March 23, 2022

Sarah & Jeff Wedding at The Hermitage

The Hermitage is one of Nashville’s most well-known historic locations, which is great news for Sarah and Jeff since they booked it mostly sight unseen. Sarah and Jeff live in Ohio and decided to make their scaled-down wedding more special by hosting friends and family in Nashville. Even making their decisions states away from their vendors and venue, they did a killer job planning.

If you met Sarah, you would understand why. She’s detail oriented and loves bringing loved ones together for celebrations — even when it isn’t her own wedding! Planning a wedding is no easy task. Planning a wedding two states away is a feat.

The day began at an AirBNB near Belmont University where we planned to take outdoor photographs. The weather, however, had other plans. As the sky opened up, Sarah’s mother helped her into her dress and Sarah spent the last few moments of quiet on her wedding day.

Sarah also had a first look with her dad at the house, which is one of my favorite parts of a wedding day. They shared a sweet moment in the living room, just the two of them.

The rain refused to let up, and by the time we were ready for photos outdoors, it was practically a monsoon. Photos at Belmont were out of the question. So my team and I made an executive decision to head to the Hermitage and hope that the weather would improve on the drive.

I actually live in the Hermitage area, which is east of Nashville, and I know how different the weather can be from the West side of the city to the East. Luckily the call paid off because when we got to the mansion, the sky had cleared and we were able to take all the outdoor photos we wanted.

We went straight into a first look with Sarah and Jeff. They thought the private moment together would calm their wedding day nerves.

I could totally see how much love they had for one another as they saw each other for the first time that day.

The Hermitage itself is a huge estate with several different buildings and outposts, including this small historic home called Tulip Grove Mansion and it’s surrounding gardens. I could not pass up the opportunity to photograph the gorgeous leading lines of the shrubbery leading from the back porch.

The two of them shared intimate letters with one another (another favorite part of the day), and then we headed inside to capture some of the beautiful inside of the house.

One of the several ceremony locations at the Hermitage is the small chapel on site, and this is where Sarah and Jeff chose to tie the knot. It is a quaint little church with white walls and old, wooden pews. In the back of the chapel, a trio of strings played the processional music.

The ceremony was twenty minutes of sweet promises and anticipation before Jeff kissed Sarah at last. Since the reception was at Sambuca, a restaurant in the Gulch, Sarah and Jeff decided to do a grand exit from the chapel instead of at the end of the night. Guest waved wands with bells and ribbons as the couple emerged from the church for the first time.

After Sarah and Jeff said I do, we stuck around the Hermitage for some photos with family and the bridal party. Everyone was so kind and in such good spirits. We had the best time getting to hang out with each family.

Once photos were done we packed up and departed for Sambuca, where the reception was to be held. This wedding was fairly small and intimate so after some toasts, guests spent the reception mingling and enjoying their dinner. Sambuca is such a fun place to host an event because they have a space upstairs with TONS of natural light, a private bar, and an overlook of the live music that happens constantly in the downstairs public dining area.

Videography

The Trailer

The Highlight

Want more real wedding content like this in your eyeballs? Check out Sam and AJ’s Elopement in Key Largo or Anna and Steven’s Wedding at Riverwood Mansion.

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