Erica and Dennis are a lovely, creative couple from Washington D.C. who I had the privilege of working with the month of their wedding! I love taking a brides vision and creating her dream day, but when a bride wants the freedom to create on her own, I also love helping with the last minute details and coordinating the wedding day. Erica was the latter, with Dennis her strong partner along the way. I hope you enjoy reading about their intimate wedding.
Erica and Dennis' day started off with what she describes as her favorite part!
One of my favorite moments from the day was our first look. I didn't have cold feet, but was feeling nervous about everything coming together. When I saw him, though, I instantly felt at ease, burst into tears of happiness and knew that it was going to be a perfect day.
Dennis and Erica's love story poured into their day and really represented who they are as a couple.
Dennis and I were together for 6 years before we got engaged during a weekend treehouse camping trip. We love being outdoors and knew immediately that we'd want to have a small, rustic outdoor wedding in my hometown of Nashville, TN. We live in Washington, DC so had to do a lot of the planning from afar, which was sometimes challenging, especially when it came to venue selection. We were initially thinking of a farm wedding, but found most of them to be way beyond our budget so we tried to think of other outdoor options like a nice rental house, garden or park. When we found Montgomery Bell State Park, we knew that it was the perfect place to say I do, surrounded by the beauty of nature and love of all our family and friends.
DIY Decor!
When it came to decorations, we knew we wanted to DIY as much as we could since Dennis is so creative. In fact, his very first gift to me was a bracelet made out of a bicycle spoke (he's a bike mechanic!) so as a token of gratitude for sharing our day with us, he made a bicycle spoke bracelet for each of our guests. Everything had our touch, from the songs we chose to walk down the aisle, to the pumpkin decorations we grew, to the bicycle pie topper Dennis made, each selection we made represented us individually and as a couple.
Erica's advice for other brides:
My advice to other brides is to not get too focused on making sure all the little details are perfect because things will inevitably go wrong at some point, but luckily it's not about those things, it's about marrying the love of your life and that's what makes it the perfect day.
Guest Count: 40
Planner: Megan Scurlock, Locklane Weddings & Events
Ceremony Venue: Montgomery Bell State Park – Lake Woodhaven
Reception Venue: Montgomery Bell State Park – Golf Pro Shop
Photographer: Whitney Raquel Photography
Florals: Basil & Bergamot Flower Farm
Centerpieces: DIY (with flowers from Basil & Bergamot)
Catering: Jim 'N Nick's
Pies: Papa C Pies
DJ: Friend of couple, Matt Suitt
Hair & Makeup: Blowout Company
Officiant: Sherrie Binkley
