This was by far one of the most emotional and beautiful weddings this Nashville Wedding Photographer has ever attended. I could write a book on this incredible day but instead I wanted to give Keatyn, the bride, a chance to speak on how the vision she had for her wedding day came to fruition. Read below from Keatyn:
There are no rules that say your wedding should take place outside…in the evening…in winter…however for me, it was a non-negotiable. In my case, come snow or ice storm, I was determined to deliver an intimate organic under the stars vibe to all my guests. I’m a December baby with a large bit of monochromatic OCD, aka “Obsessive Christmas Disorder”, so the day Nick proposed to me in November we committed to a winter wedding. I’m a huge fan of everything natural, love included. So given I didn’t want to wait a whole year to marry my prince charming, I quickly set a goal to make it happen that winter. Like as in February, just three short months away. I know I’m crazy, but given I’m a project manager by day, I just figured, what the hell lets just knock it out. Looking back now, that is one of the best decisions I made. In fact, I think that is one of the many reasons we loved our big day so vastly. That saying, “quick and painless”…well I found out that’s the case with weddings too. All that mattered was the passion…and we had that hands down, so the atmosphere I provided was just to simply add background noise.
My number one key ingredients next to our love, would be personalization and emotion. I have a past in music video production so visual aids and emotions are all I know and care about, in case you hadn’t figured that out already. I went into the venue search knowing it would need to house both an outdoor ceremony alongside an indoor reception. Yes, again, I knew it was winter but I really didn’t care as long as it felt like a loving night amongst the stars. Just ask John Myers, haha. I made it very clear on our first phone call that I was totally cool with getting hypothermia for the perfect setting and shot. Actually, I think it’s safe to say he was all in “because” of that statement. However, it could have been the, “I don’t give a shit what my napkins look like as long as you can capture our overflowing love like a romantic movie.” One or the other, he totally lived on the same creative wavelength I did, so from that point forward we just had an equal understanding and ran with it.
The Cordelle was our final decision due to its modern rustic state and outdoor evergreen landscaping. Pine trees became a huge highlight in our theme so when I saw the evergreens in their garden area, I right then and there knew the outcome. I could envision the evening, my personalized vows, the man of my dreams standing their gazing into my eyes, and all of the rest in its entirety. I’m actually pretty sure time stopped at that site visit…so for me that sealed the deal. That to say, I can’t even express the feeling that courtyard gave me when I was walking towards my groom. Alongside hearing our friend Chris’s voice as he lead the ceremony made it feel like home. We asked him to get ordained to marry us and thankfully he didn’t think twice, so obviously this added lots of personalization and emotion. The mood to be set during our personal vows was at utmost importance to me as that was the point of the whole day. Without a shadow of a doubt, writing our own vows was my favorite moment of the entire evening. They were so honest and raw, and that’s all anyone could ever ask for in my opinion. Then when you add overhead string lighting looking down upon a center aisle of tall white pillar candles sitting on tree stumps cut from my Grandfathers farm you develop the most intimate lighting of the century. Dim lighting was definitely my secret weapon for creating calm connected guests. It was some kind of magical ya’ll. A truly chilling experience for everyone (us included) while watching us say “I do” under the stars. PS: it ended up being 75 degrees under a cloudy wintery “looking” sky. So God was definitely showing off that evening hahaha.
A fan favorite moment was the second we kissed and the song lyrics “I heard sirens in my head from the first time we met” played loudly across the sound system. The song “False Alarm” by Matoma was a moment we had waited for since the second we heard the song whilst driving on 65N one night. I’ve had so many people ask me what the complete playlist was as we went non-tradition with a modern contemporary pop vibe to bring in an empowering sketch. With Nick having a musically inclined background this was at the top of his list. Actually while we are the subject of music, can I also share that my husband sang to me at the reception?!?! #NOWORDS Many of our guests had no clue he used to be a lead singer/musician in a band so this surprise was something everyone was shocked over. On the flip side, given I knew that Nick was going to be singing to me, I secretly asked his all time favorite female country singer Cyndi Thomson to surprise him with a performance. Folks, this secret was so very hard to keep from him but it was so worth it, because you would have thought I had parted the Red Sea by the look on his face when she came out. It makes me laugh just thinking about it. I knew Cyndi through a best friend, but had never introduced Nick to her, so I had been saving this idea in my pocket for many years knowing this day would hopefully come around.
The craziest thing about this whole dream I’m living in, is I was by no means the girl that envisioned her wedding day as a little girl. Quiet frankly I wasn’t even the girl that was writing his last name next to mine. I’m uber independent…or was! All that to say, when you look at the imagery John captured you will find out very quickly that all that changed with this amazing man I now call my husband. He made me want to need someone, he made me the woman I am today, and most importantly he taught me how to accept love. I say it often, that the two most important things in life is learning how to give out love and how to let it come in. I’ve learned that under that acceptance…life can by abundant. And luckily, by the grace of God, mine has become just that. ABUNDANT, and I will never take that fore-granted.
Truth is, I could go on and on about my big day and our love, but I’ll spare you any more rambling. So let me conclude with if you are wanting to create a moment that you will never forget, my personal advise is to only focus on these three things; love, personalization and emotion. Whatever gives you these three things, then focus on those and leave everything else in the dust. Especially your napkins haha. Spend your money where it matters most, starting with your memory bank. Again, I’m fully aware that I’m one of the lucky ones by finding this type of love I receive and give everyday, but on the days that may get heavy, I’m happy to know that we can pull out this timestamped piece of history and press play. It’s beyond priceless art that brings magical bursts of bliss to my eyes in seconds. Cheers to raw, true, honest love my friends. I’m proof it exists.
XO
⁃ Keatyn Swift Wright
