Fall Church Wedding in Nashville by Cayleigh Ely Photography

Your wedding day is not about where you choose to have it, but who you choose to have it with. This day is such a monumental moment in your life and every single second of it should be cherished. Does that make me biased? Probably. Do I care? Absolutely not! For Emily and Matt’s Fall Church Wedding in Nashville, it was pure perfection. From the beautiful ceremony, to how beautiful Emily and Matt both looked to how much love filled the air by all of their wedding guests. It was absolute bliss and I am so excited to be sharing it with you today.

The Love Story

So before we deep dive into their wedding day, it’s only fitting to tell you how these two love birds met. Years back, Matt used to be in a band. Coincidentally, Emily had a crush on an old bandmate but as soon as she arrived at the show, she couldn’t get her eyes off the drummer, aka Matt. After a bit of social media stalking and official introductions, these two were hooked. Hooked on love that is – LOL! Since then their love has continued to grow and flourish into the beautiful story that it is today. They have grown to be each other’s best friends and rock through anything…. Is anybody else’s heart swoonin’ over here or is that just me?

Fall Church Wedding in Nashville

Now when it comes to having a seamless wedding day, the most important thing is to have a nailed down wedding timeline. Your wedding timeline is ESSENTIAL when it comes to making sure that everything gets done and gets done well. That means getting to the ceremony on time, having enough time for portraits and making sure you don’t run late for your reception. Whenever I work with my couples, I make it my mission to create their wedding day timeline around what they want photographed. Keep in mind that there may be some things that might not fit within how many hours of photography coverage you have hired with your wedding photographer. Communicating with your wedding photographer is crucial during this time and trust me when I say it truly does help.

First Look & First Touch

After some discussion, we decided to start off their photography coverage with a first look. Now let me preface this by saying, first looks are some of the most emotional moments you’re going to have on your wedding day. So whether you choose to do it with your parent and/or with your partner, prepare to bring some tissues or wear some waterproof mascara.

First looks are some of my favorite moments to capture as a photographer, solely for the emotional impact that it can have on someone. Now if you’ve been debating on whether or not you should have a first look that’s a different story. Click here to read a blog where I deep dive more into what a first look is. So before the ceremony, Emily met up with her mom for a first look first to showcase her in her beautiful dress from The White Room Lebanon (Essence of Australia). I feel like her mother’s reaction says it all!

Shortly after, she met up with her groom-to-be, Matt, for their pre-ceremony prayer and first touch. Similarly to a first look, a first touch is when you don’t see your partner before the ceremony but you’re still wanting to connect. A first touch is usually either facing away from each other, behind a tree, around a corner or in this case Emily sat behind Matt in the pews in the church. This moment still gives me goosebumps.

Church Wedding Ceremony

It wasn’t long until all of the wedding guests went inside the church for the ceremony. Emily and Matt got married at Saint Rose of Lima Catholic Church in Murfreesboro, TN. Since this was the first time that Matt saw Emily in her wedding dress, it definitely was an emotional rollercoaster. Not just for him, but really for everybody! Emily and Matt both had a traditional Catholic wedding mass and it was just incredibly beautiful. Not to mention, the light that came in through the windows was so ethereal and magical and seriously took my breath away. It wasn’t long until these two said their vows and I do’s and were officially married – can I get a “woot woot”!!

Portraits

After the ceremony, the wedding party gathered outside for some portraits. One notable mention is how much detail went into planning this wedding. Emily and Matt seriously thought of everything and truly made their wedding day one of a kind and completely theirs. They both are very light-hearted and laid back individuals, which they wanted reflected on their wedding day. Emily and her bridesmaids wore Star Wars Rebel Alliance necklaces while Matt and his groomsmen wore Empire Symbol Cufflinks and fun patterned socks. Emily also made a pocket square out of the her dress material to give to Matt just to hold a piece of her close – brb CRYING!

Surrounded by all of their closest friends, this wedding party was truly a fun loving one. You could tell how much they love Emily and Matt solely based on their expressions and actions. P.S. no grooms were harmed in the making of these wedding party photos!

It was then time to sneak off the newlyweds to a more open and secluded area to get some solo portraits of them. You’d be surprised as to what you can do with an open field, some good lighting and an amazing couple in front of the camera.

Reception

So if you ask me, the reception has got to be one of my favorite parts of a wedding day. Don’t get me wrong I love it ALL, but something about the reception has a completely different energy in a totally good way though.

After Emily & Matt made their grand entrance as husband and wife, they moved straight into first dances. While first dances may not be for everyone, it certainly is a beautiful moment to witness. You could just tell how much these two loved each other and it was definitely a tear-jerker moment. Shortly after, Emily did a mother/daughter dance and Matt did a father/mother dance! We enjoyed some amazing food, shoutout to the Slick Pig BBQ!

Once everyone was done with dinner, we went through some toasts and cake cutting before the dance floor opened up. Now what Matt didn’t know is that Emily had a special surprise for him. That special surprise was a choreographed dance that the Emily and her bridesmaids did and let’s just say we loved every second of it. Definitely everyone at this wedding knew how to dance which led me to think I need to get some better dance moves haha!

Sparkler Exit Send Off

As the night came to an end, there was one more thing on our checklist of to-do’s. That being a grand sparkler exit send off! Now there are many different ways you can do a grand exit for your wedding day, that doesn’t include sparklers. Some of those items being:

Flower petals
Biodegradable confetti
Lanterns
Bubbles
Balloons
and more!

For Emily & Matt’s grand exit, they chose sparklers which is a fairly common choice! Just remember to always pack some extra long sparklers just in case you have to run through it several times. You don’t want anyone’s sparklers to be fizzling out too early!

It was seriously such a beautiful wedding and one that I will never forget. These two wanted a cozy, fun, warm and intimate wedding and that’s exactly what they got. Truly so honored to have been there to capture every detail for their Fall Church Wedding in Nashville! Cheers to Emily + Matt and the rest of your forever!

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