Featured Weddings
Lauren & Adam's Intentionally Simple Nashville Wedding
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Featured Wedding
Lauren almost didn't go to the disco cowboy birthday party where she met Adam. She'd only been in Nashville four months and didn't even know the birthday girl. But something pushed her to go. And there was Adam, steady and sure, a ten-year Nashville veteran and the kind of guy who later thought to disconnect the Ring camera before surprising his fiancée with a house full of family.
Their engagement story set the tone for everything that followed. When Adam proposed at their favorite lake cabin in Chattanooga, nature threw everything at them—snow, sleet, torrential rain. The photographer hid in a shed. Adam went fishing in 30-degree weather just to calm his nerves. "It was horrible weather," Lauren laughs now. But It was chaotic, real, and somehow exactly right.
A Vision Rooted in Restraint
After attending multiple weddings the year before, Lauren knew exactly what she didn’t want: the cookie-cutter Nashville wedding and the over-the-top Pinterest tendency to add more, more, more. Instead, she and Adam chose intention over excess. "The simpler, the better," became her mantra—not because she didn't want it all (she absolutely did), but because she recognized something crucial.
They split their day between two of Nashville's most characterful spaces. The ceremony unfolded at a tiny chapel with an impossibly long aisle, immediate family only, with Adam's aunt officiating. The reception moved to the Hermitage Hotel (@hermitagehotel), one of Nashville's oldest and most storied venues.
Working with wedding planner Philocalist Designs (@philocalistdesigns), Lauren made each design decision by asking a simple question: Does this enhance the space or overwhelm it? She mixed thrifted treasures like satin and lace bows with modern touches, creating what she described as “romantic and whimsical, but with intention.”
Where Flowers Tell the Story
Lauren had a very specific floral idea that could have gone in a lot of directions: cascading tulips for her bridal bouquet. “I want cascading tulips,” she told her lead designer. “I’m not sure how to do that, but if you guys can make it work…”
Then her florals arrived — after a night spent in the bathtub with tornado sirens screaming — and they were everything she’d hoped for, only better. The cascading tulips created movement without chaos, romance without fuss. The ground florals at the reception became the first thing guests mentioned when they walked in~~.~~
"I'm a flower person," Lauren explains. "Flowers are my love language." For someone who'd spent hours planning every detail, who'd created Canva templates of her exact vision, having florals that exceeded her expectations felt like magic. Especially after the chaos of that week—when it seemed like nature itself was conspiring against their Friday wedding, only to deliver the single sunny day sandwiched between storms.
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The Details That Mattered
Remember that disco cowboy party where they met? Lauren's maid of honor had a cowboy hat specially made with the wedding date and Lauren's new initials. Adam got his own. When the dance floor opened and Lauren emerged in her reception dress, they both donned their hats and handed out light-up versions to every guest. Add blow-up stick ponies to the mix, and suddenly their Hermitage Hotel reception transformed into something delightfully unexpected.
"If you're in Nashville, you've got to play into it," Lauren grins. The night ended on Broadway, where they discovered their inflatable horses had somehow migrated to various bouncers and bartenders throughout downtown.
Being Present in the Moment
Madison Smith Photography (@madisonsmithphoto) captured it all—the moody storm clouds that finally broke, Lauren’s walk down the chapel aisle, the moment when formal elegance gave way to light-up cowboy hats. But for Lauren, who'd spent months meticulously planning, the real victory was simple: she got to be present.
"I don't even think I cared about the décor," despite spending hours choosing every detail. By trusting her vendors and letting go, she could focus on what mattered: Adam’s face as she walked toward him, her dad beside her, and the sacred feeling of that tiny chapel filled only with the people who shaped them.
When asked what advice she'd give other couples, Lauren circles back to this idea of presence, of taking time. "Really sit in that engagement period," she suggests. In an industry that pushes couples to book everything immediately, she advocates for breathing room, giving yourself time to be engaged, to breathe, to figure out what truly matters to both of you.
The Beauty of Showing Up
Lauren and Adam’s wedding worked because it was built on intention and authenticity. They chose venues that told their own stories. They selected florals that enhanced rather than overwhelmed. They honored their history with disco cowboy hats while creating new traditions with cascading tulips. Most importantly, they remembered that the best things in life—like love stories that begin at parties you almost skipped—happen when you show up as yourself.
In the end, after a week of weather chaos and years of dreaming, they got their day. The sun came out just for them. The flowers were perfect. And somewhere on Broadway, a bouncer is probably still wondering how he ended up with an inflatable horse.
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Photography: Madison Smith Photography (@madisonsmithphoto)
Planning: Philocalist Designs (@philocalistdesigns)
Venue: Hermitage Hotel (@hermitagehotel)
Florals: Poppy Flowers (@poppyflowersco)
