Historic Locust Grove & Ice House Louisville Wedding

After being in the Louisville wedding industry for over a decade now you'd think I would have photographed a ceremony at Locust Grove before, but this was my first one and it was 100% worth the wait. Eleanor said it well, "My historic preservation background and love of old houses had me dreaming of getting married in front of a historic home — Locust Grove it was! Plus, that landscape is just so pretty — the rolling hills, and all the cabins, and spring houses, and willows, oh my!"

We started the day at a gorgeous Airbnb in Clifton. I've said it before and I'll say it again— getting an Airbnb instead of a hotel room for getting ready is the best! It gives you more space and you can rent a place that feels like a good fit for your day. The home where they got ready allowed Eleanor's side to have the second floor and Aaron's side to have the first floor so they had loads of space....plus the front porch of the home was gorgeous and fit with the historic tone of the day. They had their first look under the willow tree in the front yard while some family snuck peeks from the second-floor balcony. When it came time to head to Locust Grove we found out the trolley's brakes went out so we had to wait for another to come! It added a tiny bit of chaos, but lucky for us we had some buffer time built into the timeline to allow for the inevitable mishaps that come with wedding days. We were able to still get all of our wedding party and family photos finished before the ceremony so that afterward they could head downtown and go straight into celebrating! 

A few of Eleanor's favorite moments included, "Our photo session of just the two of us right after the ceremony ended at Locust Grove felt really special! Also, right before the ceremony, our best man brought out a bottle of Basil Hayden and filled a couple of cups and everyone who was waiting behind the scenes took a drink and said something nice about us— it was really sweet and special and the bourbon calmed my nerves a little bit, haha. When Aaron and I got to practice our dance on the roof and it felt like my dress was going to trip us up sooooo bad, but then we got down on the dance floor and KILLED IT (at least I felt like we did)!" Aaron's favorite moments overlapped with Eleanor's which is always a good thing "I also loved the pre-ceremony bourbon toasts, that really sticks out in my mind. Also, walking onto the trolley after the ceremony with the champagne popping. And collectively all of the moments we had to get the amazing photos we got (and kissing Eleanor a million times)." 

coordinator: Ginna Matson with Hummingbird Page // florist: Kristin Hatten Howell // dress: Essense of Australia through Rebecca's Wedding Boutique with sleeves added by KAren at Highland Cleaners // makeup: Michaela Frances Artistry // hair: Shawn Green with The Beauty Patrol  // DJ: Marshall Yancey with Yancey Entertainment Service // Catering: Crushed Ice Catering // wedding party suits: J. Crew Factory // Eleanor's rings: Megan Thorne Fine Jewels purchased through EAT Gallery, Maysville, KY // Aaron's rings: Stuller purchased through EAT Gallery, Maysville, KY // Cake: Sweet Surrender Dessert Cafe // transportation: Miller Transportation // ceremony chairs: Southern Classic Rentals // photobooth: Magbooth // ceremony venue: Historic Locust Grove // reception venue: The Ice House

Their ceremony was really sweet and I loved the music they chose so much. Eleanor once again tells it better than me so I'll share what she wrote, "Our ceremony was exactly how I dreamed it would be. When we got to Locust Grove I was in awe of how perfect it looked even though I feel like we went very minimal on decorations. My best friend since 6th grade's (and maid of honor's) dad performed the ceremony! He's amazing and so progressive and I knew he would do a beautiful ceremony for us. I thought it was the perfect amount of "there's something bigger than us going on here." He suggested a "warming the rings" part of the ceremony where everyone passed around our wedding bands and held them for a moment to put their hopes, prayers, dreams, and wishes for us as a couple on them. I was so excited when he told us about this because it reminded me of something we would do at the summer camp I grew up at called "wish sticks" — we would put our hopes, prayers, dreams, and wishes on sticks and then throw them into the fire so the smoke would rise and our wishes would be heard. I loved this part of the ceremony. Also, my mom told me that my friends who were sitting behind them at the ceremony whispered, "This is SO 'Eleanor'" after we had the wedding party walk down the aisle to a Death Cab song and I walked down the aisle to Vampire Weekend— haha, I loved hearing that."

