Rustic Romantic Barn Wedding in Franklin, TN – Florist * Event Designer * Certified Wedding Planner

One of my greatest pleasures in working as a wedding planner is when I get to work with a couple from the very beginning through the very end of the process. I love putting together those initial design concepts, traveling with the couple to choose visit venues, and then coming up with a full design that will complement the chosen venue and the couple’s vision. With Madison & Alex, I was able to do just that, walking with them every step of the way through the full planning process.

Romantic couples photos in front of the pond at Cedarmont Farms.

As with many of my couples, Madison and Alex did not live locally, so we did most of the planning via video chat to their home in California. The time difference can be a challenge, so sometimes we have to schedule meetings on nights and weekends, but I’m ok with that. A lot of wedding professionals keep strict office hours, but I figure that if you’re going to work the wedding industry, you might as well get used to working weekends!

Madison and Alex did choose to schedule two trips to Nashville over the course of the year – one for touring venues, and the other for tasting food and picking out rentals. We had SO much fun on these trips. Trying to pack everything into short trips can make for long days, but they really are such fun that no one minds the long hours.

For the venue, Madison knew that she wanted something rustic and romantic with an outdoor ceremony, so we toured three very different barn venues. She ended up falling in love with the ceremony space under the trees at Cedarmont Farm. The farm is unique in that it has many different spaces for photos, including a historic home, a field with a woodsy edging, a pond, and the barn.

The red barn is the main reception space at Cedarmont Farms.

Once settling on the venue, we were able to create a design to fit Madison’s rustic, romantic style. We went to the showroom at Southern Events in Franklin to pick out ruffled edge white china and soft pink napkins, then finished the design with soft white and pink flowers and greenery with candles.

Designs include white china, gold flatware, and pale pink napkins from Southern Events. Flowers included soft pinks and whites with greenery runners.

When I’m talking about flowers I always tell the client not to expect the colors to be a perfect match. Nature has the final say in a color, and the same type of flower may have a completely different color in two batches, varying depending on rainfall, temperature, soil changes, and other factors. But Mother Nature was on our side for this wedding, as the soft pink roses were a perfect match for the satin napkins.

On the day of the event, we were again blessed by Mother Nature – this time with perfect weather. It was a lovely April day with flowers just popping out and everything in that perfect shade of Spring green. Madison chose to get ready in Cedarmont’s getting ready suite, which is a great size for even larger bridal parties.

Madison’s mom assists her with the dress in the getting ready suite at Cedarmont.

The couple chose to have a friend officiate the ceremony, which can be so much more special than an officiant you’ve hardly met. There are some legal logistical challenges to having a friend officiate in Tennessee, so I’ve become a notary to get around that difficulty. I was able to legally marry Madison & Alex behind the scenes (i.e. do the paperwork), while their friend was able to perform the public ceremony without fear of the application being rejected.

With each couple I like to take a moment for a private viewing of the reception space. It’s often been months or a year of design and hard work, so I want them to have a chance to view the end result before guests come in to drop their things. In the end I think this design really came together!

And if there’s time, we have to take a picture to remember each other by! After being in your life for a year, it can be so hard to say goodbye!

After the ceremony, it’s time to party! Madison & Alex had some really fun ideas to make their wedding unique. First was the food truck, Califarmia, which served Asian-Fusion food instead of the traditional wedding cuisine. Guests went back for multiple trips of the Korean beef tacos and the teriyaki chicken bowls, and I’ll admit that I was thankful to avoid the typical chicken-and-fish option myself. But I’ll hand it to Califarmia, they never ran out of food! And I love their sustainable food and serving options!

Next up was the dessert bar! Alex and his family are from Philadelphia, where it is a tradition for each guest to bring cookies to weddings. Of course we had to get a cute little cake tower for cutting, too.

Working on this wedding with Madison & Alex was truly a dream. They are the perfect combination of sweet and fun-loving, and I loved getting to spend so much time with them and their lovely families. Each year I move on to the next set of couples and the next round of weddings, but I never forget those that came before. I’m thankful for channels like Instagram that allow me to follow along and feel like I’m still a tiny part of their lives.