Weddings

filed in

Cardinal’s Nest Wedding || Sevierville, TN || Eric & Erica

Cardinal’s Nest Wedding

There were so many cool, unique things about Eric and Erica’s Cardinal’s Nest wedding last weekend. They had been planning this wedding celebration for over 800 days when it finally happened. They did a small, intimate ceremony a year prior so they could go ahead and be legally married while also keeping their big celebration on for July 2nd. That took a little pressure off for July 2nd. It was technically a fancy vow renewal instead of their actual wedding. They felt like they had a little more freedom to get creative with some of the traditions, and they did! It was so cool to see a different spin on some of the old school practices I see every weekend.

The first thing happened during the ceremony. The officiant went through the promises and asked Eric if he took Erica to be his lawfully wedded wife. Instead of just saying, “I do,” he pondered a minute, turned around, and huddled up with his groomsmen. You could hear muffles of them chatting, and Eric would pull back and say something like, “Well, technically, we are already married…” Then, he would huddle down again and pull back to say, “She is pretty cute…” then huddle down again. He had us all laughing until we had tears in our eyes, including Erica. It was adorable.
The next thing happened when Eric and Erica got introduced to the reception. They did their whole bridal party to normal hype music. When it came time for the announcement of the bride and groom, the Chariots of Fire theme song came on, and Eric and Erica did their best slo-mo run as they raced down a tunnel of bridal party members to get to the red ribbon finish line. 800 days they’d waited for this wedding celebration. Slow and steady won that race as they burst through the ribbon.
Instead of having a traditional cake, or even the second most traditional of cupcakes or mini bundt cakes, they opted for the famous Maple Street Biscuit Company cinnamon biscuits. They did their “cake cutting” right into an icing glazed biscuit and shared them with all of their guests. Neither of them are big cake people so they opted for this as their sweet treat instead!
Okay, can we all admit that the bouquet and garter ritual is so strange? I’ve looked up several times where it came from and have found different stories. Either way, it’s amazing to me this is a tradition that has stuck around. Instead of doing the classic toss, Eric and Erica did a round of musical chairs. They had all the single ladies bring a chair and circle them up. They had the single fellas circle up around a different set of chairs. The music began, and adults playing musical chairs is the best and most hilarious thing ever. The winner of each circle got handed the bouquet and garter, snagged their photo with the couple, and it was perfect.

See what I’m saying here? Lots of cool, unique pieces of their Cardinal’s Nest wedding to make it totally their own.

I’m absolutely thrilled that their wait is officially over. Erica said it best when she said how thankful she was to have experienced both the small, intimate ceremony at Concord Park and the larger celebration at Cardinal’s Nest! Each offered their own perks, and to have both ended up being a blessing.

I’m a Knoxville Wedding Photographer that loves to travel…I shoot anywhere! Click here to contact me with any questions you have about pricing or booking! If you liked what you saw above, go ahead and follow me on Facebook or Instagram to see my daily updates of the latest sessions!