Vendor Spotlight: Gray Photography

Wow- this post has been a long time coming. I've written and re-written it over and over, trying to find the right words to use. Essentially, Mr. SE and I had a falling out with our initial photographers, one that has carried on for over 9 months now. It's something that no bride should have to deal with, and I hope none of you incur this same type of situation during what should be the happiest months of your life together. But being the optomist that he is, Mr. SE has encouraged me to take our lemons and make some great lemonade.

We decided to take a deeper look at the people who would be involved in our wedding, especially our photographers. They play a big part in capturing the emotions and actions on the day we commit to spend the rest of our lives together. I received some great advice from my planner, and took it to heart. And who else should do that besides the best photographers in Nashville (and maybe even the country)?

So now, Mr. SE and I are very honored to introduce you to our fabulous photographers, Zach and Jody Gray. After lots of praying and hard thinking, we feel like they were placed in our lives by something bigger than ourselves. And we couldn't be happier! If you've interacted with the Gray's before, I'm sure you know what I'm talking about. They have such a warm and calming spirit, and it's really a blessing to have them in our lives and involved in our wedding.

ps. Head over to their blog to see the rest of our engagement shoot. We'll get a special gift if we reach 50 comments, so help me out and leave one too.

Drumroll Please.....

We booked our venue! Those of you who read regularly know that this has been an ongoing process, and we're glad to finally have a location set and paid for. We're having the ceremony at the Cathedral of the Incarnation. While the rules of the church are a little difficult to deal with, being married in a place this beautiful is definitely worth it.

And now I'm ready to finally reveal our new reception location: War Memorial Plaza for cocktails...

...and Auditorium (dinner and dancing)! We're super excited about this venue, it's everything we wanted, and we can't wait to begin planning the details!

all War Memorial photos are by David Wright

She Takes The Cake

Alright, that was very corny. Do you want less posts a day and more clever titles? Didn't think so. Amy from {with the pixie grin} had her wedding last weekend. I've been following her blog for awhile now, and it was quite exciting to see all of her hard work come to fruition. One of my favorite aspects of her wedding was the cake. She blogged about ordering from Publix, and I could hardly contain my excitement while waiting to see a picture. It's settled. We'll be getting ours from Publix too. I love the simplicity of the design, especially with her homemade cake topper.


Contact Amy @ {amylynnfrank@gmail.com} if you're interested in ordering a topper
Photography Daniel Meigs
Cake from Publix in Brentwood, Dianne

Nashville Photographers

Photo from Dove Photography
Being from the Washington, DC area I'd always figured that's where I would be married. However, once I came down to college in North Carolina I was hooked on southern culture. Before the Nashville news, I figured that Mr. SE and I would be wed in his hometown of Atlanta. The cost of weddings in metro DC is exorbitant- we're talking $8,000 for a venue rental on Saturday. By the way, that's not including any rentals, food, flowers, etc. Just the walls and floor. Holy smokes!

When Mr. SE moved to Nashville, and I started beginning my job search for the area, it became apparent that Tennessee will be *our* new state for at least the next 3-5 years. I like the idea of having our friends and family come experience our nuptials in a place that is completely ours- not particularly belonging to either part of the couple but equally between the two. Not to mention the financial incentive of having a wedding in Nashville is incredibly appealing.

Don't get too excited- I probably still won't be able to afford letterpress. There are some things in Nashville that I didn't expect: the abundance of photographers, and price of makeup/hair. Looking back, I suppose these should have being apparent seeing as the city is such a mecca of artsy folks (which I love to have around!) and HQ of country music (hence expensive hair/makeup services). The photographers in Nashville are amazing!Photo from Dove Photography

I started with the dream team of Arlund, Dove, and Gray. They're Nashville wedding photography royalty- you all know (and love their work). I thought that being a small city, there wouldn't be much to offer in terms of variety with the wedding industry. I've begun to collect all sorts of vendor information over the past year, and now I have over 40 (yes 40!) wedding photographers in the area!

Housing Search: Part I

Today is a super busy day. I'm getting back into the grind of school and trying to get everything done before next Friday. Why next Friday? I'll tell you about my special plans in a couple days.

Mr. SE and I had a great time looking for apartments. I'm happy to report there were no fights, although things did get a little testy around Werthan Mills. We drove around for six hours without getting out of the car. We looked downtown, uptown, midtown, suburbs, west end, sylvan park, and hermitage. We're in Hermitage right now, Mr. SE drives one mile to work, and he'd like to stay close. It'd be a little easier to search for a place if I knew where I'd be working.... Nevertheless, we covered a lot of ground.

Right now our main decision is whether to rent an apartment or lease to own a house/townhouse. Housing prices still have farther to fall, so I think we're going to stick with the apartment for the next six months. We're right by Priest lake, and I love being able to go out there and picnic in the nice weather. And Mr. SE likes to fish. How cute is this picture of Mr. SE and Duffie?

*** I'm going to have a Dancing With The Stars recap later today***

Out Of Town Bags

Kate Parker weddings makes fantastic OOT bags for many different areas of the country. We can't spring for the cost of these gifts, but they're great for inspiration to make our own. Since 95% of our guests will be traveling from out of state, it'll be a destination wedding for most of our friends and family. Nashville is our new home town too, so we'd love to give everyone a great experience. I love the idea of OOT bags for guests who will be traveling in. It'd be a great way to show them a little bit of Nashville flavor.

This basket has Goo Goo Clusters, water, a local map, and some homemade cookies. Based on our personalities and friends, I think a tiny bottle of Jack Daniels would go over really well! On the topic of getting Nashville flavor, we like to rent transportation to give our guests a tour of downtown in between the ceremony and reception.

What would you include in a Nashville OOT bag?

Random Want for Household Items

I'll be moving to Nashville after graduation. Aside from being obsessed with all things wedding, I love decorating my living space. I'm super excited about getting into a new apartment. Our color palette is a modern twist on neutrals: black, espresso (gold tinted), and taupe. It'll allow us to keep some older pieces (save my Carolina blue toile bedroom set), and mix in some new!