2020 started off as the best year yet with my first wedding of the year. I had a blast working with bride Paige and designing both her wedding and flowers, and now I can’t wait to share them with my readers.
The day started at Blowout Co, which is one of my favorite salons for wedding days because you can rent out the whole salon for your bridal party hair and make-up.
While the girls were getting ready, we were busy prepping for the ceremony. Haint Blue Collective traveled to Nashville especially for this wedding, and I’m so grateful to Kate for capturing all the little details in her photos.
In addition to photography, Kate designed the invitations and provided calligraphy for all of the stationery and place cards. Isn’t she talented?!?
Ceremony and reception were held at the Noelle: A Tribute Hotel in downtown Nashville. Noelle’s Saidee gallery is the perfect blank slate for design, with its crisp white walls, oversized windows, and elegantly neutral flooring. No hideous ballroom carpets here! Curtains from the 1980’s? No way! This is NOT your typical hotel ballroom.
One thing that I love about the Noelle is their built-in bar and cocktail space. Guests love the atmosphere, and the separate space makes room flips a breeze. Lots of comfy couches allow guests to spread out and stay for a while. A comfortable cocktail space makes all the difference in guest mood and enjoyment of the event. While couples are away taking photos, guests don’t want to feel like they are just waiting on the party to start. Noelle manages this transition better than any other venue in town that I’ve seen.
When designing for this winter wedding, bride Paige and I wanted a warm, cozy feel, so we went with a rich velvet linen in charcoal gray, accented by satin pink napkins. Velvet is THE trend of 2020, and I am in love with the fabric. The mix of velvet and satin provides a texture difference that draws the eye and makes you just want to touch everything in sight. A dingy white polyester linen will drag down any design, but a quality linen will elevate it like nothing else. These beauties came from Southern Events in Franklin, where they have a showroom that I could play in all day.
Grand floral arrangements highlighted the height of the ballroom. Flowers were selected in blush, burgundy, and hints of navy blue. My favorite are the tutu pink roses, which opened into blooms of the most perfect peachy blush. Other flowers included peachy pink stock, blackberry scabiosa, burgundy spray roses, burgundy red astilbe, two kinds of eucalyptus, and huckleberry greens. The bride also wanted navy berry stems, which aren’t really a thing in February, but I bet you didn’t even notice that they are faux.
Nothing says luxury like a pomegranate, which is associated with abundance due to its many seeds. We just caught the tail end of the 2020 winter pomegranate crop, and I must have called half of the wholesalers and grocery store chains in America to source enough. The burgundy red pomegranates and pears at each place setting bring out the hint of red in the flowers, tying in this design.
For the ceremony, Paige & Ben had the most darling ideas to make the moment special for them. Paige’s sweet mother walked her down the aisle, where they met the entire family for a group give-away of the bride. The bridesmaids carried winter muffs instead of flowers, and of course the groomsmen just HAD to have some fun with those.
For the reception Noelle provided a three-course plated meal, including dessert instead of the traditional cake cutting. Guests rocked out to music provided by Nashville Party Authority. And of course, no reception would be complete without throwing the groom into the air.
Venue & Catering: The Noelle @noelle_nashville
Photography & Stationary: Haint Blue Collective @haintbluecollective
Ceremony Musician: The Wedding Guitarist @nashvilleweddingguitarist
DJ: Nashville Party Authority @nashvillepartyauthority
Linens: Southern Events @southerneventsonline
Planning, Design, & Flowers: Kelsey Gray Events @kelseygrayevents
Hair & Make-up: Blowout Co @blowoutco