Fun facts: their cake topper was Eleanor’s grandparent’s topper from their wedding day in 1952. She and her mom visited Tickled Pink Memorabilia Mall (my favorite thrift store) to find all 85 of their vases for the tables! Also their close friend did all their florals!

The night ended with an epic dance party— seriously their friends and family had some of the best energy. A favorite moment of mine was when Eleanor's cousin Kelsey spun Eleanor's dad on the dance floor— it cracked me up and felt like something my family would pull. Also when Eleanor's camp friends gathered around her and went wild during one of their friend group's sentimental songs, "Anna Sun." you could tell it was sheer joy for everyone involved. 

Intimate Wedding in Historic Old Louisville

Hallie & Shawn’s wedding is very similar to what I would choose if I was getting married now. Don’t get me wrong— I absolutely loved our wedding and it was a perfect fit for us at the time, but their day really delivered the best parts of an intimate elopement as well as a big reception. On Friday night, they kicked things off with their first look and some beers at Old Louisville Brewery, then they moved next door, where forty of their closest friends and family joined them for their ceremony, dinner, and toasts at 610 Magnolia. It was relaxed, joyful, and full of happy tears. On Saturday, they had a bigger reception full of amazing food, delicious cake, and loads of dancing at the Filson Historical. I asked them about their plans for the wedding and Hallie said, “We tried to represent ourselves through food and music that we love. We wanted our ceremony to be small and then be able to celebrate with everyone on the following day. We both love Old Louisville and we are so happy to have found two venues there. We also tried to incorporate some of the traditions & style from Shawn’s Indian side of the family— lots of bright colors, marigolds, and some other Indian touches.”

Once the day was done, I asked each of them their favorite moments. Shawn said, “I loved getting to spend so much time with our family on the wedding day. The small group was just what we wanted and it felt extra special.” And Hallie said, “I loved getting to see Shawn before the ceremony and spend some time together. It made the day feel like any other even though it wasn’t! It was so great getting to hang out with all of our friends and relax before we made it official.”

On the significance of attire Shawn said, “My one really important piece was my boutonniere, which had some lace from my mother’s wedding dress wrapped around it. Hallie surprised me with that and it meant a lot.” Hallie also incorporated a lot of elements from family in her outfit. “My dress has some of Shawn’s mother’s wedding dress sewn into it. I also wore a ring of hers that Shawn’s Dad had given me. It meant so much to be wearing pieces of hers on such a big day. I never got to meet her but have heard what an amazing woman she was. It made the day that much more sentimental. I also wore a pin from my grandmother that my sister wore on her wedding day. I pinned it onto my flowers along with some of the same lace from Shawn’s mom’s dress.”

A lot of their vendors are also friends which made the day feel even more special. Shawn grew up with Sayward from Hazelfield Farms and is close friends with their band, The Downtown Country Band—their first dance was to a wonderful cover of In Spite of Ourselves. I included a lot of images of their guests here, especially from the first day, because family is obviously very important to them, but also because with such a small group I was able to really focus on that. I feel like because I’m blogging this wedding during the pandemic, I’m also really missing those types of connections with my own family at the moment, so those images seemed extra significant at this time. 

