Amy & Cole’s Perfect Wedding Weekend

This past weekend our “Skridu” became a McManigal when she married the man of her dreams. Her entire wedding weekend was flawless, and I’m so excited to share a little bit about it today.

On Friday morning my mom, Hadley, and I packed up everything in Madison and headed to Chattanooga. Since Jamie was in Indianapolis for his cousin’s wedding and my dad was visiting Jennifer in Kansas, I really needed my mom to help me juggle Hadley. She didn’t mind the grandma time.

We started the weekend with Amy’s bridal luncheon downtown. Amy had 10 bridesmaids, and besides Cole’s super sweet twin sisters from Colorado, all of us have been friends since we were kids (Amy and I met in 6th grade). Her luncheon was a great opportunity to catch up and kick things off.

On Friday night my mom and Hadley headed up to Amberlee and Brandon’s house on Signal Mountain for dinner (thanks again for having her Amberlee!) while the bridal party headed 20 minutes south to Flinstone, Georgia to the wedding site to begin the rehearsal festivities. Amy & Cole chose The Barn at High Point Farm for their venue, and we were immediately blown away by how beautiful it was! As soon as we pulled up, everybody kind of went their different ways for a few minutes to explore the grounds. The owners there have done an extremely impressive job with the farm.

After the rehearsal we drove back up to downtown Chattanooga for the rehearsal dinner at the Public House. We enjoyed some yummy drinks and delicious food while listening to a few touching toasts to the bride and groom. I really, really enjoyed the rehearsal dinner; there’s just something about being around the people you literally grew up with that let’s you pick up right where you left off and have the best time.

On Saturday morning we bridesmaids headed to the venue around 10 to start slowly getting ready. Amy’s new step-MIL is a great hairdresser, so she volunteered to help here and there with everybody’s look. The house we got ready in was cozy and fun. We knocked out pictures before the wedding and enjoyed a little bit of quiet downtime in the hour before the wedding.

Let’s talk about the ceremony. Oh, that ceremony. It was what dreams are made of.  Ted Amey, the same man who married Jamie and me, married Amy and Cole. He alone is a phenomenal officiant who makes wedding ceremonies seem and feel as meaningful as they really are.

They got married underneath a canopy of trees with a wide open pasture behind them. Ted read excerpts from letters that they’d written to each other about their journey to the alter, and you could have heard a pin drop. They were beautifully written. They then hammered the letters into a wine box to be opened and read in 10 years. Never seen that done. Awesome.

But those vows. Best part! They semi wrote their own vows but used semi-traditional vows at the same time. Their vows were conversation-style, and they each went back and forth saying a line from their vows. We were all captivated. I sound dramatic, but anyone who witnessed their ceremony will tell you that their exchange of vows was stunning.

They kissed, we all pranced back up the aisle, and we were off to a building right next door to the ceremony site to par-tay! The dinner was delish, the special dances were sweet to watch, and the wacky DJ created a really fun atmosphere. Though her reception flowed like a typical wedding, it was all of her little touches that set it apart. For example, she had a local popsicle place come and serve yummy popsicles for two hours. She had a one-week old goat out of it’s cage for all the adults kids to love on for an hour (we were at a farm, people), crackers for kids to feed the goats, hay bales covered with quilts for guests to relax on, a chilly room that was perfect for dancing, a unique pallet “guestbook”, home-brewed beer and homemade wine, etc.

We ended the night waving sparklers as she and Cole left for their honeymoon to Belize. Swoon.

Perfect weekend! I wish I would have taken more pictures of her details throughout the weekend, but we were having too much fun. 🙂

To the other bridesmaids – I had a fabulous weekend with you girls and wish we could go back and do it all over again.

Mrs. McManigal, thank you for letting me be a part of your beautiful weekend! I love you so much & couldn’t be happier that you’ve found your perfect match.