Neltner’s Farm || Knoxville, TN Photographer || Mariah + Blake

Neltner’s Farm

Neltner’s Farm is an awesome wedding venue tucked away in the rolling hills of Kentucky. People often ask me why I shoot so many weddings in Kentucky. Well, not only is my husband from Kentucky, but I also went to undergraduate in Kentucky at a small school called University of the Cumberlands. It was at the University of the Cumberlands where I met and played volleyball with this bride, Mariah. She is from, and actually lives in, Ohio, but they drove across the state line to have their wedding at the amazing Neltner’s Farm. I have to say, even being from Tennessee and totally used to driving the curvy, mountainous backroads here… I was a little thrown off about how tucked away it was. After exiting the interstate, I had another 20 minutes of driving, but only 7 miles. I thought… that’s weird, it’s not going to take me 20 minutes to drive 7 miles! Oh but it will when you are driving on a road wide enough for 1.5 cars with switch backs, hidden drives, and “this road my flood” signs every 100 ft. But as I got further and further back into the mountains, the more excited I got. I could see it getting prettier and prettier and sure enough, once I finally arrived, it totally took my breath away. I absolutely fell in love with the little creek running right beside the ceremony site. The huge oak tree towering over the aisle. The gorgeous flowers drooping over the wooden bridges.  The Bistro lights strung up at the ceremony and reception. The horses grazing in the background. It was literally gorgeous. And to top it all off, all I heard all day was how incredible Neltner’s Farm had been about helping the family set up, answer questions, and get the property in tip top shape. I would highly recommend this venue if you are looking for a farm in Northern Kentucky. Also, don’t let the “all outdoor” thing scare you. Have your ceremony later in the evening under the shady oak tree and the reception tent has fans blowing cool air on every other poll!

The Couple

This couple is gorgeous… amiright? But not only are they gorgeous on the outside, they both have hearts of gold. I watched them interact with so many people on this day and their kindness is just so genuine. I think Chelsea, the Maid of Honor, said it best in her speech: The first time I met Mariah, I thought she was going to be so stuck up… I mean, that’s what pretty girls are like. And well, she’s drop dead gorgeous so she’s got to be especially stuck up. But no, I talked to her and she was actually really nice. Like really really nice. She had the guests rolling throughout her entire time behind the mic. That was one of my favorite moments from the wedding.

I have a couple more favorite moments. This wedding is more made up of several smaller favorite moments rather than my typical one big moment. During the individual portraits of each groomsmen with the groom, I asked them if they wanted to do a funny and a smiling. The groom instantly said he wanted to do a funny. Well they are all college football players and still work out now so you can imagine the funny pictures got a little hysterical. At one point, the groom picked a groomsmen upside down by putting him in a right handed headlock and grabbing his pants pocket with the left hand. You’ll see evidence of this below. Then when the mother of the bride, Mary, gave a speech at the reception. She told the story of when she first met Blake and how Blake and Mariah met for the first time. She had several people blinking away tears from both sentiment and humor. But the best part was when the groom’s brother got up to give his speech later and said, Well, Mary has Mariah’s side of how they first met, but I have Blake’s side  and proceeded to tell a dude version of the same story… it was also pretty funny. Also, I had two other brides at this same wedding. At the end of the night I got a picture of all three #AMPBrides together and we reminisced how perfect and different each of their weddings were. Each equally as gorgeous in totally different ways!

Scroll down to the very bottom of this post to see vendor credits and other sessions you may be interested in!

If you liked this post, you’ll want to check out these others:

Mariah and Blake’s engagement session

Mariah and Jay’s Wedding

Abbey and Ethan’s Wedding

 

Vendor Credits:

Venue: Neltner’s Farm

Cake: Home Grown Cakes

Band: Brother Smith Band

Makeup Artist: Simply Makeup

Hair: Kylie Watts

Wedding Dress Store: Hyde Park Bridal

Wedding Dress Designer: Willowby by Watters

Bridesmaid Dresses: Azazie

Men’s Attire: Men’s Wearhouse

Rentals: Advantage Tent Rentals