June 5, 2015: Rebecca & Bruce Stubblefield:
Rebecca & Bruce were married at Lindsay Street Hall in Chattanooga, TN, Rebecca's FAVORITE city. I do believe that she is its biggest cheerleader. :) Rebecca, Bruce, Casey, and I all went to college at UT in Chattanooga, and so did most of the wedding party. This awesome, artsy, beautiful city will always have a special place in all of our hearts.
Anyway, so, back to the #Stubblefieldsforever wedding. Yes, that's the hashtag they used for the day. Clever, right? It was stunning. And so much fun. Casey spent all day with the boys, aka, his best friends ever, and I spent all day with the girls. Half of the bridesmaids are some of my dearest friends as well, and I got to know a little bit about the other girls that day, too. They all looked pretty in their long, blush colored, sweetheart neckline bridesmaids dresses, but Rebecca...well, she was stunning.
Their love story, as told by Rebecca:
"Bruce and I met my freshman year of college, his sophomore year, at the BCM. We were both in other relationships at the time and remained friends. When both of those relationships ended a year later our friendship grew, and Bruce asked me to dinner. We started dating officially in October of 2010. We dated for 3 more years and 7 months until Bruce proposed to me May 25, 2014! I immediately said yes and we were married 1 year and a week later on June 5, 2015."
Favorite part of the day:
Rebecca: "My favorite part of the wedding day was seeing Bruce as I walked down the aisle. His love and excitement was genuinely reflected in his face for me as I came down. I also loved taking pictures with our wedding party and having fun with all of our close friends. We felt so special!"
Bruce: "My favorite part was actually getting to marry Rebecca."
We worked with Tim Ivey with Imago Photography for the Stubblefield wedding. He is sooo talented. Check out the Stubblefield photos here! Goetz Catering handled the food, and everything was SO delicious. Margie Clark with Goetz catering made the pretty cake. Flowers were by Blue Ivy and Chattanooga Florist. Wedding Coordinator was Lisa Barnes with Lindsay Street Hall , and the DJ was from Lindsey Street Hall as well; his name was Ian. The girl's dresses and guy's tuxes all came from Monica's in Chattanooga. (Groomsmen, bridesmaids, and wedding gown) June 5th was a fantastic day, and we are so happy for our new married friends. Here is their Intro video!
June 12, 2015: Cally & Brian Daley
Cally & Brian were married at Crescent Bend in Knoxville, TN. The couple was married around this big, beautiful fountain that came to life when the bride & groom kissed. Judy McMillan is the coordinator there, and she did a fantastic job putting and keeping everything together and moving smoothly. All Occasion Catering provided the food and the cake; I wasn't there to eat anything, but the cake looked beautiful in pictures, and I hear everything was yummy! The guys were dressed in black tux pants and vests with bright pink ties, except for Brian, who wore a pretty, multicolored tie. Those were all from Savvi formalwear. The girls wore bright pink, one shouldered dresses from Alfred Angelo. The color flattered all the girls so well! Cally was stunning in the "Divina" dress from Maggie Sottero, purchased from The White Room in Lebanon, TN. There's a link to the dress, above, but I LOVED the train of this dress and how much texture it had to it. Cally really looked gorgeous in it, a glowing bride.
Their love story, as told by Cally:
"Brian and I met at my first job when I was 15, and he was 18 at Party City. My first love. I moved to Chicago, and we broke up, then when I came back to Tennessee for college, we couldn't stay away from each other. The rest is history, I guess. We've been together for over four years this time."
Favorite part of the day:
"Standing at the top of the stairs looking down at him and all of our family around us. Brian said seeing me at the top of the stairs. That was an amazing moment! Time stood still for a second."
We worked with Sullivan Photography, based out of Knoxville, TN. The photos I saw from the Daley wedding were so pretty, and looking at her website, I see that all of her posted photos are so good! Elegant and well composed. Beautiful colors. And her prices are reasonable too! Can't beat that. Here is Cally & Brian's Intro!
