After meeting as performers in Dolly Parton’s Dixie Stampede Dinner Attraction and falling in love over a shared passion for horses, Rachel & Jordan set about creating a relaxed, September wedding for 150 of their nearest and dearest. Rachel’s vision for the wedding was to reflect herself and Jordan’s authentic interests and personalities, including agriculture, horses, and all things rustic, in a chic way. As is always the case, finding the perfect venue for their celebration was key…..

“We chose Grace Meadows Farm because it is a functioning farm. The barns we got dressed and ate in once were a livestock auction barn and horses lived in them. There’s a level of authenticity you could not replicate. In addition, I had always wanted an outdoor wedding. There’s just something about sunlight in pictures that cannot be replicated. However, I was realistic, rain could have been a possibility. Grace Meadows farm had enough indoor and outdoor space to adequately provide for our 150 guests, no matter the weather!

We wanted our color palette to reflect the time of year we were getting married. I had always dreamed of a September wedding, because the days are still long and warm, in addition to being more mild than the brutal southern summer days that we’re used to. We chose navy and natural creams/golden wheats as our neutrals and bold oranges with pops of red to tie into the red barn our venue had. The most influential piece of our wedding was by far our cattle brand. Jordan designed an incredible brand implementing a J and R side by side with a curved line in between to represent a B for Briggs, our last name. We branded nearly everything we could, representing us, as one from here on out.”

“I had a floral designer… I really left the blossom choices up to her. I simply conveyed my vision as a late summer/early fall fresh cut hay field. I wanted organic wheat as a filling and to step away from greeneries. I wanted wild flowers in a gathered bouquet… but nothing fancy. I didn’t want our florals to overwhelm anything. Our floral designer chose orange spidermums,  red bacarra roses, hypericum berries, other seasonal flowers and organic wheat to fill. They ended up being the perfect complement.”

“Jordan and I are very traditional. So traditional, Jordan did not want to see me until I walked down the aisle, and boy, what a sweet moment that was!! We did chose to pray together before our ceremony, so our photographer found a corner around the barn we wouldn’t be able to see each other and we did. It was such a sweet moment of intimacy together, before we were overwhelmed with the day ahead of us.”

Rachel chose a dress that was everything she wanted. “Kiana by  Maggie Sottero  was the first dress I tried on. I tried several others on at different boutiques following that dress, but I could not get it off my mind. I had to have that dress. Its unique soft tulle base, covered in dazzling lace appliques was the perfect compromise to me wanting to look soft and beautiful, yet fabulous and chic. The dress wasn’t wearing me, I was wearing that dress!

I complemented the dress with floral hand tooled boots which matched the large paisley shape of my dress’ lace appliques, and complementary earrings and a bracelet. My veil was custom ordered. I had a fairly long train, but I didn’t want to wear a cathedral length veil for an outdoor wedding. I loved the look of me two-tiered 90” veil trimmed in  a scalloped shape and adorned with pearl and clear sparkles.”

“Every detail of our wedding was hand picked by Jordan and I. we wanted the wedding to reflect us truly. We hand stained and branded every centrepiece box. Jordan built a custom white washed and branded photo backdrop for our polaroid guest book, as well as our dancefloor. We laid out every plate and folded every napkin. Every bit of hanging decorations and table runners were put together by Jordan’s mom. Rachel’s mom chose to put together and appetizer table to serve guest during cocktail hour. Our cocktail hour area was a creation of Rachel’s vision. It had our handmade dancefloor at the center, surrounded by cocktail tables, whiskey barrels, hay couches we put together and fire pits to encourage our guests to relax or have fun!”

“Our wedding cake was something fun for us to dream about. The cake topper was a perfect reflection of us. The brand and florals were included to tie into the tablescape and theme. We chose for the bottom layer to be brown and include piped swirls and dots was resemble tooled leather, much like my boots and bouquet wrap. Jordan loves sweets, so narrowing down a flavor was kind of a challenge for us. We chose to go with two layers of classic almond and butter cream, and our center layer was white chocolate cake with blackberry filling. We complemented our cake with fruit pies much like you might get in the late summer days of harvest. We also included cookies for the kids!”

“Something Dolly Parton’s Dixie Stampede is famous for is its creamy vegetable soup. Seriously! People come to the show simply to get a taste of the soup. We chose to have to the soup mix as our favour for our guests, and to say they loved them was an understatement! It was a total hit. Not to mention, it reminded everyone how we met!”

Pearls of Wedding Wisdom from the Bride…..

“Don’t rush your wedding! Sure, you want to be married! I get it, but our 25 month of engagement was actually a wonderful season of life in and if itself! We got to hand pick every detail we wanted to and with no time crunch. I can honestly say I wouldn’t change a single thing about the day, because I had plenty of time to love every decision we made!”

Tell us a little about your photographer…..

“I found Jyn on social media. I was instantly a fan of her work. Her pictures captured organic looking moments and I loved that! She was great to work with!! She made our bridal party picture quick easy and, dare I say, painless! Jyn makes you feel like a fabulous model, all the while, she’s unafraid to make any angle or location happen! Being on a farm might be uncomfortable for some, but like us, Jyn isn’t scared of dirt, mud, or manure, and we loved that about her!! Most importantly, she captured every moment so perfectly for us to look back on.”

VIEW THE GALLERY

Such a fun day, and so obviously a reflection of Rachel & Jordan’s love! And how fabulous is that fall color palette?? Huge and heartfelt congratulations to them both, and a big thankyou to them and of course to the fabulous Jyn Allen who captured the whole celebration so perfectly. If you love Jyn’s photography as much as I do, and would like to see more of her work head over to her website jynallenphotography.com and don’t forget to follow her on Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest.

Or for more rustic vintage inspiration for your own wedding, then you should see Laura & Jake’s heartfelt woodland affair, or Kristina & Josh’s charming celebration all the way from Australia! Oh and you will love Tyler & Alison’s romantic rustic barn wedding – it is an absolute must see!

Amy

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Contributors & Credits

Photography – Jyn Allen Photography // Venue – Grace Meadows Farm // Day-of Coordinator – At Last Weddings & Events // Floral Design – Southern Knot Weddings and Floral Design // Popcorn Programs – Erickson Design // Videography – A Lifetime Photography // Wedding Cake – Embree House Wedding Cakes // Rentals – Southern Knot Weddings and Floral Design // Linens – Action Rentals // Hair – Taryn Escobar Hair Design // Makeup – April Bennett Makeup // Wedding Dress – Maggie Sottero Designs // Groom’s Attire – Prestige Tuxedo // Bow Tie – Brackish Bow Ties // Groom’s Boots – Anderson Bean Boot Company // Bride’s Shoes – Boulet Boots // Bridesmaids Dresses – Filly Flair // Veil – White Lace and Promises // Catering – Braeden’s Barbeque // Entertainment – Greenwood Party Mixers