Our Wedding: All About The Venue

Hi guys! Hope everyone is having a wonderful week so far! I wanted to start doing some posts regarding our wedding and there are SO many topics I would love to talk about, but today is ALL about the venue!

When I would dream about what I wanted my wedding to be, I knew I wanted a beautiful outdoor wedding.. I also knew I wanted something southern and elegant, but not rustic. Of course my first place to look at venues was at home in Nashville! My parents got married in the beautiful gardens of Cheekwood in Belle Meade, and this was one of my top choices, but I had always envisioned a beautiful southern estate and really wanted to choose a venue that was all inclusive since we only had 5 months to plan this wedding..

I weighed the options of the venues we had toured in Nashville, and decided to check out some venues in Knoxville for a second look. That's when I found Castleton Farms. From the beautiful southern manor looking over the mountains, the stunning bridal suite (that my bridesmaids and I had ALL to ourselves the night before), the vineyard, the multiple gardens, to the gorgeous carriage house, it was absolutely everything I was looking for! I had always wanted a southern wedding with an elegant manor, but also dreamt of walking down the aisle in a romantic vineyard, and Castleton had it all!

I decided to have my ceremony in the Vineyard and our reception under the Southern Pavilion, which was absolutely perfect for a nighttime outdoor summer wedding..

Another reason why I chose Castleton Farms was because it was a venue that was all inclusive and works with phenomenal vendors all overseen by the Principal Planner, Darla Walker. With my parents living in Nashville, it was really important to me to have a wedding planner and coordinator that I could work with that would make sure I had everything I had ever dreamt of especially when we only had 5 months! And if anyone knows Darla, that woman can plan a perfect wedding in 5 WEEKS if she had to.. she certainly designed the most perfect wedding I could ever even imagine having!

When you book with Castleton, you set up a Vendor Experience meeting where you meet with the Principal Planner, Darla Walker, and all the vendors that will be creating your dream wedding such as All Occasion Rentals, All Occassion Catering, Samuel Franklin Florals, just to name a few. We sat down and started from square one and developed and created my entire wedding in one day using a wedding planning software that I could virtually design what I wanted it to look like! Darla and the team knew exactly what I wanted my dream wedding to be and certainly made it a reality.. All I had to do was sit back and enjoy the experience.. and it was so easy and stress free as a bride!! I truly never had to worry about a thing. A few weeks before the wedding, I had a Final Decor meeting with Darla and my vendors to tweak and add a few things. I got to see what my table arrangements were going to look like before the big day and go over every minute and hour on the timeline that Darla had created for me.. and this really made me feel confident that everything was exactly how I wanted it to be!

The day of could not have gone more perfectly.. I was honestly prepared for at least ONE thing to go wrong, and I can honestly say there was not one thing that I would have changed.. The staff was so professional and on point with every little detail and made sure everyone and everything was exactly where they were supposed to be at the perfect time. They truly made me feel like royalty throughout my entire bridal experience. Darla did such a phenomenal job at designing the perfect wedding and I remember walking into my reception in awe at what we had created together!

I wish I could relive this day 1,000 times over! I love reminiscing on this day and have some more wedding posts coming for you guys! If there is anything specific you would love for me to talk about, let me know! I love hearing your suggestions :) I will leave you with some more wedding pic sneak peeks below! Thanks for stopping by!

Venue: Castleton Farms
Principal Planner: Darla Walker
Photography: Tracie Ancelet Photography