Fall Weddings at The Hermitage

If you're relatively new to Nashville (like me), then you might not know that September and October are two of the post popular months to tie the knot here! The natural scenery, the leaves turning, and the cooler weather make middle Tennessee one of the most amazing places in the fall, and it only makes weddings look even more striking. Here at The Hermitage we're on over 1100 acres, so the vistas are stunning every which way you look. 

I'm slowly getting links to photos from these fall weddings, and I have to share a few of my favorites with you! 

Like Holli & Michael's stunning wedding on the grounds of The Hermitage:

Cassidy Carson Lynch Photography

Cassidy Carson Lynch Photography

Then there's Lauren & Jack's wedding that took place at the Cabin by the Spring:

Nyk + Cali Photography

Nyk + Cali Photography

Rachel and Brayden's was one of our last weddings in October, and we caught this photo just as the sun was setting!

Lauren Hanson Photography

If you love these photos and crave more, keep checking back to our blog and check out our pinterest page! I'll be featuring several of these weddings in upcoming posts!

Featured Wedding on Burnett's Board

We're so happy to see the Martel's beautiful, Americana wedding featured on the wedding blog, Burnett's Boards! 

I can wax poetic about about how stunning Hermitage weddings, are but a picture is worth a thousand words. You can check out the article and tons of photos here!

Photo by Abigail Bobo Photography

If you'd like to see more photos of this gorgeous wedding, make sure you check out our earlier blog about Stephanie & Alex's wedding here.

PINK Bridal Show

Even though there were no weddings this weekend, we stayed busy! Amber, Jayde, and I (wo)manned the Hermitage's booth at the PINK Bridal show at Music City Center in downtown Nashville. We had so much fun talking to brides and hearing all about their wedding plans! 

Jayde and Amber color coordinating with the booth and each other without even planning it!

We loooove weddings, can't you tell?

10 Loveliest Royal Wedding Gowns

Who can resist a royal wedding? They’re surrounded by pomp and tradition, and they include real live princesses! With all of the spectacle and history around a royal nuptial, the wedding gowns become icons. Enjoy a browse through ten lovely royal wedding gowns (and the jewels are too shabby either).

10. Princess Letizia of Spain.

Journalist and news anchor Letizia wed Prince Felipe in the Almudena Cathedral in May 2004. She wore a dress by Manuel Pertegaz to the ceremony in Madrid that was consecrated by Pope John Paul II.

9. Queen Soraya of Iran.

Soraya married the Shah of Iran in February 1951. She wore a couture Christian Dior made of 6,000 diamond fragments, several dozen yards of pearl-studded silver lame, and weighed 44 pounds. Since she doesn’t look like she could possibly weigh much more than that, I think we can forgive her for sitting during photos.

8. Princess Maria Theresia of Thurn and Taxis (Germany).

She wore a Vivienne Westwood gown of painted golden and blush roses to her wedding in September 2014. Apparently, this royal family is known for being a little eccentric. For fun, you should check out the gown the bride’s mother wore for the wedding. 

7. Princess Anne of Great Britain.

This is actually the photo the royal family used to announce the official engagement of Princess Anne to Captain Mark Phillips. Maureen Baker designed both this dress and the one she wore on her wedding day in 1973.

6. Princess Mette-Marit of Norway.

In a Cinderella-esque story, Mette-Marit went from waitress to princess in a matter of a few years after meeting Crown Prince Haakon. She wore a silk crepe gown with a 20 ft train to their wedding in August 2001.

5. Princess Diana of Great Britain.

This dress is so iconic that it has its own Wikipedia page. Seriously. The puffy sleeves and ruffled collar of her dress, designed by David and Elizabeth Emanuel, are perfect examples of the 80’s wedding dress trends. 

4. Princess Stephanie of Luxembourg.

Belgian Countess Stephanie married Prince Guillaume in an Elie Saab dress with a 13 ft train that is so involved that it could only have worked for a royal wedding. Belgium lace and silver filigree galore!

3. Princess Grace of Monaco.

Former actress Grace Kelly opted for a gown designed by a costumer at MGM instead of a couture dress. Helen Rose created the timeless wedding dress for Grace and Prince Rainer’s 1956 nuptials.

2. Princess Victoria of Sweden.

Crown Princess Victoria married at Stockholm’s Royal Palace in June 2010. She wore a gown by Swedish designer, Pär Engsheden, her mother’s wedding veil, and the Cameo Tiara which is believed to have originally been a gift from Napoleon to Empress Josephine.

1. Kate, Duchess of Cambridge.

With so much ado before the wedding, Kate’s wedding dress had to be amazing. She wore an Alexander McQueen dress of satin and lace and a Cartier halo tiara commissioned by King George VI.

Need more royal wedding inspiration? Go check out our Pinterest Board dedicated to royal wedding dresses!

The Toilet: Your Wedding's Unspoken Hero

Photo by Felix Andre Skulstad

I won’t lie, I love a nice bathroom. Bathrooms are like life’s little rest stops; they afford small breaks for you to relax and collect yourself. If you’re female, they allow for some fantastic bonding moments as we can never seem to go to them alone. So today, I’d like us all to take some time to think and appreciate the wiz palaces at our weddings.

First, as a bride, you should definitely give some thought to the restrooms at your wedding venue. This is the place where you and your closest bridesmaids will be undertaking the herculean task of holding up your dress while you try to relieve yourself while not being able to see the commode. So… make sure there’s more than one restroom because you never know how long that will take. Then make sure that there’s at least one stall that can hold four of you standing at once. Don’t you already feel more grateful for that commonplace piece of porcelain?

Second, think about all the ways (beyond the obvious) that bathrooms will help your guests. When your Cousin Sarah’s new baby is wailing for a diaper change, the bathrooms come to the rescue. When Uncle Pat gets chocolate icing all over himself, the bathrooms come to the rescue. When one of your bridesmaids needs to have a very intense, very private conversation with her friend about the fact that she’s still single, the bathrooms come to the rescue. Your guests will appreciate that you’ve made the restrooms as comfortable as possible for their moments of crisis.

This leads us to the fact that restrooms are a popular place at weddings. Everyone will visit them at some point that day. Because of that, I think it’s fun to include them in your decorating plan as well. Add a flower arrangement, a basket of supplies (hairspray, deodorant, etc), or even some cute bathtub baby photos of you and your groom on the countertops of your venue’s restrooms. Since everyone will end up washing their hands (we hope), the bathroom countertop is a great place to decorate!

Going to the bathroom isn’t something most folks think about when planning or attending a wedding, but it’s one of the most vital aspects of them. So let’s stop forgetting about that important little antechamber and start celebrating it. Hooray for the humble toilet!