Caitlin and Dominic’s Winter Wedding at Houston Station in Nashville, Tennessee
Happy Holidays Everyone! I have been so excited to blog about Caitlin and Dominic’s Wedding in Nashville Tennessee just before Christmas, my last wedding of 2013! Not only are Caitlin and Dominic one of the most adorable and in-love couples I have ever photographed, but Dominic happens to be the brother of my college friend, Gretchen, that I studied abroad with in Florence, Italy. It was so amazing to finally meet and spend the weekend with Gretchen’s family after all of these years! When I heard it was in Nashville, I was so excited since I had never spent time there before, so I immediately called up my East Cast photo partner-in-crime, Ronda Gregorio, and we roadtripped it down from Virginia. Just the drive down alone was crazy and full of fun photo adventures!
I was so excited to finally work with Amy Longshore of Shay Brown Events. Their team was super easy and fun to work with. Caitlin and Dominic had their wedding at Houston Station in Nashville, one of the coolest urban/rustic venue’s I have had a chance to photograph. I wish there was a similar place in Los Angeles. Basically, it is like a co-op of artists that rent space there as well as an event space. Right now they are about to double their space in 2014, but even the areas under construction were a photographer’s dream come true! The train runs right by the property every few hours, and showed up exactly when we happened to be there shooting the bride and groom portraits…and that serendipity seemed to be the theme of the day. The crazy weather and rain held off just long enough for us to get amazing photos outside and at the Union Station Hotel and the tornado that hit Nashville that night didn’t seem to faze the dancing or partying one bit! Being a West Coaster, I was sort of freaking out about the Tornado sirens that everyone seemed to be ignoring during the reception and when I asked Caitlin’s mom about if this was normal, she said “Oh, people usually go into a basement when they hear the sirens, but that rule goes out the window when people are drinking and having a good time” lol! Gotta love Tennessee! They have their own set of rules here, including “no spurs while dancing on the bar” and “always tip your hat to a lady walking by”. I kind of wish these rules still existed on the West Coast:)
Some of my favorite moments from the weekend were going out as a huge group dancing the night before the wedding in downtown Nashville’s music/bar scene, hanging out with both families and all of their amazing friends, learning more about Caitlin and Dom’s love story (they met in the Philippines while both working in the Peace Corps and spent two years there together) and hearing all of their crazy friend’s travel stories as well, Caitlin’s gorgeous gown, their candlelit ceremony, the bells people rang when they said “I Do”, The live music in the eclectic coffee shop they rented for their cocktail hour, and of course dancing the night away to the best DJ EVER and a bit of tornado sirens! Honestly, I had never had a tornado bride and groom send off before and luckily it missed us, but honestly, nothing could have stopped that party. They did have a rad send off in a vintage Rolls Royce though, courtesy of Patrick Earle with Grand Avenue. Here is a sneak peek of their amazing wedding day! I wish you two both the best and what a way to begin 2014!! Congratulations!
