Win a Wedding!

Getting Married?

Her Nashville magazine is giving away the Ultimate Nashville Dream Wedding, presented by Wedding 101.

One lucky Her Nashville reader and her beau will win a complete wedding, including a guest appearance by recording artist Rob Blackledge to perform his song Everything, which was recently featured on the Style Network's Ruby, for the couple's first dance.



Click here for the form to tell Her Nashville how you got engaged. Her Nashville readers will then have the chance to vote for the couple with the best proposal.

So what are you waiting for? Start writing your story!

And if you haven't had a chance to check out Wedding 101 at The Factory in Franklin, you've got to visit soon. Think of Wedding 101 as a chic resource library for upcoming brides. Fun and fantastic vendor displays, photos, inspiration galore and even a bride's boutique await you. The Wedding 101 staff are also great personal resources drawing from their extensive experience as planners.

We look forward to seeing the Ultimate Nashville Dream Wedding contest unfold. Good luck to all of you who heard about it here!

Linda & the Cedarwood Event Team

Laura + Josh, Part 2: Nashville Wedding Venue

Photos by McCoy Made

Laura Cumbee and Josh Blaisdell left their September 26 wedding in the same style as the rest of their sensational Cedarwood celebration - over the top.

When it comes to amazing vintage cars restored to perfection, Matchless Chauffeured Limousine Service sets the standard.

Their 1950's classic blue Jaguar has been to Cedarwood often, and is one of our favorites for a send-off in grand style. Plus, you get super cool photo ops included!



In addition to these especially sexy shots of Laura and Josh with the Jag, here are some soft poses....love the sunset shot....by the talented photography team of McCoy Made.



We love the elaborate three-dimensional floral effect on Laura's Maggie Sottero designer wedding gown. It is a stunning dress in real life, and we can't wait to see more detail photos of Laura in this dress!



Great style - great service. Way to go Laura, Josh, Matchless and McCoy Made. We love working with you all!

Linda & the Cedarwood Event Team

Global Flair: Nashville Wedding Venue

Photos by McCoy Made

Laura Cumbee is a design diva. We loved working on her Cedarwood wedding to Josh Blaisdell on September 26. Laura and Josh gave us the opportunity to creatively push the envelope and show off the multi-faceted face of Cedarwood, both as a wedding and reception venue and our versatility as wedding designers.





Laura's vision for their wedding was specific: A mix of southern elegance with a global flair. Lots of color, rich, warm light, very intimate yet "big" and over the top looking. Chandeliers with candlelight, lanterns, gold sprayed branches, great fabrics - wonderful and glamorous decor: "The Great Gatsby" meets "Moulin Rouge."

And just check out the wedding cake by Patty Cakes. Yummy Exotic!



For sure, the details of this wedding are divine! The talented Noelle and Mark McCoy from McCoy Made shot the wedding (their first time at Cedarwood) and we are impressed with their eye for great detail shots. Be sure to check out their blog post on this wedding, which they say, is part one. More detail shots to come. Exciting!!!

Another 'outside the norm' aspect of Laura and Josh's wedding was a last minute adjustment because of rain. (It rained for two days before and the morning of the wedding, but fortunately the skies cleared in the afternoon and guests got to enjoy wonderful weather when they arrived at Cedarwood.)

The ceremony was moved under a grand white high peak tent. Instead of the normal lawn ceremony arch for an altar, we decorated the center tent pole with a lush floral garland and set up seating "in the round." It was as unique as Laura and Josh and a perfect compliment to their dramatic wedding style.

We can't wait to see the rest of the photos from this colorful, artistic and exotic celebration. There will be more blogging about details to come.

Thanks Laura and Josh for sharing your day with us. Mark and Noelle, it was wonderful to work with you too. You are talented!

Blog readers, tell us what you think about this wedding!

Linda & the Cedarwood Event Team

OMG Great Photos

Photos by Krista Lee Photography

Oh how we miss Krista Lee (of Krista Lee Photography) when she's away from Cedarwood too long! With shoulder surgery early in the year and a star-studded shooting travel schedule, Krista wasn't at Cedarwood as often as we would have liked this year.

Hint: book her early for 2010!!!



She was here to shoot several amazing weddings and these preview photos from the October 2 ceremony and celebration of Michele Hatchett and David Vigil are a testament to the talent Krista Lee Photography offers.

Seeing her shot of Michele and David under the rustic chandelier in the Cedarwood barn (top photo) was definitely an Oh My Gosh moment. It is a stunning photo. (Click on the image to enlarge.)

There are many more to come so consider these photos 'visual appetizers' until we blog about details of the wedding.









Just to let you know a little about this couple: Together Michele and David are like sweet tea on a summer day. Michele is beautiful, sassy, confident, always joking. David lights up around her. This next photo is proof of their fun-loving sides ... or should we say back sides!



Michele and David's wedding was full of unconventional and personal elements you'll love reading about. Come back to the blog for the rest of their wedding story!

Krista Lee, thanks for always sharing your work with Cedarwood. We never even have to ask....you always come through for us. You are amazing.

Have a great day!

Linda & the Cedarwood Event Team

Team Spirit to True Love

Photos by Ace Photography

Lyrad and Adam Vass Gal played on rival recreational softball teams for five years but never spoke to one another. When they encountered each other in a bowling league game a few years later, their mutual love of sports led to friendship that evolved into love and culminated in marriage at Cedarwood on September 11.