Florals: Hazelfield Farms // Friday night venue & catering: 610 Magnolia // Saturday night catering: Amber McCool with Rooted Red Clover // Band: The Downtown County Band // DJ: Jesse Penn // Coordinator: Maggie Heely with Weekend Wedding Warrior // Gown: Theia from Carrie Karibo Bridal // Hair: Hair by Maddie Woff // Makeup: Bailey Carter Beauty // Cake: Sweet Surrender // Saturday venue: The Filson

Stylish and Unique Fall Wedding at The Refinery and Courthouse Elopement with Tattoos

Three days before their official wedding I joined Allison & Joseph as they eloped at the courthouse, got wedding bands tattooed on with Kelli Grey, and played with their puppers. It was such fun & intimate way to start a marriage! Their original wedding venue randomly shut down two weeks before their wedding— which could have made the day feel really stressful, but honestly thanks to all the amazing vendors (links at the end of post!) and the couple’s super laid-back vibes it went off without a hitch! They had all kinds of amazing details including glam-goth black candles and chargers that made their reception space feel even more moody and romantic, custom leather jackets for all of Allison's side of the wedding party, and the biggest bridal bouquet I have ever seen. When I asked each of them their favorite parts of the day Allison said, "Probably the greatest moment was how personalized my brother made our ceremony. It was so extremely us (bold, unconventional and full of love and laughter) and it was everything we could have wanted in a ceremony." and Joseph said, "My favorite moment was when we got to sneak away during cocktail hour! We snagged a bottle of champagne and a plate of appetizers from the caterers and just got to enjoy some alone time for a while before the reception began. It was the perfect way to start the night." I ALWAYS recommend trying to plan for some alone time on the wedding day to take it all in and I am so glad they got the chance to! 

As a fellow travel lover, I really loved another detail they described, "We also had an atlas as a guest book and asked for our guests to choose somewhere in the world that we should go. We plan on traveling all over the world and each time we go somewhere new we are going to look at the guest book, see if anyone recommended it, and send them a note about that place once we have returned." I absolutely love this idea and hope they make it to Iceland one day so I can get a letter about it. A few more awesome reception details were signature cocktails inspired by their dogs (Lexi’s Lemon Drop, Ford’s Puppy Paloma, Frankie’s Fizz), a caricature artist that created custom portraits for guests, two chocolate fountains, and of course late-night Taco Bell delivery. 

One of the funniest moments of the day for me was when we went into Please & Thank You and everyone there was obviously paying quite a bit of attention to them...I kept saying "nothing to see here!" until people pretended to ignore us so we could get some portraits. Honestly, I wouldn't usually show up to such a busy spot for wedding photos, but after seeing their outfits we knew we HAD to get some photos in front of the jukebox. The Refinery has a million amazing spots for photos, but since Allison's best friend is getting married there later this year (remember, the random venue change two weeks before the wedding?) we thought having some images around Nulu would make sure they had plenty of photos that looked very different from each other's. Side note: while we were running around the neighborhood another photographer saw us and assumed I had planned a styled shoot because of how AMAZING and fashionable both of them looked. That's a big compliment because I don't think I could even plan a styled shoot as unique and stylish as their wedding day was.

I'll leave you with some advice from the couple, "The only advice we can give to future couples is to remember that at the end of the day it is only about the two of you. Do WHATEVER YOU want to do and do NOT let others influence you in any direction or any way you do not feel that is true to yourself.”

If you're looking for more intimate wedding goodness this Nashville treehouse elopement was so much fun and if you are looking for more ultra-cool couples to crush on then Felicia & Brennan's greenhouse wedding will do the trick.

Venue: The Refinery // Coordinator: Marcie Hancock with A Thorough Fare // Florals: Jeanie Gorrell Floral Design // Custom Leather Jacket Designs: The Bash Box // Groomsmen: J. Alan Formalwear // Officiant: Allison's older brother, Shane Henshaw // Gown: Badgley Mischka Bride via Relix Bridal // Groom's Custom Tuxedo: Hellman Clothiers // Groom's Shoes: Christian Louboutin // Groom's Tie: Brackish //  Catering: Masteron's // DJ: Masters of Music // Videography: By Design Films // Hair Stylist: Hair by Maddie Woff // Makeup Artist: Dawn Phillips // Wedding Band Tattoo Artist: Kelly Grey // Wedding Nails: Varnish Nail Shoppe // Wedding Band: Consider The Wldflwer // Cake: Nothing Bundt Cakes // Chocolate Fountain: Louisville Chocolate Fountain