Nashville Wedding Planner | A Delightful Day Event Planning Blog

Kelly Plans a Wedding: The Engagement Photographer

Drew and I had the great fortune of trekking across a mini-mountain {me in ballet flats, Drew in cowboy boots} one GORGEOUS January Friday with Brett Price. By the time we got to the top {with a landing and the most stunning view}, I was peeling off layers and Drew had a new friend:) 

I'm saving some of the BEST for our save-the-dates and to display at our wedding, but Brett just totally blew me away with these. With a film-making degree from UNC's School of the Arts, Brett shoots with film and digital cameras {he pulled out at least five different varieties at our session}.  He even develops his own film in his self-created darkroom {a repurposed bathroom!}. Second-shooting for Jamie Clayton has helped him navigate through the world of wedding photography, but his natural and inherent talent speaks volumes on its own.

Brett Price is professional, visionary, an incredible photographer. And after hours of chatting about movies and rock-climbing adventures, Drew wants to be BFFs with him now. :) It takes a lot to make Drew comfortable posing for countless portraits and being goofy on film, but Brett made both of us immediately feel at home, holding our vintage suitcases and kissing and laughing nonstop.  And he truly captured the essence of our relationship. As cliche as that sounds, look at these pictures and you can't help but to see our personalities and love for one another. AHHH, adore!!!!!!

Swoon!

Interested in Brett Price's work for your wedding/engagement session/what-have-you? Email me at kelly@adelightfulday.com or email him directly!

~ Kelly

Kelly Plans a Wedding: The Beautifier

While I don't hope "it's all downhill from here," I am striving to be the prettiest I've ever been on my wedding day. {See? Prettiest thus far. I can still be prettier later.} Call it vain, superficial, whatever… our wedding day will definitely be the most documented day of my life, so why not look lovely on it? I've never had my hair or makeup legitimately professionally done. {Granted, I have had a couple of ex-makeup-counter-maven moms-of-friends do my prom makeup and gone to salons for horrible lacquered-curl updos from grades 8 to 12. I'm going to say for the sake of "professionalism," those don't count.} While I debated back-and-forth quite a bit about whether I wanted to go big or go home {after all, my matrons of honor are quite handy with a set of hot rollers and eyeshadow}, I finally figured that a couple hundred dollars to look STUNNING in all those $$$$ wedding pictures/videos was absolutely, totally worth it.

Who was I kidding, anyways? I've really been trying to be the most considerate bride ever to my bridesmaids {after the whole "hey guys, can you return those fugly dresses I made you buy last week, pretty please?!" episode}, and how considerate is it to deem your matrons of honor responsible for making you look flawless on camera and in real life? Not very. I want to be chill and cool and fun and very PRESENT on my wedding day, and that's not so likely to happen if I'm bossing around my bests to "get to curlin'." Not to mention, there were a couple occasions in high school when I'd make my sister take off the makeup she just meticulously applied on my face because "I want eyeliner on my top AND bottom lashes but not liquid liner, and it needs to be darker/lighter/more dramatic/less dramatic/more neutral/etc…" If I was anal retentive about high school homecoming, I should probably just hand over the reins to a professional who does this for a living and stop stressing. I've never seen anyone who looks less than impeccably gorgeous coming from Amy Lynn Larwig.  Not to mention, after observing countless consultations she's done here in the Studio, I know I'll get to enjoy the musical stylings of Britney and Rihanna while she's beautifying me! Amy Lynn is fun and EXTREMELY talented at what she does. I have full confidence that I will emerge from her beauty chair as the lovely blushing bride I dream of being! Now, for a little hair and makeup inspiration... {From top left, clockwise:  neutral hues, smoky eyes, red lips, curled and blond, curled and blonder, brown curls and green drops, bangs!, brown sideswept, pink & black, tawny, brown rolls, fascinator.}

Amy Lynn, I am so excited to work with you!!! I can't wait for my consultation and I am so excited to have you work your magic on me for our wedding! :)

~ Kelly

Jenny + Brad= Nashville Wedding

It's always a delight to get to work with a family multiple times and the Crothers girls have been Delightful Day brides that we cherish! Their families were so precious and always a joy to work with! Jenny and Brad were married at Otter Creek Church and had their reception at Houston Station. Enjoy beautiful photos by Derrick Pierce Studio.