There's so much fun surrounding these two and it was a blast to interact with them in planning and celebrating their early autumn wedding. Details included a beautiful and elegant color palette of claret and champagne accented by rich flowers like golden apricot roses, black magic roses, dark red chrysanthemums, ivory calla lilies, orchids and kangaroo paws.









True to their natures, Lyrad and Adam's elegant wedding was punctuated with a bit of rival sparring in the form of a grooms cake in the shape of a football field with Georgia and Mississippi State logos on end zones and their bulldog figurines squared off on the 50 yard line. Just right for the "football season - wedding season" kickoff!





Lyrad's wedding dress inspired the trim on their wedding cake. Patty Cakes does a wonderful job customizing cakes for Cedarwood brides!



Other fun elements included presentation of the wedding party "homecoming style" and college fight songs interspersed with dance music to get the crowd fired up! It was a great celebration with wonderful food, friends and fun.



I love this photo of Lyrad and her dad, Daryl Smallwood, walking down the aisle. We had a tense few weeks prior to the ceremony when Daryl scheduled serious eye surgery. It was uncertain if Lyrad's dad would even be able to attend the wedding, let alone walk his daughter down the aisle. Daryl rallied an amazing recovery, no doubt with lots of loving care from Lyrad's mom Debbie. (We also think it's cool that Lyrad was named after her dad --- Daryl spelled backward is --- Lyrad!)

Lyrad booked the talented video team Focal Point Cinematic to make sure her dad didn't miss her wedding 'just in case' and says it is a blessing that she got both her dad and an amazing wedding video! Stay tuned for their video highlights - we'll post a link when it is released.

These two tabletop photos - before and after catering set up shows the transformation of the reception Pavilion. I love the way reception tables look after the napkins, glasses and silverware are set with the soft glow of candlelight. Always ask your photographer to get shots of the 'finished' tables!

Although you would never expect the great weather shown in these photos to change course, it did. A pop up rain storm swept through late in the evening and knocked the power out for an hour. The night ended on a very romantic note when everyone continued to party via candlelight Victorian style! Lyrad says she cherishes this unique part of their wedding experience.

Congratulations Lyrad and Adam - today is your two month anniversary!

Thanks Ace Photography for sharing your fantastic work - we love the photo of Adam behind the wheel of our 1950 Chevy truck! There are so many great shots to share with our blog readers that we made this post unusually long! Hope you all enjoyed it!

Linda & the Cedarwood Event Team

Couture Cake

Photo by Mint and Sage Photographic Artists

Haute couture refers to the creation of exclusive custom-fitted clothing that's made to order for a specific customer from high-quality, expensive fabric and sewn with extreme attention to detail and finish, often using time-consuming, hand-executed techniques.

In the case of this stunning cake created by Patty Russell for Kate and Aaron Miller's May 27 Cedarwood wedding, the term could not be more perfect. This one-of-a-kind, custom cake was inspired by the detail on Kate's wedding gown. We can only imagine the time and skill it took to hand pipe this lace icing .... no rolling a pattern into fondant here!

Haute couture fashion may not be in reach of many people, but a designer wedding cake by Patty Cakes certainly is! Now you know why Patty Cakes is the chosen baker extraordinaire for Cedarwood's all-inclusive wedding packages!

We've got lots of cake photos coming from our amazing fall wedding season. Stay tuned for serious sweet inspiration.

Linda & the Cedarwood Event Team

Kelsey + Micah = Spring Scene

Photos by Danielle Adams Photography

Waiting is soooooooo hard but it sometimes makes a gift even more special. Our first wedding of 2009 was the March 15 celebration of Kelsey Forbes and Micah Harrison.



The wedding certainly kicked off the Cedarwood wedding season in style, and we couldn't have asked for a more enthusiastic couple. Kelsey and Miach have a cool urban style and their wedding decor was romantic with a modern edge color palette of onyx, ruby and silver.




After posting their engagement photos by Danielle Adams Photography, we were pumped to see wedding day images. We think you'll agree that these shots were worth the wait! We love Kelsey's black and white wedding cake, by Patty Cakes of course!







I have always dreamed of having an image of sparkler-created hearts, and Danielle took this amazing shot at Kelsey and Micah's grand send-off.



We have been talking to couples considering March weddings at Cedarwood, and this post is timely to show the early spring grounds. Kelsey and Micah had a candlelight ceremony inside our historic house in Cedarwood's double parlor, even though a March outdoor wedding is possible based on the temperatures.

From March through November, Cedarwood couples can select any eight hour block of time they perfer in order to take advantage of the warmer daytime temperatures. Regardless of the ceremony site selected, the beautiful white blooms on our massive Cleveland Pear Tree in the front lawn makes a perfect backdrop for wedding photos!

To see more images from Kelsey and Micah's wedding, click here to view their slide show.

Danielle Adams Photography can be reached via email at: danielleladams@gmail.com. Thanks for sharing your work, Danielle!

Kelsey and Micah, we hope you are still in 'honeymoon' mode and having the time of your lives. Mr. and Mrs. Forbes (Kelsey's parents), thanks so much for your thoughtful note about your experience with Cedarwood (click on comments below.)

Linda & the Cedarwood Event Team