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A Classic Church Wedding in Clarksville, TN

Reception at the Wilma Rudolph Event Center

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I can’t even begin to describe how important this wedding was to my sweet family. Grayson has been my brother-in-law for eight years now and I was so thrilled when he began dating Katlyn. As the sister-in-law, it was crucial to me that Grayson fall in love and marry the perfect person to be his wife aka my new sister-in-law. He just had to marry someone with a sense of humor, down-to-earth, smart, reliable, and most importantly…FUN! I think I started telling Grayson he needed to “wife her” within the first few months of meeting her. 

Grayson and Katlyn had a beautifully classic church wedding at the Hilldale Baptist Church in Clarksville, TN. We were really blessed to have the Harper House for them to get ready in before their ceremony. All of the windows and open rooms provided amazing natural light which is basically a photographer’s love language! Katlyn was so sweet and just made my “job” so easy that day. Being the photographer for such important people in your life is, believe it or not, super stressful.

One aspect of the wedding day that was really important to Grayson was that their first look took place in the church where they were getting married. That first time he saw her in her wedding dress had to be with her walking down the actual aisle to him! I thought this was really really sweet because my husband and I did the exact same thing for our first look! This wedding was packed with really sweet moments. For example, Grayson and Katlyn exchanged gifts before their first look and it was just so so sweet because they unknowingly got each other the same gift! Like how perfect are you for each other if you give the same wedding day gift! I won’t spoil it though so scroll down to see what they gifted each other!

Do I even need to say how much I love these two and how happy I am that they are now married?! Grayson and Katlyn, thank you so much for allowing me to be your photographer on one of the most important days of your life. I hope you love the images that we captured!!

He bought her a new bible with her new last name embossed on the cover.

And she did the same….

Upon exiting the church, Katlyn’s dad had a special surprise for her. He’d read about an Ancient Indian Legend about butterfly releases at weddings.

“If anyone desires a wish to come true, they must first capture a butterfly and whisper that wish to it. Since a butterfly can make no sound, the butterfly can not reveal the wish to anyone but the Great Spirit who hears and sees all. In gratitude for giving the beautiful butterfly its freedom, the Great Spirit always grants the wish. So according to legend, by making a wish and giving the butterfly its freedom, the wish will be taken to the heavens and granted.”

Their reception was held at the Wilma Rudolph Event Center which was perfect for their large guest list! I highly recommend this venue if you are having a larger wedding in Clarksville!

How gorgeous are these custom cups from Beau Coup?!

I’m not going to lie, when Katlyn’s dad stood for their first dance, it was really hard to hold back a lot of tears. It was so sweet!!!

And how could I NOT include a photo of my two babies with the happy couple. We asked my parents if they could bring them to the church right before the ceremony so my babies could be included in a few family pictures. Thank you Tam Tam and Butch!!

Ok, so this was pretty funny! Grayson and Katlyn are a house divided…he is a big Tennessee Vols fan and she is die hard for Kentucky Wildcats! During the groom’s cake cutting the DJ (We Bring the Party) played “Rocky Top” for a minute but then switched it to the Wildcats’ song and then back to “Rocky Top”.

I probably posted way too many fun reception photos but we just had such a fun time dancing during Grayson and Katlyn’s wedding!

Dress Store | Regiss

Florals and Decor| PSR Events

Church | Hilldale Baptist Church

Reception Venue | Wilma Rudolph Event Center

Coordinator | Every Detail

Makeup Artist | Katelyn Hamaker Wilson with Flawless Beauty

DJ | We Bring the Party Events

Videographer | Katie Myers

Cake | The Farmhouse Cakery

Catering | Fire & Ice

Bridesmaid Dresses | Azazie

Groomsmen Attire | Brigg’s Clothiers

You can see a gallery of even more of my favorite images by clicking this link: Jac’s Favorites

Also, BIG thank you to Christy Hunter Photography for helping second shoot this wedding with me!

Y’all! When I first noticed that they were calling for rain on this lovely couple’s wedding day, my heart dropped! I just did NOT want it to rain on Mary Pat and Joey’s wedding!! I absolutely love outdoor wedding ceremonies and wanted so badly for them to have their outdoor fall wedding they had been planning for so long. I prayed for days that the rain would go away or at least wait until after the ceremony! When I woke up every morning, the first thing I would do…check the extended forecast for the week. I’m definitely my father’s daughter in that way! The morning of the wedding, still calling for rain! UGH!!! I fully prepared to crunch the timeline and get as much as I could before the rain and storms moved in. I was going to move as fast as possible! I had talked with Mary Pat about it over the phone and she was just so calm and had such a great go-with-the-flow attitude. That’s one of the many reasons I loved having her as a wedding client! When an outdoor wedding is looking like it is going to be rained out, you would think that the bride would be stressed, emotional, and cranky. This was just not the case for Mary Pat!

Can you believe that it never really came a downpour on us?! We did get sprinkled on and at the end of the ceremony, it became a light rain. I think we would all say that we feel blessed that it never actually stormed on us like the forecast was predicting. I truly love the images that we were able to create…even with me rushing the timeline a little to make sure we got as much as we could if it did decide to rain.

Their grey, blush, and burgundy wedding color palette makes my photographer heart swoon. Their wedding colors complimented the trees that were just starting to change for fall and their daughter’s flower girl dress was just the prettiest little dress I’ve seen! Did I mention yet that their daughter is just the CUTEST little girl!! Just wait until you see the photo of her twirling in her dress! Speaking of photos….I’m sure you want to see them now instead of reading my rambling.

You’ve been warned…there are a ton of wedding photos below this point!

 

Wedding Decor and Linens | Total Package Events

Florals | Sango Village Florist

Catering | Nicoletta’s Catering

Wedding Dress | Wedding Belles

Makeup | Josie Romero at Isabella Sophia

Hair | Nicole Gordon Rye at Isabella Sophia

 if you would like to see all these photos individually for purchase, I’ve created an early gallery just for these sneak peeks! Just click here: Mary Pat + Joey | Wedding Sneak Peeks