Wonderful vendors a part of Jenny and Brad's day:

Ceremony: Otter Creek Church

Reception: Houston Station

Photographer: Derrick Pierce Studio

Caterer: Constant Cravings

Florist: Cory Davis

Ceremony Musicians: Wedding Musicians Company

Reception Entertainment: Spangler

Cake: Dulce Desserts

Makeup Artist: Amy Lynn Larwig

Hair: Sarah Adams

Lighting: Bradfields

Rentals: Southern Events and FABU

Jenny and Brad, you two were so sweet and wonderful to work with and we "hope" there's another Crothers wedding in the future, way in the future! :) We love your families and wish you both many, many years of wedded bliss!

~ Mary Alice

Nashville Wedding Planner

A Delightful Day

StudioWed Nashville hosts Inspired Bride= recap

I always love getting to look at lots of beautiful, wedding eye candy and StudioWed Nashville hosted the Inspired Bride event at Houston Station two weeks ago and I am LOVING photos that Justin Wright!

Thanks to our many wonderful StudioWed vendors for participating in the event. If you want to set up a meeting with any of these fabulous vendors, feel free to contact StudioWed Nashville:

The Bake Shoppe

A Catered Affair

Prime Source Entertainment

Simply Stunning Events

Chef's Market

Blue Nova Designs

The Bride Room

Brocade Design Arts

Amber Housley

Nashville Audio Visual 

Amy Lynn Larwig

Hard Ink Calligraphy

Photo Booth Nashville

Kristyn Hogan

Justin Wright Photography

Lotus Blossom Photography

Classic Party Rentals

Southern Events Party Rental

Uncle Classic Barbershop

Grand Avenue Transportation

FocalPoint Cinematic

J. Hilburn Clothiers

The Sugar Wagon

2 Travel Anywhere

StudioWed Nashville vendors who weren't able to participate:

A Delightful Day Event Planning (we were busy running around taking care of brides!)

Crumb de la Crumb

Cosmo Creations DJ

Wedding Musicians Company

White Table Linens

McNeal Wedding Films

Buchanan Ink

Gorgeous tablescapes by Brocade Design Arts; lighting by Nashville Audio Visual; Rentals by Classic Party Rentals; Calligraphy by Hard Ink Calligraphy

Rentals/Decor: Southern Events Party Rental

LOVING the new benches and farm tables that Southern Events has to offer!!!

Design by Brocade Design Arts; Rentals by Classic Party Rentals; Lighting by Nashville Audio Visual

Chef's Market did an amazing taco station and their yummy cake balls!

Gorgeous cake designs by The Bake Shoppe





The Sugar Wagon has this ADORABLE wagon they bring to events with yummy homemade desserts and ice cream sandwiches. They also offer italian sodas as an alternative to alcohol at events. It's FABULOUS!

Table scape design: Amber Housley; Rentals: Southern Events and Classic Party Rentals

Contact us at StudioWed (739.5477 or emails below) if you're interested in meeting with any of these vendors! StudioWed is a complimentary wedding concierge service connecting you to some of Nashville's best vendors!

maryalice@studiowed.net

leigh@studiowed.net

kelly@studiowed.net

~ Mary Alice

Kristin + Mark= Clarksville Wedding

Let me tell ya, weddings are always fun, but this one was especially fun! The groom's #1 priority was an awesome band for their guests to have a blast and that they did! Kristin and Mark were married in Clarksville where they are both from and celebrated with friends and family dancing the night away! Enjoy the wonderful photos of this beautiful couple by Shea from By Shea!

Wonderful Vendors:

Ceremony: First Baptist Clarksville

Reception and Catering: Clarksville Country Club

Floris: Helens

Photography: By Shea

Cinematography: FocalPoint Cinematic

Paper Goods: Sweet Life Designs

Rentals: Classic Party Rentals

Linens: Connie Duglin Linens

Band: Party Nation from Atlanta

Photo Booth: Snap Happy

Cakes: Ya Ya's Cakes

LOVED the individually personalized hangers... perfect touch for this photo!

Love the save the date of Kristin and Mark with all their puppies by Sweet Life!

