

FOOD + DRINK

For the cocktail hour on the side lawn, we wanted to create an intimate space with a relaxing vibe. The VW photo booth was such a hit, as was the lounge furniture from Spark Vintage. We also utilized a boxwood champagne wall to offer everyone a welcome drink right after the ceremony. Our menu consisted of creative passed apps, such as the pink pear crostini. And for dinner, guests dined on beef tenderloin, jalapeno cream chicken, asparagus, whipped potatoes, and cranberry salad with the best homemade champagne vinaigrette from Dream Events & Catering.

SOMETHING DIFFERENT

Designing the reception was so much fun! When we renovated our event barn, I wanted it to be more than just another wedding barn. We kept the character of the beautiful old wood but added more modern touches such as the large floor-to-ceiling windows and a metallic plaster back wall. As a barn venue in Nashville, we see a lot of beautiful southern elegant designs in our barn with greenery and neutrals, but l definitely wanted to do something different and fun to show how versatile our barn was.

HIDDEN DETAILS

We got engaged on our out west road trip, and during our planning, tons of homages to the desert kept popping up (the bridesmaids' dress color was Sedona, the invite we liked was called painted desert, etc) so we loved the idea of using supersaturated desert-inspired colors for the florals at the reception (pinks, corals, and peaches) and bringing in some earthy textures with the plates and place cards, etc. We mirrored the invitation suite with the design of the cake by Katelin Hayes Desserts.

NATURAL FLORALS

I love florals (poppies are my favorite) and loved all of the installations, from the tree to the barn beams. I wanted to keep the ropes of garland and carnations on the barn beams casual and fun and not overdone or overly symmetrical. My favorite part of the reception was the acrylic chairs at the long center table. I loved how they brought some modern lightness to the space.

THE PARTY DON'T STOP

More than anything, we wanted the wedding to feel genuine and fun and our guests to feel a little spoiled as it had been a long, lonely year of COVID. So, we made sure to have sliders as a late-night snack and kept the dance floor rocking. At the end of the night, guests were surprised with a firework display before our sparkler exit. My dad loves fireworks and was so excited to contribute that to our evening. Planning a wedding towards the end of COVID, even as a planner, was a lot of pressure and stress. We still can’t believe how lucky our timing was as all of our guests were able to be vaccinated before our event if they chose to do so, and most did. This made it even more joyful than it already was because everyone was just so happy to be together again celebrating, something many of us had not done in over a year.

• Cakes & Catering: Dream Events & Catering
• Cakes & Catering: Katelin Hayes Desserts
• Flowers: Larson Floral Co
• Groom & His Men: Fior Bespoke
• Hair, Makeup & Beauty: Canvas & Coif
• Lighting, Entertainment & Photo Booth: Paisley & Co.
• Month of Planning: Vision In White
• Photographers: John Myers Photography
• Rentals: Premier Events
• Rentals: Spark Vintage
• Rentals: Southern Events
• Strings: College Grove Strings
• Venues: Cedarmont Farm
• Wedding Dresses: Modern Trousseau
• Wedding Submission Services: Kristen Green