June 13, 2015: Emily & Caleb Barnes
Emily & Caleb were married at Sherry Vinson Farms in Sparta, TN. This venue is an outdoor/indoor venue with a big beautiful pond with a fountain and a large red barn that decorates well inside. There's also a pavilion and a gazebo, and there's even a house on site for your wedding party to get ready and/or stay in. This venue site also has carriages available to use! We actually used two of their carriages (a Cinderella carriage and a bigger carriage that held our entire wedding party!), and we were so happy with their service. Elizabeth Hale and Patti Ross coordinated the wedding, and they also created some of the prettiest flower arrangements we have ever seen. For real, though. Hannah Potts of A Head of Time Salon and Spa did the ladies' hair, and Julia Jarvis with Laura Mercier Cosmetics did the makeup. The girls wore strapless dresses in this gorgeous shade of purple. Brad Norris and Cindy Vickers from The Studio provided the music and did a great job all day, during the ceremony and reception. They are so easy to work with! The Sweet Shop provided the cake, and it had the cutest cake topper - two little birds facing each other, with the male bird wearing a fireman's hat and the female one as a teacher. (Caleb is a firefighter, and Emily is a teacher!) We worked with Casey Mackie Photography that day; she is a joy to work with and is so easy-going.
Their love story, as told by Emily:
"Caleb and Emily met in May 2013 at a birthday dinner for his sister-in-law. Their friendship grew over the summer and they were "official" by October. Emily spent the next year teaching Caleb the rules of hockey and forcing him to become a Preds fan. In return, Caleb taught her about football and everything there is to know about superheroes.
"The next summer, Caleb proposed at a cabin in front of their closest friends. [He] proposed on Friday, June 13, 2014. (Our first date was on a Friday the 13th, so to us, it's good luck!) That night, several of our best friends were at a cabin for a bonfire. Caleb and his buddies had worked hard all week to get the cabin in tip-top shape, and Caleb (as always), was a man with a plan. Unfortunately... it didn't go quite as planned, but it was still perfect.
"Caleb had devised a wonderful playlist of some of our favorite songs. He had two in particular that were designated specifically for the proposal: "Who I Am With You" was the signal for Caleb's friend, Josh, to get his camera ready... "Like Jesus Does" was to be the tune he got on a knee to. It was time. Everyone was outside on the back porch. Emily and Caleb were swinging on the porch swing. Caleb's friends and Emily's sister knew what was about to happen..... but Emily's friends were still in the dark. With :28 seconds left to "Who I Am With You", Emily's best friend Jessica went into the cabin, unplugged Caleb's phone with the playlist, and plugged in her phone to blast some Kings of Leon. Now it's funny. But at the time, Caleb was frantic. He decided to give it some time and try again.
"Plan B. Plan B failed because another one of Emily's best friends, Whitney, was in the swing with them and Caleb thought proposing to two women might be inappropriate.
"Plan C failed because although it was just Caleb and Emily swinging this time, she was still deep in conversation with Whitney discussing perfect marshmallow roasting techniques.
"Plan D. Finally, the right playlist, the right swing occupants, the right time. Caleb said a lot of sweet things, was nervous as could be, and we promised each other forever.....and they lived happily ever after!"
Favorite Part of the day:
"My favorite part of the day was seeing Caleb for the first look. There was so much anticipation and nervousness leading up to it! Seeing his reaction and being able to give him a hug helped calm the nerves. I also loved being able to incorporate aspects about firefighting into the wedding because that is a passion of Caleb's. It was such a special day, and we are so grateful to all of our family and friends who made it so memorable."
I've known Emily for about 16 years - we used to do gymnastics together! It was an honor to be a part of her big day, and she was just so beautiful! Here is their Intro video:
June 20, 2015: Kirsten & Dean Franklin
Kirsten and Dean were married at New Heights Chapel in Murfreesboro, TN. We showed up as the wedding party was taking a photo break and got to meet everyone. This wedding party was full of some sweet and fun people, who were God-fearing and spirit-led. Some of my favorite parts of the day including listening to the girls pray together before the ceremony (and the men did the same), and listening to the ceremony itself. The couple's vows were so lovely, meaningful, and spiritual. I teared up, and I had just met them that day! The girls wore different navy dresses and carried yellow flowers, and the guys wore nice grey tuxes. I just loved this wedding, the couple, and the family was very caring and easy to work with as well. The photographer was Chloe Alicia Photography - this girl was super sweet, and we enjoyed spending the afternoon/evening with her. She took some pretty awesome pictures of the Franklin wedding; you can see some by clicking on the link!
