We were lucky photographers chosen to photograph Cooper & Kara's wedding at The Wrens Nest in Murfreesboro, TN. The venue offers a unique environment that comes with gorgeous woods with rocks covered in the most beautiful moss. We asked Kara to write about her day and you'll se below her experience with planning a wedding and her experience with getting married and how it all turned out!
"I’m a planner. I’m so much of a planner that I actually booked our wedding venue, The Wren’s Nest, before Cooper and I got engaged. Go ahead – judge me. I’m one of those girls! But to be fair, Cooper told me that he was going to propose before the end of the year and I knew that I wanted for us to get married in October which is an extremely popular month for weddings in Tennessee. I knew I had to act fast to get a venue that fit us perfectly, so (unbeknownst to me) two weeks before we were even engaged, I booked a venue.
The Wren’ s Nest was my dream of a wedding venue. For a few years now, I’ve had it in my mind that I wanted to get married in the woods. I have no idea where this came from, but it seemed so romantic to me. My vision came to life when Cooper and I visited The Wren’s Nest for the first time. You walk through a path in the woods to an open meadow surrounded by trees. It took my breath away. It was exactly what I had pictured in my head and the reception space, a beautiful barn, was perfect for after the ceremony.
Besides it being nearly 86 degrees, the day of our wedding was everything I could have asked for. It was important to Cooper and I that we had a more personal ceremony so along with writing our own vows, we asked my brother, Lee, to get ordained. Both of my parents are retired Air Force so we also asked Chaplain Robert Dunbar, from the Air Force base where both my mom and Lee served, to perform the ceremony alongside Lee. Cooper’s sister, Madison, was one of my bridesmaids and my other brother, Dale, read a piece of scripture.
Because I’m a planner I wanted to make sure every detail was perfect, but looking back at my wedding day the thing I remember most is the feeling of looking to my side and seeing my husband beside me, dancing with my best friends and having everyone who both Cooper and I hold near and dear to our hearts in one room. My one piece of advice to future brides is don’t sweat the small stuff. No one will remember what color napkins you chose or if you had the fanciest flatware – plan a night to celebrate the love between you and your husband and your guests will walk away with the memory of how much fun they had.
I also wanted to give a quick shout out to John. There was not a single thing we would change about our engagement or wedding photos and I know that I will always turn to him for photos in the future. So thank you, John, for surpassing mine and Cooper's expectations and for the beautiful photos we will look at for years to come."
- Kara Fulgum Luton