I think this might just be one of my all time FAVORITE photos of the bride and groom!!!

They had a love birds theme with their paper goods, decor, etc., so these adorable birds fit perfectly for their unity candle!

With their love bird theme, they did birdseed hangers in the shape of hearts and koozies with their logo from the save the date and invite!

Kristin and Mark, you and your families were a true joy to work with! We wish you many years of wedded bliss in your new home, with all your puppies and future babies!!

~ Mary Alice

Nashville Wedding Planner

A Delightful Day

 

Casey + Justin = Downtown Nashville Wedding

There are always those super fun couples that you're always so psyched to work with (I feel like I say that about all my brides! :)), but Casey and Justin were two of the sweetest people I've ever met and to top it off Justin is an Elvis impersonator and showed off his skills, as you'll see later! Not only does this couple love music, old music have you, but wanted their reception to have lots of fun and character! Enjoy the wonderful images by Daniel and Rachael of Creative Push! 

Wonderful Vendors:

Venue, Rentals, Catering: Country Music Hall of Fame

Photography: Creative Push

Florals: Brocade Design Arts

Band: Gary Jenkins and the Thundering Hearts

Ceremony musicians: Wedding Musicians Company

Officiant: Mary Griggs

Cake: Maples Wedding Cakes

Late night popsicles: Las Paletas

Calligraphy: Kitty Hobbs

Paper goods: The Paper Mill/Hillary of Brocade Designs 

Dress and accessories: The Bride Room

Tuxes: Street Tuxedo

Had to get a photo with Elvis himself! :)

Since Casey and Justin are such music fans, they chose to do signed vinyl's instead of a traditional guest book to hang up in their home!

Gary Jenkins very graciously turned the stage over to Justin and his band, Chuckie P and the Pepperoni's, to do a set and I have to say, it was AWESOME! I LOVE Chuckie P and the Pepperoni's, and I have the button to prove it. :)

As a late night snack we had french fries, grilled cheeses, and mini popsicles from Las Paletas passed around to the dancing guests!

Casey and Justin, your sincere love and joy for each other is infectious, and we wish you two many, many years of wedded bliss! Love you guys!

~ Mary Alice

Nashville Wedding Planner

A Delightful Day

Kelly Plans a Wedding: The Cake

I probably couldn't count the number of times I have heard other wedding-industry folks saying, "I am so over wedding cake." And I can't tell you how far from truth that statement is for me! To say I l-o-v-e wedding cake is an understatement. My obsession with wedding cake is ranked just SLIGHTLY below my obsession with wedding dresses, if that tells you anything. Every single occasion I get to try different bakeries, flavors, or even just varieties of plain classic white wedding cake, I seize. {To the chagrin of my efforts to lessen my sugar intake.}

I could look at beautiful towering tiers of cake, architectural creations, stunning details, and elaborate designs all day long... but what's TRULY important to me is taste. My parents raised me to be a food {especially dessert} snob, and my standards are not low.  I may try every slice of cake I can get my hands on, but that doesn't mean I love them all without discernment.

Here are my standards:

1.  Must taste incredible {FLAVOR!}.

2. Must be moist and fluffy, but not sticky or gooey.

3. Must look beautiful. Not necessarily anything elaborate or crazy, just beautiful.

4. Must have options of flavors. I like plain white wedding cake, but I like it with a twist.

5. PREMIUM. INGREDIENTS.

6. BUTTER. Not oil, not shortening. Not anything but BUTTER!!!!!

7. This goes with the previous statement, but must have an incredibly good buttercream. I do not do fondant. And even if it's "good-tasting" fondant, I am a buttercream purist. Give me buttercream or give me death.

Fortunately, I was able to work with our budget and move a couple of numbers around to make it work to have my FIRST CHOICE BAKER...  

Dulce Desserts! The sweet little bakery across the street from StudioWed is notorious for making THE BEST cakes a bride can find! I have swooned over their buttercream since I first tasted it... it is truly unlike anything else out there. Indescribably delicious! Juanita's cakes are moist and fluffy, her frostings are out-of-this-world good, her fillings are scrumptious, and she has a SERIOUS talent for decorating. You simply step foot in Dulce Desserts and your mouth begins to water. {It smells that good in there!!!!} Her work is gorgeous, she's the sweetest person to work with, and her cakes are simply unbeatable. I didn't even bother taking Drew to any other cake tastings... after two years of weddings, bridal shows, and open houses, I knew what I wanted.