Their love story, as told by Kirsten:
"It all began in August of 2011 at freshman orientation, I was beginning my sophomore year and Dean, his freshman year. As a Resident Assistant, I was at one of the orientation shindigs seeing friends and catching up from the summer. I was already pretty good friends with John Franklin, Dean's older brother, who had been there the year before, and we spent some time talking about Israel, where I had traveled that summer. At one point, Dean was walking by, and John called him over and introduced him. We said hello and that was about it. :) (Later, I found out that Dean talked to John that night and asked if he was interested in me, and when John said "No! She's like a sister," Dean just tucked that away for future notice).
"That fall, we ended up having one class together, and being at a small school, we saw each other frequently. He was in a similar friend group, and so began our friendship. Soon before Thanksgiving, on a Saturday night, I had a question about a class paper, and got Dean's number from a friend (because obviously there wasn't anyone else in the class to contact. Haha). We ended up meeting in the Student Center on campus intending to work on the paper, BUT instead we talked for almost 3 hours straight. I distinctly remember one point, Dean said, "Kirsten, you know one thing I really don't like about Bryan College? The fact that girls and guys hang out, and everyone automatically assumes that they're interested in each other or already dating!" (In the back of my mind, I'm thinking, "Ok, clearly he just wants to be friends...I can do that!" HA...)
"One big conversation turned into texting here and there, hanging out with friends, and just the norm you would expect between two friends. It wasn't until that Christmas break that things turned a corner. I went home after finals that fall with pneumonia and bronchitis, and Dean texted me every day to see how I was feeling. Both my mom and sister picked up on this and asked me, "Kirsten, are you sure he isn't interested in you??" And I assured them, no he wasn't, he was just a sweet, caring guy, but didn't like me in that way...
"However, coming back from that break, when we saw each other again, things felt a little bit different. I tried hard not to fall for him, but with having classes together literally every day, it made that pretty much impossible. There were several key conversations we had, one of them being at a bonfire where we got to share out testimonies (unknown to Dean, I had asked the Lord for this opportunity before things moved ahead in any way). A couple weeks later, I and three of my girlfriends were asked by Dean and three other guys to a banquet at school. (And that is a whole other story for another time! :) Long story short, we had a great time! When we got back to school late that night, I remember staying up with Jessalyn, a mutual friend of ours, and just talking with her, wanting to know SO bad what Dean Franklin thought of me. It was enough to drive me crazy.
"That semester, a group of us had been going to a college Bible study on Sunday nights at a professor's home. Because of the banquet the night before, many of us had slept in and not gone to church. And since I had a car, I texted some girls and Dean ;) to see if any of them needed a ride to Bible study. But guess who was the only one to show up...yep, Dean! So he and I went to the study, and then on the way home, he asked me what I had that week -- which led me to start listing them all off, and Dean said, "Well, why don't we stop at Wendy's and get a chocolate frosty? We can just sit for a few minutes and not stress about school." (In the back of my mind, I'm thinking, "This is perfectly ok! We can get frosties and just be friends, RIGHT?") We parked, went inside, and maybe because of my nerves or something, I couldn't stop talking! Finally, at one point, I blanked on something to talk about, and Dean took a deep breath and said something to the effect: "Kirsten, I really like you. I have from the moment I met you, and for the last couple months, I've just taken time to get to know you, and I'd like to date you." I'm pretty sure my mouth just hung open, and I was speechless for a few minutes, but somewhere in there I told him I liked him, too.
"A few weeks later, he spoke with my dad and expressed his interest in dating me. Long story short, my parents asked us to wait for a while, work on developing a friendship first. It wasn't easy, but looking back, we would both do it all over again.
"Like turned into love, and about a year later, we started dating, and about a year and a half after, he proposed. The rest is history. :)"
Here is their Intro!
