Mariah and Alex's Tennessee Wedding

It all started a little over a year ago when I photographed Smith and Beau’s wedding in Montana. They had a beautiful wedding in Big Sky and I didn’t realize I was being ‘shopped’ by Mariah. Mariah and Alex live in Tennessee and several months ago she asked me to photograph her wedding. So I was looking forward to visiting Tennessee because I love the state. I have now been there three times and the hospitality that people have bestowed on me, and every other visitor I speak to, is amazing.

So, in mind a wedding is a celebration of the love between the two people who are getting married. It is a commitment that also includes the family and friends of both the bride and the groom. This wedding is a beautiful example of what I love about weddings and photographing them.

Mariah told me a few of the details over the last months and I thought it sounded as though it was going to be a beautiful wedding. Well again I was surprised at the scale of what a beautiful wedding it was. What I found most amazing about this wedding is how much Mariah’s family did to make this wedding such a lovely celebration. Mariah hired Taylor Moran from Soiree to help organize the details the family did not get to. Taylor and her team did an excellent job of making the wedding day run smoothly and look beautiful. http://soireesonline.com/

The Mayfield’s are a dairy family that distributes their products throughout the southeast part of our nation. Instead of hiring people to do work for them, they chose to take the time to do things they care about themselves. They CARED about Mariah and Alex’s wedding.

So, Mariah owns a paperie store in Chattanooga, TN. So everything to do with paper was made by hand and was fantastic. Her invitations were made with paper that she found while on a hunt for the perfect paper in NYC. This translucent paper was also used to wrap all of the lanterns that were the centerpieces on each table. She had done some of these on her own and then had friends and family help finish them at the women’s luncheon the day before. She also had bought Chinese paper lanterns, to her father’s surprise, and converted them into large pumpkins that hung from the center posts of the dinner tent.

Her brother Michael, a horticulturalist, grew every gourd, squash and pumpkin for the wedding. There had to be a ton of these beautiful vegetables around the property. He had grown them on his parents’ land just a few yards from where the reception was. To my surprise they also served some of the squash at dinner. Each person was also given a small translucent envelope with some of the pumpkin seeds, and directions how to grow them, as a wedding gift.

Scottie and Lisa, Mariah’s parents spent countless hours making their home perfect for the wedding. At the ladies luncheon Lisa was working with her long time friends transforming the barn into a dance hall that turned out beautifully. She has an uncanny ability of making beautiful centerpieces effortlessly. She stacked gourds one on top of another on a metal post to make pieces that flanked her front door and the bar in the barn. She also arranged for pieces of muslin to be at the cocktail hour so guests could write on a square and then a quilt will be made with all of the good wishes of their friends and family. Scottie was always tooling around making sure things were getting done the way they should be. Sometime before we all arrived he strung lights throughout the bard to make it more festive. He cut the limbs of trees varying heights to make pedestals for each of the lanterns that were the centerpieces for the dinner tables. Hours before the wedding he was mowing the yard one more time.

Mariah's godmother made her dress by hand with some lace that Lisa found on a trip in Italy. The dress was gorgeous! She even made the veil which worked with the dress perfectly. Mariah borrowed Smith's shoes and then slipped into her comfy cowboy boots soon after the wedding.

I am exhausted writing about everything the May fields did for Mariah and Alex. The wedding and the people I met were fantastic.

The other thing I loved about the wedding was the pace of the day. The ceremony was held at a tiny civil war church and started at 3 pm and lasted 12 minutes. After the ceremony everyone relaxed for a bit, we did family photos, and then Mariah and Alex got to enjoy theThe other thing that I loved about their wedding was the pace of the day. Only about 80 people attended the ceremony which refreshments at the tent for about half an hour. There was an hour break before cocktails would be served at the reception. This allowed us time to take the wedding party photographs that Mariah wanted in the field and by the creek. It also allowed Mariah and Alex some time to be alone together before the guests started arriving for cocktails. At 5:30 the rest of the 350 guests started arriving at the Mayfield home and people enjoyed an hour and a half cocktail hour. Salads were served, toasts made, dinner eaten, cake cut all the while people were helping themselves to ice cream at the station that was set up. Afterwards guests made their way into the barn to dance and relax. People had a great time!