Cake Inspiration (from my Pinterest)

I won't spill the details of which flavors we're thinking or which design we decided upon, but I will give a hint:  it totally fits the pretty, classic, elegant, simple but lovely mood we're going for! :)

~ Kelly

Jennifer + Gene = Nashville Wedding, Part III

Hope you were able to view Jennifer and Gene's beautiful getting ready, pre-ceremony and ceremony photos in our Part II of the series of III! Enjoy reception goodness today with gorgeous photos By Shea.

Vendors who made the day happen:

Venues- Cathedral of the Incarnation and Hutton Hotel

Catering- Hutton Hotel

Photographer- By Shea

Florist- Brocade Nashville

Linens- Connie Duglin

Rentals- Classic Party Rental

Paper Goods- Sweet LIfe Designs

Lighting- Swank

Cake and cake stand- Maples Wedding Cakes

DJ- AllStar Entertainment (Casey Coleman)

Hair/Makeup- Style Kitchen

Transportation- First Impression Limo (Quentin Cole)

Rehearsal Dinner- Giovanni's

Jennifer and Gene, you and your families were the some of the best people in the world to work with! We wish you many, many years of delightful, wedded bliss!!

~ Mary Alice

Nashville Wedding Planner

A Delightful Day

Jennifer + Gene = Nashville Wedding, Part II

So.... I may have lied yesterday in Jennifer and Gene's rehearsal dinner post that I could do a post on their wedding day in one part. I'm going to need two parts for this gorgeousness! :) If you didn't see their rehearsal dinner post, you can see that here. Jennifer and Gene were married at Cathedral of the Incarnation and reception was at the Hutton Hotel. When Jennifer and I began working together to plan her wedding, she had a few of her vendors in place, however I got the joy of designing with Hillary from Brocade this amazing vision and look that Jennifer had for her modern wedding. Enjoy the ceremony and reception, part III, will come tomorrow!

Vendors who made the day happen:

Venues- Cathedral of the Incarnation and Hutton Hotel

Catering- Hutton Hotel

Photographer- By Shea

Florist- Brocade Nashville

Linens- Connie Duglin

Rentals- Classic Party Rental

Paper Goods- Sweet LIfe Designs

Lighting- Swank

Cake and cake stand- Maples Wedding Cakes

DJ- AllStar Entertainment (Casey Coleman)

Hair/Makeup- Style Kitchen

Transportation- First Impression Limo (Quentin Cole)

Rehearsal Dinner- Giovanni's

One of the most gorgeous group of ladies, ever!

Stay turned for Part III for reception EYE CANDY!!

~ Mary Alice

Nashville Wedding Planner

A Delightful Day

Kelly Plans a Wedding: The Lighting

Just as God said, "Let there be light!", the second I walked into the Livery Stables {where we're saying our I dos!}, I knew I'd be making the same declaration soon. I love love love the barn feel of our wedding venue and can't be thankful enough that I won't be sweating-at-the-wedding, but one of the drawbacks of having an entirely indoor wedding site in an authentic barn is that there is VERY little natural daylight. We have the option of opening two of the huge sliding barn doors {there's one in front of the ceremony altar and one in the back that leads to the little green porch} and there are two teensy little windows on the side doors leading to parking, but there's still a lot of darkness to overcome. And while they do have these dimmable gorgeous black antique lanterns that hang from the ceilings, I've just always had my heart set on having the ambience of Italian string lights at my wedding.

{from Alisha & Erik's wedding}

Enter Nashville Audio Visual. They have a large selection of lighting options for brides {everything from string lights to chandeliers and more!} and the most competitive prices on the market.  I want to Belle Meade-ify the Livery Stables a little by making it look richly lit. What better way than swags of gorgeous string lights, "candlelight"-colored accent lighting, and spotlights on our scrumptious, beautiful wedding cake and bar?

{from Ambra & Aaron's wedding}

Needless to say, I'm stoked. And my guests won't be sitting in the dark! :)

~ Kelly