June 27, 2015: Mercedes & Jake Johnson
Mercedes & Jake were married on land that a family friend owned. On it sat a beautifully decorated barn, and the couple had created this pretty ceremony and reception area around it. More about that later, cause we were seriously impressed by this venue!We spent all morning with Mercedes and her bridesmaids. Let me tell you, Mercedes is a funny, funny girl. Absolutely gorgeous, but down to earth and fun-loving too. She and her bridesmaids were so fun to be around. They got ready at Salon 22-7, and the girls all rocked some pretty perfect curls after a few hours. Chelsea Waddell did the bridesmaids' make-up, and Mira Gonzalez did make-up for Mercedes. The girls wore these amazing cream/natural colored dresses, and Mercedes's dress was covered in lace with a little sparkle, and she wore turquoise jewelry. Seriously pretty. Take a look and see!:
Their love story, as told by Mercedes:
"Our story begins almost 6 years ago over Christmas break my Freshman year of college.
Five years later and I still remember what I was wearing that night like it was yesterday. I was a Freshman in college home on Christmas break, and I had gone to a friend's house one night with some of my girl friends from high school. We were all standing around and catching up as we had all gone to different colleges. As the night went on, a couple of our other friends had shown up, and we were all just hanging out and talking. Well in walked two guys, one looking like he could lift a house with one finger (that would be Jake).... and needless to say I was VERY impressed with his physique :) So like any girl would have done, I told all my other friends about the hottie tottie who just walked through the door and of course what did they do? They ran right up to him and started their embarrassing ranting about "their friend who thought he was just soooo attractive." So as I am coming out of the bathroom they shove us together to start talking and introduce ourselves. Well the night ends after the awkward encounter with me passing out my phone number to that hot guy I just met. Over the next few years, we would text every now and again with nothing coming of it since I was 3 1/2 hours away at ETSU in Johnson City.
"Fast forward to April 2014. I receive a Facebook message that said "Is Tanner Vaughn your little brother?" That is what started it all!! We began talking all the time. On May 10, 2014 my brother and I had a sibling evening planned, and we were going to go frog giggin (I only know the date because that was Jake's TTU graduation date). And of course my baby brother ditched me at the last minute, but I was not letting that stop me from "giggin". What do I do? I improvise and ask Jake if he would like to go with me. He said yes and that my friends would be our first date! We have seen each other nearly every day since. I even attempted to run him off in the beginning because, well... that is just what I used to immaturely do. I remember praying the same prayer all the time,... "Obviously what I have been doing hasn't worked so I'm going to try to do this completely different. No matter what I am going to be open minded, and, God, if you brought him back into my life, and I am actually enjoying my time with him, I am going to let it happen. I am going to stop fighting and follow Your guidance." No joke I literally used to pray about it ALL the time. I did things completely different in my relationship with Jake, and it turned into something magical.
"Fast forward again to October 10,2014. My family and I had gone to watch my man coach his football team, the York Dragons. Halftime buzzer goes off and all of a sudden... I hear my favorite cowboy, George Strait's voice singing "I Cross My Heart" (aka our song). I meet Jake on the 50 yard line, and he gets down on one knee and proposes. There were SOOOO many details put into the proposal to make it perfect. I couldn't have asked for anything more spot on for us! Five months may seem like a short courtship but we have known each other for 5 years and Jake and I have always had an open and honest relationship. He completely understands me. He understands my obsession with my four legged son (my dog Wrangler) and my love for George Strait. He makes me want to love stronger and deeper and raise a family alongside him one day. He lets me be my weird self and together we become a weird couple who work and understand each other. It has been the most real and honest relationship I could ever imagine. He has gone to church with me since Day 1 and has always been eager to study the Bible and grow our love of God with me. I know I am hard to handle and VERY hard to love but he was patient and showed me what it was like to feel loved. I made me want to let my wall down and let him in and that is exactly what I did. I can't wait to be Jake's wife and see what life has in store for us! I love Jake forever and always. No matter what."
Favorite part of the day:
"I would say how it exceeded my fairytale dreams. Every detail was more than I could have asked for and it made me realize how truly blessed I am."
Pam Kenner coordinated the beautiful day. The bride's grandmother put together the fantastic flowers. Tammy Capps made the DELICIOUS cupcakes,and the food was from The Hatcher's Catering and More. This day was the first day that we were able to work with Lady and Mister Photographie, and they were sooooo great. They are both so kind, and their photos are pretty amazing, especially of the Johnson wedding. It was, overall, such a good day. Here is their Intro!
