Although this isn’t the last wedding we have to post from 2011, (far from actually), it is definitely a great one to end the year on! We absolutely loved this backyard southern soirée and we know you will too! :). Rachel and Cody originally booked a venue in town but a few months before the wedding Rachel’s creative, wonderful mother pitched the idea of having it at their house… she showed up to dinner with Rachel and Cody with sketches and drawing of what it could be… and it was great!! I’m sooooo in love with this kind of super personal wedding. As a photographer it just makes it that much more special, plus they just had sooo much pretty stuff for us to photograph — and y’all know we love that! Following the pictures I will include a little blurb I had Rachel write about her wedding in her own words.
From Rachel: After getting engaged on black friday, we felt the pressure to get a venue booked immediately. We found a place in Lenoir City that seemed to fit our idea for an outdoor wedding and put a deposit down in January for out upcoming wedding in October! A close friend of my Moms was enlisted to help with all the flowers (she used to own her own shop) and the planning began!! Four months out from the wedding my Mom came to me with an idea to have our wedding at my parent’s house. She and her friends had drawn all these sketches and cut pictures out of magazines to present this “presentation” to my fiance and I about why the wedding would be perfect there. I was nervous about the time line, but work started immediately and I couldn’t believe how much work my Mom and all her friends put in to making our backyard the perfect spot. We have an old barn and dairy barn that were both transformed completely by two contractors!! Two bathrooms were put in the dairy barn and what used to be the milking parlor was redone to serve all the food. The area where the cows used to walk out became our dance floor with a little bit of pressure washing and four posts draped in Christmas lights! My old soccer coach built our arbor that we were married under and also the window boxes that hung on the barn. It was so amazing how everyone in my small town wanted to help and contribute to make this such a special day. One of my childhood friend’s Grandfather handled all the parking, ladies from church made these amazing drapes out of linen and burlap for the barn. My Mom and I have the same taste, so we had a blast planning, collecting, and decorating for this big day.We wanted each table to be different with buckets, pots, pewter pieces, and various textures of plants. The whole theme for this day actually came when we were shopping for my dress. I found a belt that was handmade and we both fell in love with the colors and bead work. So we bought the belt, and then found a dress to fit the belt:) I love all earth tones and mustard yellow so the color palette was easy and it was really important to me that everything have meaning behind it. I carried my Grandmother’s handkerchief in my bouquet and Cody and I wrote our own vows. A close friend in my church married us and my cousin provided the music with a guitar and banjo. All in all it was a gorgeous day to be surrounded by so many family and friends…and even more special that it could be at the house I grew up in!
http://www.cateringconnection-sweetwater.com/ – provided all the amazing food: fried chicken, shrimp and grits, country ham biscuits, friend green tomatoes, cupcakes and fried apple pies
http://www.rentalsrentals.net/ – the rustic brown chairs for seating and mustard napkins
http://www.alloccasionspartyrentals.com/ – tent and tables
http://www.soundforce.net – amazing dj! :)
